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Piano Professional

Performed by Paul Sánchez and Albert Kim Divine Art (DDA 25221) From the first note to the last, listeners to this new release are drawn into the unique and distinctive sound world of the piano music of Graham Lynch (b.1957). The broad range of influences behind these pieces are infused and distilled to create music of the highest integrity, rich in imagination and harmonic, melodic and rhythmic innovation. For the White Book series, Lynch draws together inspiration from Couperin’s Ordres and Debussy’s Préludes, and this is evident through the balance between vivid evocation and refined craftsmanship. In some respects, White Book 3, which opens this disk, has parallels with Maurice Ravel’s Miroirs, in terms of its scale and design. The five pieces depict the paintings and woodcuts of Christopher le Brun, and although it is perfectly possible to appreciate each piece in its own right, a satisfying sense of cohesive narrative runs through the whole set. Absolute Inwardness is a substantial work, through composed and improvisatory in nature, in style akin to the Baroque keyboard prelude. The performance here combines the necessary sense of freedom and spontaneity, but without ever losing direction or integrity. The intensely reflective nature of this music is at the forefront of this fine performance. The Couperin Sketchbooks, seen as a companion piece to Absolute Inwardness, is more sectional in design, moving the listener through a sequence of episodes and dances which hark back to the elegance of Baroque rhythms and melodic shapes, but through a very individual contemporary lens. The majority of the music on this disc dates from 2020, but the earlier pieces which complete the recording are no less enticing and are also infused with imagination and craft of the highest level. White Book 2 (2008) explores a range of real and imagined landscapes through a rich tapestry of musical invention. Ay!, an introverted tango dating from 2006, merges subtle dancing qualities, all the while conveying the intended sense of hopelessness and desolation. Throughout this recording, the pianism is of the highest calibre (Albert Kim in White Book 2 and Paul Sánchez in the rest), and the sound quality excellent – rich, but without obscuring transparency, and clear but never dry. This recording is a very welcome addition to the catalogue of one of the most original voices in 21st century British music.