Camden Reeves: Blue Sounds
Blue Sounds is a set of meditations on a colour – from its abstractness as an electromagnetic wave to Blues as a scale, a genre and a harmonic structure. All three works were written for Tom Hicks and mark a growth in fluency and an experimental approach to the sonority of the piano. Camden Reeves has written for several instrumental groupings but the piano has been a vital part of his life since the age of 5. Included amongst his many activities, he was appointed Composition Fellow with the Hallé orchestra at the age of 22 and is currently Head of Music and Senior Lecturer in Composition at the University of Manchester.
Hailed as an artist of ‘magnificent pianism’, Guernsey-born pianist Tom Hicks has been praised for his ‘gorgeously creative playing’ that ‘transports the listener to another place and time’. Hicks is a gold medallist in numerous national and international competitions and holds degrees and awards from The University of Manchester, The Royal Northern College of Music, Yale University and Northwestern University, where he now lectures. His first disc featuring John Ireland’s Sarnia, ‘Tom Hicks: Ireland and Tchaikovsky’ has been described as ‘brilliantly evocative’ by Colin Clarke in International Piano, and ‘gorgeously creative’ by Scott Noriega in Fanfare. This new album follows his March 2022 album centred around the Liszt and Ireland piano sonatas and works by Clarke, Coleridge-Taylor and Stanford.
Track Listing
- Tangle-Beat Blues (12:45)
- Blue Sounds for Piano (11:09)
- Nine Preludes - I. Allegro molto - Poco meno mosso (1:34)
- Nine Preludes - II. Grave funebre - Poco meno mosso (1:05)
- Nine Preludes - III. Adagio molto rubato - Molto lento (1:56)
- Nine Preludes - IV. Allegro scherzando - Piu andante (2:35)
- Nine Preludes - V. Andante con moto - Adagio molto (1:52)
- Nine Preludes - VI. Prestissimo (2:33)
- Nine Preludes - VII. Mesto (1:09)
- Nine Preludes - VIII. Allegro ritmico (4:34)
- Nine Preludes - IX. Tempo di ciaccona - Molto lento (1:41)
Camden Reeves:
Reviews
“There’s a strong concept behind Blue Sounds. Avoiding the saturated chromaticism favoured by modernism, this is music both to ponder and enjoy.
” —Andy Hamilton
“Reeves takes the idea of blue and stretches it as much as he can.. something of a technical tour de force. Hicks’ playing is very impressive.
” —Jeremy Condliffe
“This release is warmly recommended to adventurous listeners interested in exploring music that is quite unlike anyone else’s. I found the music engaging, and repeated hearings helped to give it shape. [Hicks] clarifies complex contrapuntal details and fully explores the diverse sound world that Reeves has created.
” —Henry Fogel
“Camden Reeves combines the blues and energy of jazz with spectralism and modernism in these pieces. Tom Hicks handles these astonishingly difficult pieces with ease and a tone that’s firm but never harsh; the piano sound is impeccable.
” —Stephen Estep
“Vibrant, accessible, surprising, and always colourful bravura piano works. music of originality and merit performed with total confidence, evangelical fervour, and pianistic precision, realised with regal authority by the magnificent Tom Hicks. Strongly recommended.
” —Murray McLachlan
“Reeves couldn’t have asked for a better interpreter. Blue Sounds, with its playing distinguished by fluidity, authority, and musicality, shows the connection between him and Reeves to be especially strong. Blue Sounds appeals for many reasons beyond Hicks’s sterling treatments. What makes the three pieces particularly fascinating is to witness the way Reeves reconciles the spontaneous personal expression of blues (and jazz) with the meticulous through-composition of classical writing.
” —Ron Schepper
“This CD explores both sounds and colors in a wide variety of ways [with] well-executed effects, all of which Hicks brings out very clearly indeed. Listeners intrigued by contemporary keyboard works performed with genuine flair will find much here to enjoy.
” —Mark J, Estren
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