Archive for John McCabe

John McCabe

Scarlatti and Clementi from John McCabe Coming Fall 2019

Posted by Divine Art Recording Group on
 4 April, 2019
John McCabe - photo taken some time in the 1980s
John McCabe in the 1980s

John McCabe’s death in 2015 robbed us of both a brilliant and innovative composer and also an outstanding pianist whose particular love of Haydn and also a deep commitment to contemporary composers made him one of Britain’s most venerated musicians.

Following the release in January 2019 of a recording made by McCabe of recent American and Australian music, long thought to be lost (“Mountains”, Metier Records MSV 28585), Divine Art are now working with engineer Paul Arden-Taylor and McCabe’s widow Monica as producer, in the reissue of two fine recordings which McCabe made for Hyperion in 1981. Originally on two LPs, McCabe plays sonatas by Scarlatti and Clementi. Remastering from the analog originals will be to modern hi-definition audio formats and a double CD. It is expected that the release date will be around September or October.

Album Details

Catalog number: Divine Art DDA 21231 (available as Double-CD, HD, lossless, and MP3 digital)
Performer: John McCabe
Original analog LP releases: Hyperion A66025 (Scarlatti); A66057 (Clementi)

Works

Disc A (Domenico Scarlatti)
  • Sonatas  K. 105 in G major;  K. 426 in G minor; K. 517 in D minor; K, 490 in D major; K, 69 in F minor;
  • K. 518 in F major;  K. 28 in E major; K. 215 in E major; K. 133 in C major; K. 259 in G major; K. 43 in G minor; K. 460 in C major
Disc B (Muzio Clementi)
  • Piano Sonata in G minor, Op. 50 No. 3 (“Didone Abbandonata”)
  • Piano Sonata in D major, Op. 40 No. 3
  • Piano Sonata in F major, Op. 33 No. 2
  • Monferrines, Op. 49: No. 3 in E major,  no. 4 in C major & No. 12 in C major
Both recorded in 1981
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John McCabe – The ‘Lost’ Recital

Posted by Divine Art Recording Group on
 26 July, 2018

In 1985 the internationally renowned pianist and composer John McCabe recorded an album of contemporary piano music by Australian and American composers. Made in the EMI Studio in Sydney on a commission from Earle Page College, the recording was put aside when the studio closed and was believed lost. Attempts to trace the master through EMI’s successor, Warner Music, were not replied to. Amazingly, a cassette copy was found among the composer’s papers and has been remastered to produce a wonderfully fine album with superb sound. Works by Peter Sculthorpe, George Rochberg, Wendy Hiscocks, Barney Childs, Don Banks, Graeme Koehne and David Maslanka. Probably the last ‘new’ recording to be released featuring McCabe, who died in 2015, as pianist. The album will be scheduled for release by Métier Records in spring 2019 (catalog number MSV 28585).

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Rawsthorne Rarities

Posted by Divine Art Recording Group on
 7 February, 2018

As a sequel to the forthcoming release (February) ‘A Garland for John McCabe’, Divine Art will release later in the year another album of rare 20th/21st century British works, centred around the music of Alan Rawsthorne. This includes the premier recording of his 1939 Chamber Cantata, an unknown early String Quartet and his entertaining but rarely heard ‘Practical Cats’ (after T.S. Eliot) – a world away from the Lloyd Webber musical and heard here in the arrangement by Peter Dickinson for reciter and piano in similar fashion to Walton’s ‘Façade’. The program includes complementary works, all rarities deserving recognition, by eight other composers and is also dedicated by all concerned to the memory of the late John McCabe. The album is likely to be released around June or July on Divine Art DDA 25169 (CD and digital formats).

The performers are:
Clare Wilkinson (mezzo-soprano)
Mark Rowlinson (baritone/reciter)
John Turner (recorder)
Harvey Davies (harpsichord)
Peter Lawson (piano)
Solem String Quartet

Full program:
Alan Rawsthorne: Chamber Cantata (1939)
Alan Rawsthorne: Practical Cats (1954)
Alan Rawsthorne: String Quartet in B minor (1932-3)
Ralph Vaughan Williams: The Willow Whistle (c.1939)
Halsey Stevens: Sonatina Piacevole (1955-6)
Basil Deane/Raymond Warren: The Rose Tree (2008)
Karel Janovický: The Little Linden Pipe (2016)
Donald Waxman: Serenade and Caprice (2016)
Arthur Bliss: The Buckle (1921)
Malcolm Lipkin: The Journey (2016)
David Ellis: Mount Street Blues (2016)

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Coming soon: a tribute album for John McCabe

Posted by Divine Art Recording Group on
 19 October, 2017

In every sense, John McCabe was a leading light in both British and international musical life; he was in love with music from a very early age, and all through his life he remained fascinated by discovering new or neglected composers; as a highly skilled pianist he had a wide repertoire ranging from Haydn to the contemporary work of such composers as Hoddinott, Mathias, Michael Tippett and many others whose work he helped to introduce. As a composer his work on all levels was outstanding and his death in 2015 robbed us of a fine craftsman.

Several composers of high esteem wrote pieces in McCabe’s honour in 2016, and these have been collected along with some works written for his 70th birthday in 2009; many of them have had successful concert performances and now are to be issued in an album entitled ‘A Garland for John McCabe’. The production has been organised by recorder player John Turner with active and esteemed participation by the composer’s widow, Monica McCabe. The works are written for combinations of clarinet, viola and recorder with piano and are performed by Linda Merrick (clarinet), Alistair Vennart (viola), John Turner (recorder) and Peter Lawson (piano). Each soloist is regarded as a foremost exponent of their instrument and have appeared on many current Divine Art/Métier recordings as well as work with other labels.

The album of McCabe’s piano music, ‘Tenebrae’, by Tamami Honma has been one of Métier’s most enduringly popular titles (MSVCD 92071). Shopshire Star called McCabe “one of our foremost contemporary composers” and described the recording as “an astounding work of breathtaking beauty”.

‘A Garland for John McCabe’ will be released in March 2018 on Divine Art DDA 25166.

Full track list (alphabetical order of composer surnames):
James Francis Brown: Evening Changes
Gary Carpenter: Edradour
Peter Dickinson: A Rag for McCabe
Martin Ellerby: Nocturnes and Dawn
Anthony Gilbert: The Flame has Ceased
Edward Gregson: John’s Farewell
Christopher Gunning: Danse des Fourmis
Emily Howard: Outback
John Joubert: Exequy
Rob Keeley: Elegy for John McCabe
Malcolm Lipkin: In Memoriam John McCabe
William Marshall: Little Passacaglia
David Matthews: Chaconne
Elis Pehkonen: Lament for the Turtle-Dove
Robert Saxton: A Little Prelude for John McCabe
Gerard Schurmann: Memento
Howard Skempton: Highland Song
Robin Walker: And Will You Walk Beside Me Down the Lane?
Raymond Warren: In Nomine

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