March 2022 will see the release of a piano recital album on the Divine Art label by the young virtuoso Tom Hicks, the principal works being the Sonatas of Franz Liszt and John Ireland.

Tom Hicks’ 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. Hicks’ island home of Guernsey (‘Sarnia’) is his connection to John Ireland who visited the Channel Islands frequently in the early 20^th Century and lived there for a period before having to be evacuated prior to the German occupation in WWII. Cover art by Wendy Heaume depicts Castle Cornet and the St Peter Port Lighthouse as Ireland would have seen them on that fateful voyage.

Ireland’s Sonata is the composer’s other major work for piano and is central to two historical explorations running through the programme of this disc. On the one hand, the Liszt B minor Sonata is contrasted with what Lisa Hardy described as the ‘outstanding example of all British piano sonatas’. Ralph Hill was the first to compare the two masterpieces and viewed the Ireland favourably, bemoaning its neglect amongst pianists. It was also Liszt’s pupil, Frederic Lamond, who gave the premiere of Ireland’s Sonata at the Wigmore Hall in 1920.

The second historical exploration is that of Charles Stanford’s Royal College of Music class. This is especially appealing because of the opportunity to feature traditionally underrepresented composers. Charming and varied character pieces by Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, Rebecca Clarke and Stanford himself introduce the two major sonatas that follow.

Recording began in early 2021 during Guernsey’s second lockdown at St James Concert Hall. The CD is backed by the John Ireland Trust and the Guernsey Arts Commission and is scheduled for release with Divine Art in March 2022.

Tom Hicks

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. His teachers have included Mervyn Grand, Murray McLachlan, Boris Berman and James Giles.

As a recitalist and collaborator, Hicks has appeared at venues including The Wigmore Hall and St Martin in the Fields in London. He has appeared as concerto soloist on more than 50 occasions including complete cycles of the Rachmaninoff and Brahms concertos. His 2019 recording of Ireland’s Sarnia and Tchaikovsky’s The Seasons has been widely praised and he is currently collaborating with the British composer, Camden Reeves, on an album of Blues-inspired pieces for release with Divine Art’s new-music imprint Métier in 2022 (“Blue Sounds for Piano” – Métier MSV 28604)

Ireland – Liszt: Sonatas (DDA 25227)

Works

• Charles Stanford:  24 Preludes, Op. 163 – No. 24 in B minor & No. 5 in D major
• Samuel Coleridge-Taylor:  Three-Fours, Op. 71 – No. 2 Andante
• Rebecca Clarke: Cortège
• John Ireland: Sonata for Piano
• Franz Liszt: Piano Sonata in B minor

Recorded in September 2021 at St James Concert Hall, Guernsey
Recorded by Flexagon
Mastering and editing by Mill Media, Manchester