Echoes of Land & Sea Maria Marchant

• Benjamin Britten (1913-1976): Holiday Diary, Op. 5:
• 1 I. Early Morning Bathe 02:01
• 2 II. Sailing 04:46
• 3 III. Fun-Fair 02:47
• 4 IV. Night 05:31
• Ronald Stevenson (1928-2015):
• 5 Peter Grimes Fantasy on Themes from Britten 07:42
• John Ireland (1914-1992):
• 6 The Ballade of London Nights 05:56
• 7 Sea Fever (Arr. R. Williams for Piano) 03:33
• Roderick Williams (1965- ):
• 8 Goodwood by the Sea 03:31
• Kenneth Leighton (1929-1988): 6 Studies, Op. 56 "Study-Variations":
• 9 No. 1, Adagio molto 02:55
• 10 No. 2, Allegro molto e secco, molto ritmico 01:43
• 11 No. 3, Adagio molto, misterioso ma molto espressivo 05:05
• 12 No. 4, Allegro leggierro e cappricioso 01:44
• 13 No. 5, Allegro molto, nervosa 01:27
• 14 No. 6, Presto con bravura 03:37
• Gustav Holst (1874-1934):
• 15 Toccata, H. 153 02:38
• 16 Chrissemas Day in the Morning, H. 165 02:23
• 17 Folk Song Fragments, Op. 46 No. 2, H. 166: No. 1, O I Hae Seen the Roses Blaw 02:09
• 18 Folk Song Fragments, Op. 46 No. 2, H. 166: No. 2, The Shoemaker 00:53
• 19 Nocturne, H. 179 03:36
• 20 Jig, H. 179 02:46
• Brook Green Suite, H. 190 (Arr. V. Lasker for Piano):
• 21 I. Prelude. Allegretto 01:37
• 22 II. Air. Andante - Poco animato 01:50
• 23 III. Dance. Allegro 02:46
• Total Runtime 01:12:56

Info for Echoes of Land & Sea

This cleverly planned new recital represents a uniquely valuable addition to the catalogue and focuses attention on English piano music which is less well known but no less delectable. Our programme ranges from some of the most famous names in music to those best-known in other areas of the art - and has been carefully chosen to present a uniquely fascinating conspectus of piano music by British composers of the last 100 years.

There are such rarities as Benjamin Britten’s brilliant early suite ‘Holiday Diary’, the great composer in lighter mood, and the magnificent virtuoso set of Six Studies for Piano by Kenneth Leighton, alongside a rare collection of Impressionist pieces by Gustav Holst – showing him to be as much a master of the keyboard as his ‘Planets’ suite is of the orchestra. John Ireland (Britten’s teacher) is represented by his haunting Ballade of London Nights, and we have a significant premiere recording of Ireland’s most famous song – Sea Fever – arranged for solo piano by Roderick Williams, best-known as one of the finest of all living British singers, now appearing on disc in a new light. Both the world premiere Goodwood-by-the-Sea and the piano arrangement of Sea Fever were written by Roderick Williams especially for Maria Marchant and dedicated to her. Ronald Stevenson’s ‘Peter Grimes Fantasy’ takes us back to Benjamin Britten – a wonderful homage from one major British composer to another. Also included here, is another valuable first recording, Vally Lasker’s arrangement of Holst’s delightful Brook Green Suite. Lasker taught music at St Paul’s Girls’ School, Hammersmith as assistant to Holst, who was also head of music. She has arranged several of Holst’s as well as Vaughan Williams’s works for piano.

Maria Marchant, piano

Maria Marchant
British pianist Maria Marchant is active as recitalist, concerto soloist and chamber musician and gave her Wigmore Hall and Southbank debuts to critical acclaim. She has performed in many festivals including the Burford Festival, Cambridge Summer Music Festival, Cheltenham International Music Festival, ‘John Ireland in Chelsea’ Festival, King’s Lynn Festival, Proms Plus and Stratford-upon-Avon Festival. Maria has also performed for numerous music societies and at many leading venues in the UK and elsewhere. A passionate advocate of British music, Maria performs frequently for the John Ireland Trust and regularly features works by Bliss, Britten, Holst, Ireland and Roderick Williams in her concerts. Maria is delighted to be pianist-in-residence at the Shipley Arts Festival and many of her live performances have been broadcast on Radio 3, most recently her performances of Britten, Ireland and Roderick Williams’ piano works in the Radio 3 In Tune studio with Sean Rafferty.

Chamber music highlights include playing as a member of the Stradivarius Piano Trio and working with LPO co-principal clarinettist, Thomas Watmough, at the Shipley Arts Festival. She frequently performs contemporary music and gave the world premiere of ‘Goodwood by the Sea’ – a new solo piano work by Roderick Williams written for her and commissioned by the Shipley Arts Festival.

Her many competition successes include First Prize and Gold Medal in the International Hindemith Competition whilst studying for the MMus in Advanced Piano Performance at the Royal College of Music supported by the BBC Performing Arts Fund. She was also awarded the RCM Hilda Anderson Deane Scholarship and was selected as one of RCM’s ‘Rising Stars’ in addition to being a Concordia Foundation, Park Lane Group and Tillett Trust young artist. Maria gained First Class Honours for the BMus and the Silver Medal for Piano Performance at Trinity Laban and has studied with many professors including Alexander Ardakov, Philip Colman, Niel Immelman and Yonty Solomon.

Maria believes in the significant role of music in health care and is honoured to be resident pianist at Chelsea & Westminster Hospital as an ambassador for the Concordia Foundation.

Booklet for Echoes of Land & Sea