Home listening - Howard Skempton piano works and more

The Guardian 0

Dedicatee William Howard shines in Skempton’s Preludes and Fugues; Italian pianist Alessio Bax keeps it close to home. Plus, the Royal Opera’s Norma on Radio 3

• Howard Skempton’s 24 Preludes and Fugues for piano, performed by William Howard (Orchid Classics), for whom they were written, take inspiration from the models of JS Bach and Shostakovich. As with all his music, Skempton (b1947) has used great aural economy to create something of lasting power. He completed the set in 2019, giving himself the challenge of making each piece fit on an A4 page, which means the longest of these jewelled works lasts little over a minute.

While the preludes are quick and, mostly, canonic, sometimes seeming to stop in mid-air, the fugues are slower, often equally inconclusive but moving the music forward harmonically (Bach, Shostakovich and Skempton each choose different methods to move through the cycle of keys). This recent set of works is paired with the 20 short Images (1989), Three Nocturnes (1995) and 11 Reflections (1999-2002). Delicate, incisive, atmospheric, this music, as played by Howard, acts as balm to brain, ear and soul.