MEDTNER: Arabesques, Dithyrambs, Elegies & other short piano works – Hamish Milne Hyperion

Stimmungsbilder Op 1[20’43]CD1
1
Prolog: Andante cantabile[4’27]2
Allegro con impeto[2’02]3
Maestoso freddo[2’22]4
Andantino con moto[3’06]5
Andante[3’14]6
Allegro con humore[2’11]7
Allegro con ira[1’48]8
Allegro con grazia[1’33]Trois Improvisations Op 2[19’27]9
Nixe ‘Rusalka’: Veloce[8’10]10
Eine Ball-Reminiscenz: Schwärmend[6’25]11
Scherzo infernale: Prestissimo possibile[4’52]Quatre morceaux Op 4[11’59]12
Étude: Allegro assai[3’26]13
Caprice: Allegretto capriccioso[3’32]14
Moment musical: Agitato[2’34]15
Prélude: Allegro appassionato[2’27]Drei Arabesken Op 7[10’02]16
Ein Idyll: Allegretto tranquillo e dolce[2’16]17
Tragoedie-Fragment in A minor: Andantino con moto[3’52]18
Tragoedie-Fragment in G minor: Allegro inquieto ma al rigore di tempo[3’54]Drei Dithyramben Op 10[17’25]19
Maestoso severamente[6’13]20
Mit höchstem Pathos[8’42]21
Andantino innocente[2’30]Drei Novellen Op 17[15’09]CD2
22
Daphnis und Chloe: Andante[3’43]23
Tempo giusto[4’48]24
Allegro, molto sostenuto[6’38]Vier Lyrische Fragmente Op 23[9’54]25
Allegro commodamente[2’58]26
Andantino gracile[3’03]27
Tempo di Valse[1’59]28
Andantino tenebroso[1’54]29
Étude in C minor[2’32]Trois morceaux Op 31[13’45]30
Improvisation: Andantino, gracile[8’17]31
Marche funèbre: Andante lugubre[3’11]32
Skazka: Allegretto capriccioso, con molto tenerezza[2’17]Drei Hymnen an die Arbeit Op 49[10’44]33
Vor der Arbeit: Allegretto molto tranquillo[3’50]34
Am Amboss: Allegro, molto pesante e poco rubato[3’27]35
Nach der Arbeit: Allegro vivace[3’27]36
Theme and variations in C sharp minor Op 55[9’01]Zwei Elegien Op 59[14’58]37
Andante largamento[6’53]38
Andante con moto[8’05]

‘Write one such piece and one can die.’ So pronounced Rachmaninov, no less, after hearing the second of Medtner’s Arabesques. This is just one of the delights in the enticing selection box offered by Hamish Milne, a long-standing and ardent champion of Medtner’s music. These two discs explore the many miniatures—in size though not in ambition—that he wrote throughout his life. The very opening of his Mood Pictures shows a remarkable sophistication for a man barely out of his teens, while the magnificent pair of Elegies forms a fitting conclusion to a set that reminds us that it is sometimes among the ‘miscellaneous’ works that the greatest gems are to be found.