Search - William Baines, Eric Parkin :: Baines: Piano Music

A wonderful serendipitous find

P. Lozar | Santa Fe, NM USA | 05/03/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I discovered Baines by a weird, serendipitous route. Years ago, as a college student, I was intrigued by the seventeenth-century poet Andrew Marvell's long poem, "Upon Appleton House," and wrote a couple of seminar papers about it. Recently I found myself wondering whether the manor house (usually referred to as Nunappleton, because it was built on the site of a convent destroyed during the Reformation) still existed. A search on the Internet turned up the name of Baines, who, it transpired, was befriended by the then-owners of Nunappleton House and spent considerable time there (the tone poem "Twilight Woods" describes part of the estate). On a whim, I ordered the recording, and was completely blown away: Baines was a formidable composer as well as a virtuoso performer; his music shows profound understanding of the possibilities of his instrument, but he was a master of restraint and subtlety in making use of them (and the performance on this recording is close to perfect). Baines' early death was a tragedy on several counts (he had a fragile constitution, and his patriotic impulse to volunteer in World War I was fatal), as he was a true original who could have taken British music in interesting directions. (Listen carefully to the final "Etude" and you'll realize why it's performed out of chronological order. Yep, THAT theme.)"

WHO IN THE WORLD IS WILLIAM BAINES?

Melvyn M. Sobel | Freeport (Long Island), New York | 06/15/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Well, actually, a neglected English composer of absolutely gorgeous, innovative, imaginative and incredibly moving piano music who died in his very, very early twenties. The first I had ever heard of Baines [1899-1922] was through a mid-70s Musical Heritage Society release of the original Lyrita recording with Mr. Parkin. And the music floored me. It had such a unique beauty and depth, and was so unlike any of Baines' contemporaries, that I couldn't imagine ever NOT knowing or hearing it before. I clung to my MHS recording like it was gold! And, then, lo and behold comes this new Priory release from England, with Mr. Parkin again at the helm, claiming to be the complete piano music of Baines. Needless to say, I grabbed it. So, what IS the piano music of Baines like, you ask? Well, he's more an impressionist than a romantic; yet, he's both, simultaneously. He's nothing "like" Debussy, Ravel or Faure. And his countrymen: Bax, Ireland and Bridge? No. Baines has his own musical "signature"-- unlike anyone I've ever heard. It goes right to the soul with a haunting melancholy that is never neurotic, only beautiful in its longing, its need to communicate. And this it does all too well. Baines never outstays his welcome. He composes, for the most part, in "sets" of pieces, like "Silverpoints" or the "Preludes," but is also capable of writing the longer "Paradise Gardens." Nothing Baines composed groans on and on. Perhaps if Chopin were to have lived into the 20th century, he would have composed music like this. For those of you who love the piano, like I do, I strongly urge you to grab this CD asap; for those of you who feel this might be slightly unfamiliar turf, grab it, anyway. This is moody, melancholy, glorious music for the piano. The sound, if a tad ambient, suits Baines perfectly. And Parkin, who has Baines in his blood, does a superb job.



[Running time: 73:13]"