The Piano Music of Alec Rowley

I happened to mention to my producer, Michael Ponder that I was interested in exploring the piano music of Alec Rowley and, such was the nature of lockdown, I was busy recording it just four weeks later for Epoch Dutton. It is beautifully crafted writing with plenty of memorable melodies all consummately written for the piano. If the name is familiar to you at all, you are probably thinking of music written for teaching purposes as he wrote a lot during the 1930s and 40s which became staples of the Associated Board Exams for decades after. However, the more serious and ambitious works include two sonatas and a suite plus a cycle of seven preludes each built around a different interval from seconds to octaves - an interesting idea!  The fact that none of this has been recorded before is quite extraordinary, it is music that really shouldn't have suffered such total neglect. The disc, which includes all of the the works mentioned and more, will be available later this year.

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