Andalusian Fantasy Op.16

"… Sainsbury seems to have assimilated the soul of Spanish flamenco…"

"… Surprise, surprise… we were transported to a world of ‘sol y sombra’… vigorous, demonic energy in a tumult of rhythms and runs…"

"… a highly charged, evocative sound world of flamenco guitar, singing and dancing… a world of fiery passion."

“If you enjoy Spanish and Latin American music, you’ll find a lot to love in Andalusian Fantasy, a collection of pieces written and performed by pianist Lionel Sainsbury. The compositions embrace the darker, more romantic side of traditional Latin music. Imagine if tango, Debussy, and Gershwin all met in one album, and you’ll get a sense for Sainsbury’s music.”

 “The musical traditions of Spain and Latin America are rich and vital. English composer Lionel Sainsbury has long been taken with it all. On his album Andalusian Fantasy we get to hear how his fascination and love for such music becomes a creative force in his own music. Is he the Boccherini of today? To the extent that he immerses himself in the music and gives back creatively in kind, perhaps yes. Otherwise, such comparisons are not all that illuminating, for Sainsbury has the modern present in him as well as the Latin-Spanish influences, so you hear the presence of jazz precedents (Gershwin and Ellington, perhaps) and a post-impressionist glow as well. The Spanish-Latin rhythms of dance and the melodic-harmonic particularities are readily heard in the works presented in this collection. All are performed by the composer himself with a flair and liveliness in keeping with his dynamic style. There are moments of relative repose and introspection to be heard as well. And the jazz-oriented element can be heard directly or indirectly depending on the work or movement. It is not always the jazz of today or tomorrow so much as a recapturing of jazz-oriented compositional ways of pre-mid-20th century masters. But even then it is not a direct imitation as much as a personal rechanneling. Through it all the music personality of Sainsbury shines forth. He is not merely showing how the Spanish and Latin traditions have entered his musical thought, he transforms those elements into a music that has originality and a modern-classical thrust that remains his, while channeling some of the pianistic traditions from the French and Spanish impressionists and post-impressionists. Recommended!”

Compositore e pianista, l’inglese Lionel Sainsbury riversa tutta la sua conoscenza e il suo amore per lo strumento in questi brani (penso soprattutto alle Fantasie andaluse e cubane) che di primo acchito aggrediscono l’ascoltatore con cascate di note ad alto tasso di virtuosismo, che insieme raccolgono – trascinandoli in un flusso continuo dal profilo apparentemente spontaneo, ora convulso e potente, ora delicato e sfumato – matrici colte (il lirismo di un Chopin o di un Barber, il pianismo di un Rachmaninov o di uno Scriabin) e influenze tematiche, ritmiche e armoniche provenienti dalla Spagna, dal Sud-America, dal jazz e dal blues afro-americani: mondi per cui l’Autore rivela una profonda attrazione, e che donano ai brani stessi quel misto di gioia e malinconia che, variamente, li contraddistinguono. Ma Sainsbury è capace anche di sintesi, com’è evidente dalla Suite sudamericana, dal bellissimo Notturno e soprattutto dai dodici Preludi. Qui la scrittura si fa più tersa, l’espressività concentrata; gli incisi melodici e ritmici lasciano il segno, imprimono un carattere definito al brano, sempre oscillando tra gli estremi, mai veramente opposti, dell’allegria e della nostalgia. Mai rinuncia, il Nostro, alla cantabilità, neppure nelle fasi più concitate e intense; né all’esaltazione del puro piacere di lasciarsi guidare, senza preconcetti limitanti, da un’ispirazione musicale che mai sembra abbandonarlo.