Sunlight & Storms

Virtuosic and passionate oratory expressed through the piano and sharpened and softened by sultry accents.

Born in 1958, Great Britain's Lionel Sainsbury started playing the piano and composing when he was very young. When he was just twenty-one years old he was awarded the Mendelssohn Scholarship (a prestigious United Kingdom award for composers). Since that time he has created a substantial body of work and has developed a devoted legion of followers. Sunlight & Storms is specifically devoted to his piano compositions, which, we would guess, are probably the central focus of his creative spirit. This album shows just how diverse a composer Lionel is. These recordings feature Lionel alone with his piano. There are no overdubs and there are no additional musicians involved. As such, the listener is treated to the exact sound of this man playing live without any additional ingredients. A successful pianist is one who can convey feelings and emotions by touching the keys. Lionel Sainsbury is exceedingly successful because his music touches so many parts of the mind, heart, and soul. An excellent album for anyone who ever loved hearing solo piano. Top pick.

There is nothing new about composers performing their own work – it was the norm rather than the exception in classical music for many years. Gradually, though, the roles separated, notably during the 20th century; now, in many cases, they are coming together again. This can be especially useful when composers have specific ideas about how their music – now frequently a blend of traditional classical forms and ideas with those of pop, rock, folk, “world music” and other forms – ought to sound. Lionel Sainsbury certainly knows what he wants from his piano works, which he performs enthusiastically on a new Navona CD. There are two extended works here and five shorter ones. The lengthy pieces – actually assemblages rather than long-form works – are Five Tangos and Ten Moments Musicaux. The tangos partake both of the traditional dance form and of the form as reimagined by Astor Piazzolla, and their tempo variations show just how versatile the form can be. The Ten Moments Musicaux all bear standard tempo indications (although one, ondeggiante or “undulating,” is rather unusual) and are all short, poised explorations of widely varying moods and styles. Some of Sainsbury’s themes are reminiscent of Gershwin’s, but the Two Cuban Dances here only marginally resemble Gershwin’s Cuban Overture – they are simple, rhythmic and effective. Canto Ostinato is brief and to the point as well. Sea Storm is intense and virtuosic; Incantation pulls listeners into an engaging sound world; and Meditation is even more introspective, closing this well-played album thoughtfully.

Lionel Sainsbury’s debut solo release on Navona Records illustrates emotions from the peaceful to the tempestuous, and many more besides. A retrospective of the composer’s piano music, spanning almost 20 years of his career, the album ranges from tangos to toccatas, character pieces to ostinatos. Two large-scale collections, Five Tangos and Ten Moments Musicaux, portray several dimensions of Sainsbury’s compositional style, encompassing lively dance numbers, haunting and dark passages, jazzy, Gershwinesque themes, and gently swaying rhythms. Alongside these are the virtuoso Sea Storm, and hypnotic Incantation. Two Cuban Dances evoke the rhythmic airs of the Caribbean; the second has been performed worldwide in the composer’s own arrangement by violinist Tasmin Little. An introspective Meditation provides symmetry and resolution to the album. Throughout, Sainsbury’s dexterity and control on the piano admirably conveys the sensual textures.

British composer-pianist Lionel Sainsbury writes in a spicy, accessible style that has a decidedly Latin inflection. The piano works on this warmly recorded album were composed from 1991 to 2010.  Both the Five Tangos and Two Cuban Dances are richly melodic and seductively syncopated.  ‘Canto Ostinato’ is described as a “Song Without Words” in a “very different style”, but it too has a sensuous, rhythmic quality.  ‘Sea Storm’ is ostensibly a tempestuous contrast, but songfulness wins the day here as well. This is a storm I would not mind being engulfed in.  The Ten Moments Musicaux, an homage to Schubert, shows what Sainsbury can do in brief, concentrated strokes.  The hypnotic ‘Incantation’, with its Eastern harmonies, is more exotic but still in Sainsbury’s style. I find it the most delicious of the many delights on the album, all of which are colorfully played by the composer.  Concluding the program is ‘Meditation’ from 2000, a liltingly syncopated work that sounds like a warm-up for the later Tangos—a satisfying piece of symmetry for a highly agreeable album.

A suggestive rocking motion provides a root structure from which a majestically turbulent Rachmaninovian arch languidly and magnificently springs.

… Sea Storm continues the theme of grandeur, suggesting murmuring oceanic distances. Over an ostinato, and growing from it, the storm thrives and leaves the listener to choose between the suggestion of the sea swell and the tempest of human emotions.