TOCC0496

Roy Agnew (1891–1944) – one of few early-twentieth-century Australian composers to gain international success – wove many external influences into a warmly Romantic personal style of striking variety and wide appeal, and his compositions, largely for the piano, are startlingly virtuosic, harmonically daring and charmingly sentimental by turn. Beautifully written by a natural pianist for his own instrument, they often recall the virtuosic textures of Liszt and Skryabin and occasionally show flashes of the Impressionist colours of Debussy.

This disc includes first recordings (marked *)

Rhapsody (1928)*

Toccata (1933)

Two Pieces for Piano (1931)*

  • Whither
  • Exaltation

Three Preludes (1927)*

A Dance Impression (1927)*

Drifting Mists (1931)

Sonata (1929)

Etude (1924)*

Three Poems (1927)*

Sonata Poème (1929 completed 1935)

Three Lyrics (1927)*

  • The Falling Snow
  • A Quest
  • The Happy Lad

Elf Dance: Etude (1928)*

A May Day (1927)*

Australian Forest Pieces (1913)*

  • No 1 Gnome Dance
  • No 2 When Evening Shadows Fall
  • No 3 Forest Nymphs at Play
  • No 4 A Night in the Forest
  • No 5 By a Quiet Stream
  • No 6 The Forest Grandeur