Prima Facie Records

In dreams' projections... (PFCD189) £12.50

New Piano Music written for and played by Duncan Honeybourne

Portraits from the Place of the Yew Trees (2020) Sadie Harrison (1965)

1 The Yew Trees Yorkshire Path
2 Sir George Cayley: weight, lift, drag, thrust, gravity
3 Blue Man-I’-th’-Moss and Auld Wife’s Trod (Lyke Wake Dirge)
4 Aelred of Rievaulx
5 Frederick Delius: The Last Cuckoo
6 Mary Bateman the Yorkshire Witch: Her Lullaby
7 Flint Willy the Shirtless
8 Amy Johnson: The Lone Girl Flyer 

Notes from Abroad (2021) Cecilia McDowall (1951)

9 Virelai
10 Folk Song
11 I had a little bird

on a name.. (2017) Sadie Harrison (1965)

12 “the church long in ruins”
13 “disturbing the bodies of the dead”
14 “wilful murder against some person unknown”

15 Une Promenade, op.114a (2020) Andrew Downes (1950)
16 Pictures in the Snow (1993) Ruth Barrett (1976)
17 Musical Distancing (2020) Jenni Pinnock (1987)
18 Dirge for our troubled times (2020) Richard Francis (1946)
19 “...thus in silence, in dreams’ projections...” (2020) Richard Pantcheff (1959)

"This highly desirable Prima Facie release presents several rewarding works by contemporary composers with whom the pianist Duncan Honeybourne has collaborated, in most cases over several years. The impressive range of the music is matched by the commitment, imagination and distinction of the playing... Warmly recorded and generously filled, this disc is a worthy tribute to Duncan Honeybourne’s passionate commitment to contemporary music. Highly recommended." Paul Conway, Musical Opinion, July-September 2023. *****

Premiere recordings of piano cycles by Sadie Harrison and Cecilia McDowall, plus shorter works by Ruth Barrett, Andrew Downes, Richard Francis, Richard Pantcheff and Jenni Pinnock

English pianist Duncan Honeybourne has premiered over 70 new piano works and his recordings reflect a long association with 20th and 21st century British piano music. In dreams’ projections... presents an eclectic collection of new piano works written for Honeybourne by a range of composers.

The pianist writes:
“Working with living composers to bring their music to life has been one of the great joys and privileges of my career. I’ve had the opportunity to record many of the resulting works, but the idea of an album devoted some of those I hadn’t is something that has occupied my mind for some time. Central to this disc is my working relationship with that fine and versatile composer Sadie Harrison, who has to date written four solo piano cycles for me. Sadie and I share a love of history and locality, and both of these find expression in the two works featured here. Portraits from the Place of the Yew Trees depicts Yorkshire people and places, whilst On a Name, written as a fortieth birthday gift for me, takes my own surname as a point of departure and delves into the archives to produce some unexpected sources of inspiration! The Harrison works frame a triptych by Cecilia McDowall which again reflects historical events and characters, this time in the light of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The rest of the disc is devoted to shorter pieces, several by composers who have written other works for me. Andrew Downes, Head of Composition at the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire for 30 years, has been a close friend and collaborator for a quarter of a century, his distinctive music woven as a thread throughout my career. I premiered his Piano Concerto at Birmingham Town Hall in 2009, and the piece on this album, Une Promenade, was composed during the 2020 pandemic. Most of the works on the album are very recent, the exception being Ruth Barrett’s Pictures in the Snow, which was written when I was 16 and the composer just a year older. It was the first piece I ever premiered, in one of my first London recitals when we were both studying in the RAM Junior Department. It is Ruth’s op.2, very evocative and haunting. She is now one of Britain’s most successful and sought-after composers for TV and film.”

Duncan Honeybourne enjoys a diverse profile as a pianist and in music education. His concerto debut in 1998 at Symphony Hall, Birmingham, and the National Concert Hall, Dublin, was broadcast on radio and television, and recital debuts included London, Paris, and international festivals in Belgium and Switzerland. Duncan has toured extensively as soloist and chamber musician, broadcasting frequently for the BBC and radio networks worldwide. His many recordings reflect his interest in 20th and 21st century British piano music. He is a Tutor in Piano at the University of Southampton.