Prima Facie Records

Pasture and Storm (PFCD193) £12.50

New Music for Left Hand Piano and Ensembles
Composed by Sadie Harrison
Nicholas McCarthy, Sophia Benton, Tomáš Klement – pianists
Peyee Chen – singer
Stephanie Gilbert – flautist
Roger Huckle – violinist
John Pickard – conductor
Bristol Ensemble

"A vitally important disc, full of humanity and compassion while remaining uncompromising in its musical delivery." Colin Clarke, Classical Explorer

"I kiss the earth... The Nightingales of Afghanistan... both significant additions to the relatively uncharted territory of chamber music for left-handed pianists... Stephanie Gilbert provides superb flute solos." Claire Jackson, BBC Music

The Book of Storms and Mists for solo left hand alone piano (NM)

1  Idyll: The World Within (Crosse)
2  Caprice: '..meadow of the air..' (Debussy)
3  Nocturne: '..all the fog there ever was..' (Rachmaninov)
4  Pasadoble: '..and now his blood goes singing..' (Albéniz)
5  Aubade:'..the mansion of the sky..' (Ravel)

I kiss the earth for voice & left hand piano (PC/TK)

1  My sweetheart’s name
2  Spring’s here
3  Snow
4  Chains of ringlets
5  I kiss the earth
6  I play my flute
7  Gunshots and smoke
8  A lasting momento
9  War

Kabul: ‘When I wake at midnight’ for two left hand pianists (SB/NM)

1  ‘I draw my dreams’
2  ‘I fly in my dreams’
3  ‘When I wake at midnight’ (a lullaby)
4  ‘Dust and thistle chaff ’
5  ‘Alone and alone’
6  ‘You locked me in a cage, god’
7  ‘When I remember you I smile to every sadness’

The Nightingales of Afghanistan for left hand piano & ensemble (TK/BE)

Round Dances for flute & left hand piano (SG/TK)

1  A dance with sticks, stones and bells!
2  A slow, hypnotic snake dance
3  A broken pasadoble

I sha’n’t be gone long for violin & left hand piano (RH/NM)

'..the people of His pasture..’ (Scenes from the Luttrell Psalter) for left hand piano & ensemble (NM/BE)

1  Dawn (Iam Lucis Orto Sidere - Now that daylight fills the sky)
2  Day (Alleluia Psallat Haec Familia - Alleluia sings this merry company)
3  Dusk (Salve Rosa Florum - Hail, rose)
4  Night (Dies Irae, Dies Illa - That day of wrath, that dreadful day)

Work Songs of the Land for two left hand pianists (SB/NM)
(Bonus download only)

1  Call to the Plough
2  Night Herding Song
3  Field Blues
4  ‘..for to reap and mow..’
5  Hymn: Work, for the Night is Coming

The Pasture & Storm Project brings together the composer Sadie Harrison, three pianists in Nicholas McCarthy, Sophia Benton and Tomáš Klement, the singer Peyee Chen, flautist Stephanie Gilbert, violinist Roger Huckle, and the Bristol Ensemble, conducted by John Pickard. The CD includes 8 new works written to celebrate the unique talents of the left-hand-only pianist.

The project came about initially through Sadie’s teaching the young pianist Sophia Benton. At school Sophia suffered a netball injury which eventually left her unable to play the piano with her right hand. Extraordinarily, a few weeks after meeting Sophia, Sadie met two people at her local gym, both rehabilitating after having strokes affecting their right sides and both amateur pianists. After inviting the internationally renowned virtuoso, left-hand-only pianist Nicholas McCarthy, to be part of the project, Sadie embarked on the composition of several new works – solo pieces, a chamber concerto, a piano quartet with percussion, piano duets, duos, and an extended song cycle. All these works, written during 2020-21, are presented on the CD.

Recorded at Wyastone Concert Hall, Monmouth 23rd and 24th May 2022
Producers: Sadie Harrison and Ken Blair
Balance Engineer: Ken Blair
Audio Editors: Will Anderson and Ken Blair
Piano: Steinway D, maintained by Philip Kennedy
A bmp production www.bmp-recording.co.uk
Booklet notes: © Sadie Harrison
Cover image and design: © Marc Yeats https://www.marc-yeats.com
All works are published by University of York Music Press
Nightingale sample from musictales.club
Rehearsal and session photos © Sadie Harrison (6,8,9) & Chris Frazer Smith (3,5,10)
Photos for I kiss the earth; Afghan woman © Veronica Doubleday & Afghan boy © Marie Rose Nicod
Original artwork for Kabul: ‘When I wake at midnight’ © Alina Gawhary 2021
Original artwork The Nightingales of Afghanistan: A Silent Scream © Shajia Azhir 2022

Sadie’s music is performed and broadcast internationally. She is Composer-in-Residence with Cuatro Puntos (USA) and Kunstler Bei Wu Sculpturepark (Germany), supported by Arts Council England and PRSF, and Composer-in-Association with the Afghanistan National Institute of Music. She was appointed Visiting Fellow at Goldsmiths College, London in recognition of her unique research work on Afghanistan. Sadie’s music is published by UYMP, Recital Music and ABRSM. Image: Bella West Photography.