Prima Facie Records

A Woman's Hand Vol. 2 (PFCD228) £12.50

Selected piano works by Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel
Performed by Helen Cawthorne

1. Allegro molto vivace e leggiero, B major, H-U 414 (1846)
2. Lied. Andante espressivo; più Allegro, Eb major, H-U 456 (1846)
3. Andante con moto, E major, H-U 452 (1846)
4. Notturno. Andantino, G minor, H-U 337 (1838)
5. Allegro molto vivace, Ab major, H-U 369 (1841)
6. Klavierstück. Largo con espressione, E minor, H-U 322 (1837)
7. Klavierstück. F minor, H-U 145 (1825)
8. Pastorella. A major, H-U 425 (1846)
9. Klavierstück. Allegro molto, A minor, H-U 376 (1841)
10. Klavierstück. E minor, H-U 29 (1821)
11. (op.2 no.3) Villa Mills. Allegretto grazioso, E major, H-U 357 (1840)
12. (op.2 no.4) Allegro molto vivace, A major, H-U 394 (1843)
13. Notturno napolitano. B minor, deest (1839/40)
14. Gondelfahrt Serenata. G minor, H-U 345 (1839)
15. Abschied von Rom. Ponte Molle. Andante con espressione, A minor, H-U 352 (1840)
16. Andante cantabile, Db major, H-U 417 (1846)
17. Klavierstück. Allegro con spirito, F major, H-U 303 (1836)
18. Andante con espressione, Bb major, H-U 314 (1837)

This second volume in this series of selected piano works by the early Romantic composer Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel draws on music from across the whole span of her adult life, from the exquisite Klavierstück in E minor H-U 29, written when Fanny was just sixteen years old, to the dramatic Lied H-U 456, written just months before her early death in 1847. Eighteen short pieces make up this second volume. Lyricism is very much to the foreground, interspersed with moments of passion and exuberance, in a collection that complements the wide range of character and energy encountered in A Woman’s Hand volume 1.

Recorded and produced by Steve Plews at Holy Trinity Church, Hereford, UK, 30th June and 19th August 2023
Edited and mastered by Phil Hardman

You can read the sleeve notes from this CD on the Prima Facie blog, Recitative.

Helen Cawthorne studied with the German pianist Annekäte Friedlander before entering the Royal Academy of Music, where she was awarded major prizes as a solo pianist, accompanist and chamber musician. Her subsequent career has reflected this diversity, and a special interest in working with singers and string players in the Romantic repertoire has been complemented by premières of over thirty newly commissioned works. Wigmore Hall and Purcell Room débuts came early in her career and she has returned many times to the Southbank Centre, most recently with the eight-hand piano ensemble Piano40, in their tenth appearance at the venue. Helen teaches piano and chamber music at the Junior Academy of the RAM and is a Lecturer in Performance at the University of Southampton.