John Ireland - The Piano Music

Alan Rowlands

Label: Lyrita
Copyright: 2008 Lyrita Recorded Edition, England
Catalogue number: REAM.3112
UPC/EAN: 5020926311221
Format: CD
Analogue / Digital recording: ADD Mono
Number of discs: 3
Total playing time: 3 hours 44 mins
Price: £ (+ postage & packing)

Recorded January 1959 to March 1963, The Music Room, Burnham, Buckinghamshire
Richard Itter, Producer & Engineer


I first heard the name of John Ireland from my father, who knew some of his songs and had broadcast Twilight Night with the choral group he conducted in Swansea before the War. At that time a great family friend was the composer Percy Turnbull and it was he who later introduced me to Ireland’s piano music, which I immediately fell in love with. Percy had been with Ireland in his beloved Channel Islands in 1940 - he could imitate his distinctively querulous voice and regaled us with many stories. Ireland had wanted to settle on Guernsey but was forced to leave at 24 hours’ notice that June owing to the imminence of the German invasion. He, John Longmire and Turnbull had managed to get on one of the last boats and endured a hazardous journey to Weymouth, where the composer arrived in a highly nervous state, the unfinished manuscript of Sarnia among his few possessions. Percy told me that Longmire went to the Captain and said of Ireland, "he's mad, you know", thereby enabling the composer to leave the boat ahead of the normal disembarkation procedures ...
Alan Rowlands


Disc 1
London Pieces John Ireland (1879 - 1962) 12.44
1 Chelsea Reach 7.21
2 Ragamuffin 2.19
3 Soho Forenoons 3.04
Greenways – Three Lyric Pieces John Ireland (1879 - 1962) 9.00
4 The Cherry Trees 2.46
5 Cypress 3.09
6 The Palm and May 3.05
Sonatina John Ireland (1879 - 1962) 10.27
7 I Moderato 4.45
8 II Quasi lento 3.11
9 III Rondo Ritmico, non troppo allegro 2.31
10 Soliloquy John Ireland (1879 - 1962) 3.30
11 On a Birthday Morning John Ireland (1879 - 1962) 3.26
12 Equinox John Ireland (1879 - 1962) 2.19
Sarnia – An Island Sequence John Ireland (1879 - 1962) 20.57
13 Le Catioroc 6.53
14 In a May Morning 7.07
15 Song of the Springtides 6.57
Two Pieces John Ireland (1879 - 1962) 7.09
16 For Remembrance 3.39
17 Amberley Wild Brooks 3.30
Disc 2
1 Ballade John Ireland (1879 - 1962) 9.35
Two Pieces John Ireland (1879 - 1962) 8.39
2 February’s Child 5.20
3 Aubade 3.19
Piano Sonata John Ireland (1879 - 1962) 25.57
4 I Allegro moderato 6.34
5 II Non troppo lento 11.29
6 III Con moto moderato 7.54
7 The Towing-Path John Ireland (1879 - 1962) 4.32
8 The Darkened Valley John Ireland (1879 - 1962) 3.54
9 Rhapsody John Ireland (1879 - 1962) 9.00
10 Month’s Mind John Ireland (1879 - 1962) 5.19
Decorations John Ireland (1879 - 1962) 9.26
11 The Island Spell 3.27
12 Moon-glade 2.50
13 The Scarlet Ceremonies 3.09
Disc 3
Two Pieces John Ireland (1879 - 1962) 7.21
1 April 3.58
2 Bergomask 3.23
In those Days John Ireland (1879 - 1962) 7.27
3 Meridian 3.52
4 Daydream 3.35
Four Preludes John Ireland (1879 - 1962) 11.06
5 The Undertone 4.01
6 Obsession 2.20
7 The Holy Boy 2.56
8 Fire of Spring 1.49
9 The Almond Trees John Ireland (1879 - 1962) 4.06
10 Summer Evening John Ireland (1879 - 1962) 4.13
11 Prelude in E-flat John Ireland (1879 - 1962) 5.13
12 Columbine John Ireland (1879 - 1962) 3.52
13 Merry Andrew John Ireland (1879 - 1962) 2.55
Three Pastels John Ireland (1879 - 1962) 8.39
14 A Grecian Lad 3.00
15 The Boy Bishop 3.57
16 Puck’s Birthday 1.42
17 Spring will not wait John Ireland (1879 - 1962) 4.06
18 Ballade of London Nights John Ireland (1879 - 1962) 7.20
Sea Idyll John Ireland (1879 - 1962) 12.07
19 Poco andante 3.57
20 Allegro appassionato 4.26
21 Andante mesto 3.44