Eloquence Dohnanyi: Nursery Variations; Liszt: Totentanz; Rachmaninov: Paganini Rhapsody; Lutoslawski: Paganini Variations CD

It is commonplace to observe how little separates the cradle from the grave. For some, the words ‘womb’, ‘room’, ‘doom’ and ‘tomb’ have sufficed to encapsulate the human experience. When infant mortality rates in the developed countries were higher than they are today, families could hardly help being reminded that last night’s lullaby might be replaced by a funeral dirge tomorrow. Because of war, disease and poverty, there was no reason to assume that every infant would reach adulthood. Frightening a small child with stories about the Devil may have had a practical purpose in some families beyond simply encouraging his or her obedience. No soul, not even that of an innocent child, was impervious and immune to diabolical influences. (Thus, the success of movies such as ‘The Exorcist’ even today.) One was never too young to understand the eternal consequences of temptation and of sin. Nevertheless, if it is Satan’s nature to mock mankind, it is in the nature of men and women – composers among them – to mock him right back. The four works on this CD allude to these truths in various ways.