Laurence Crane’s music is thoroughly contemporary, but has hardly a dissonance in the whole 80 minutes of this CD. His music can be described as super-minimalist, but that would ignore the incredibly fine transitions of harmony and time embedded in his works. Ultimately this is music for the post-modernist age, and it can have no better advocate than Michael Finnissy, himself one of the foremost composers of our time.
“This is a fine piano recording, and Michael Finnissy’s peerless playing is of course unsurpassed in this kind of material. I admire Laurence Crane’s expressive mission and musical honesty, and am delighted to have been allowed a good long look into his output for solo piano. For me it was a little like peering into a coral reef in a glass-bottom boat – full of timeless beauty.”
Dominy Clements
“Underneath a facade of seeming simplicity lies music of great beauty, emotion and originality, written with sincerity in a language of timeless freshness. Crane’s art is too important and too beautiful to miss. This is an important issue, produced with marvellous, clear sound, very sympathetic performance, fine notes... buy it and enjoy.”
Bob Briggs
“Post modern minimalist piano music by a contemporary classical composer as played by a piano man that seems to be in synch with the composer... this almost feels like classical music for high tech minds.”
Chris Spector
“The music on this new CD from the adventurous Metier label is very quiet and simple. The effect is gently disturbing, even perplexing. The performances by Michael Finnissy seem just right; he doesn’t seek to make any dramatic points in the music. In a sense he allows the music to play itself, to make its own statement. Yet the emotional and technical difficulties should not be underestimated; Finnissy’s control throughout this long disc is admirable. The recording engineers are to be praised as well.”
David Hackbridge Johnson
