Welcome to Hyperion Records, an independent British classical label devoted to presenting high-quality recordings of music of all styles and from all periods from the twelfth century to the twenty-first.

Hyperion offers both CDs, and downloads in a number of formats. The site is also available in several languages.

Please use the dropdown buttons to set your preferred options, or use the checkbox to accept the defaults.

Click cover art to view larger version
Track(s) taken from CDA67536

Ses yeux 'Polka de concert', RO235 Op 66

composer
1865; piano four hands
arranger
circa 1872; Mainz

Philip Martin (piano)
Recording details: December 2004
All Saints' Church, East Finchley, London, United Kingdom
Produced by Martin Compton
Engineered by Julian Millard
Release date: September 2005
Total duration: 6 minutes 19 seconds
 

Reviews

‘Quite early in the 14-year period that covers these eight volumes the Dublin-born pianist matured into becoming the pre-eminent Gottschalk interpreter. He understands exactly his stylistic range, from the mellifluous Italianate melody of the salon to sheer virtuosity, but without any exaggeration’ (Gramophone)

‘These are sympathetic performances, glowingly recorded’ (BBC Music Magazine)

‘Another neglected area of the 19th-century repertoire has been thoroughly explored and superbly championed by Martin’ (The Guardian)

‘Effective performance of this music requires striking a series of delicate balances: between the learned and the popular, between the progressive and the traditional, between the sensual and the self-conscious. And if you've been following this series, you'll know that no current Gottschalkian catches these special ambiguities more consistently than Philip Martin’ (International Record Review)

‘A beautifully produced disc that is impossible to play without smiling’ (The Times)

‘This is one of the great piano recordings of recent years. Not since the exquisitely chiseled, delicately nuanced playing of such past greats as Wilhelm Kempff, Stefan Askenase, and Walter Gieseking have I heard anything so hypnotically well performed. This release leaves no doubt that Martin is one of today's finest keyboard artists’ (Fanfare, USA)

‘Martin plays every piece with such conviction that value judgements on this music's qualities seem almost churlish … the recording itself is of the very highest standards with superb presence, as we expect from Hyperion’ (International Piano)
One of his happiest creations, Ses Yeux is quintessential Gottschalk. It might be a celebration of the end of the Civil War, ‘dashing and relentlessly optimistic’ as Richard Jackson observes in the introduction to his valuable selection of Gottschalk’s music (Dover Publications, 1973). The penultimate section (con bravura) could easily be a march by Sousa.

Originally written for two pianos, the solo version that Philip Martin plays here is by Gottschalk’s friend, the Brazilian pianist and publisher Arthur Napoleão. On four occasions, in order to accommodate the figurations in the second piano part, Napoleão introduces a third hand at the top of the keyboard with the instruction: ‘to play it like the arranger, double the number of notes, playing four [demisemiquavers] instead of two [semiquavers], and change alternate hands every four notes’. Rather than this circus act, Philip Martin has remained with the published score, overdubbing the additional line himself.

from notes by Jeremy Nicholas © 2005

Typique de Gottschalk, qui signe là une de ses plus heureuses créations, cette œuvre «pimpante et implacablement optimiste»—comme le fait remarquer Richard Jackson dans l’introduction de sa précieuse anthologie de la musique de Gottschalk (Dover Publications, 1973)—célèbre peut-être la fin de la Guerre civile. L’avant-dernière section (con bravura) pourrait tout à fait être une marche de Sousa.

Philip Martin nous propose ici une version solo (l’œuvre originale était pour deux pianos) due à l’ami de Gottschalk, le pianiste et éditeur brésilien Arthur Napoleão. À quatre reprises, ce dernier s’adapta aux figurations de la seconde partie de piano en introduisant une troisième main en haut du clavier, avec cette instruction: «à jouer comme l’arrangeur, doubler le nombre de notes, en exécutant quatre [triples croches] au leiu de deux [doubles croches], et alterner les mains toutes les quatre notes». Plutôt que de se livrer à ce numéro de cirque, Philip Martin s’en est tenu à la version publiée et a lui-même doublé la ligne supplémentaire.

extrait des notes rédigées par Jeremy Nicholas © 2005
Français: Hypérion

Ses Yeux ist eine der fröhlichsten Schöpfungen des Komponisten und typisch Gottschalk. Vielleicht feiert sie das Ende des Bürgerkrieges. „Schneidig und unbeirrbar optimistisch“ beschrieb Richard Jackson das Stück in der Einführung zu seiner wertvollen Sammlung von Gottschalks Musik (Dover Publications, 1973). Der vorletzte Abschnitt (con bravura) könnte fast ein Marsch von Sousa sein.

Ursprünglich war das Stück für zwei Klaviere gedacht. Die Fassung für einen Pianisten, die Philip Martin hier auf dieser CD spielt, stammt von Gottschalks Freund, dem brasilianischen Pianisten und Verleger Arthur Napoleão. Um den Verzierungen in der zweiten Klavierstimme gerecht zu werden, führt Napoleão an vier Stellen eine dritte Hand im oberen Teil der Tastatur ein mit dem Hinweis: „um das wie der Bearbeiter zu spielen, verdopple die Anzahl der Noten, spiele vier [Sechsunddreißigstelnoten] anstatt zwei [Sechszehntelnoten], und wechsle die Hand nach jeder vierten Note“. Statt dieses Zirkusakts hielt sich Philip Martin an die veröffentlichte Partitur und nahm die zusätzliche Stimme getrennt auf.

aus dem Begleittext von Jeremy Nicholas © 2005
Deutsch: Elke Hockings

Other albums featuring this work

Gottschalk: The Complete Solo Piano Music
CDS44451/88CDs Boxed set (at a special price) — Download only
Waiting for content to load...
Waiting for content to load...