Ireland - The Towing-Path

One year ago today, our beloved mongrel Wally had just died in the early morning and I was recording the Granados Valse Poéticos with a heavy heart. Today things look quite a bit brighter, even despite the dismal weather. Largely thanks to our new doggo Edward who has lightened up our days since February. My wife had proposed to name him Elgar, but I thought this little too way out for the Netherlands (not wanting to explain the name to everybody) , so we compromised on Edward. Sentimentally, I dedicate my recording, the last one of this year, to this little prince. Happy New Year 2024 to all my listeners !
Here is another lovely piece by John Ireland, named The Towing-Path. It was composed in 1918 and has no dedication. It's one of these blissful pastoral pieces that only English composers know the secret of.
Chris Breemer, piano
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Recording date: Sunday December 31, 2023
Piano: Kawai Novus NV10S
Setting: SK-EX Warm
Postprocessing: Bass boost, Concert Hall Light reverb
Art work: Towing path alongside the Thames, Maidenhead, Berkshire (20th century, unknown author)

[@marksevern9339]

Thanks Chris. A charming piece. To my ear, you can sense the influence that Ravel and Debussy had on his music. What a lovely tribute to your beloved Wally.

[@ChrisBreemer]

Thanks Mark !

[@pianothingsmusic]

Wonderful 🥹 I haven’t heard this poetic and sentimental piece before, it was a delight to listen to you, Chris 👏🏻

[@ChrisBreemer]

Thanks ! In my opinion, Ireland should be in every pianist's repertoire. He wrote immensely attractive music, expertly written for the piano, a joy to practice and play. Sometimes rather difficult, but often really accessible like this one here.

[@RileyTuckerMusic]

Bravo Chris, a heartfelt tribute to Wally. I'm picturing a nice walking path that Wally might've been on for a walk. We had a nice trail next to the river where I grew up, and many neighbors would bring their dogs there. This music is very peaceful and has a nice symmetry to it, ending where it began, perhaps like a circle trail.

[@ChrisBreemer]

Thank Riley. The little insert in the intro is Edward, we love him lots too 😍 And sure, he'd like it there.

[@AB-piano]

The traditional repertoire is fantastic and deserves to be maintained. But it’s so great that there are “new” things being shown. I only met Ireland because of you, Chris. (And so many other things). Your performance is excellent, tender, sweet and very expressive. It had me hooked from start to finish! An unimportant observation: I loved this angle of the recording. An unimportant question: how many inches does your tablet/IPad have a screen? Mine is 9.6 inches, but I've found it small, because of my eye problems. Greetings from Brazil!

[@ChrisBreemer]

Many thanks for your feedback Andre ! I think my channel, if nothing else, is a good place to discover repertoire. Do further investigate Ireland, he was a phenomenal piano composer. My iPad Pro is 12.9 inch. I'd have bought a bigger one had there been one, but actually this is just about big enough. I can imagine that, even without eye problems, 9.6 is rather uncomfortable.