| The Memory Garden is an enticing programme of English music, old and new, played with incredible sensitivity and intelligence by one of Britain’s finest young guitarists. The album is bookended with the music of John Dowland, beginning with one of Dowland’s preludes and ending with Benjamin Britten’s epic Nocturnal, which is a set of inverse variations on Dowland’s song, Come heavy sleep. Malcolm Arnold’s Fantasy for Guitar gives a wonderful segue into two new pieces by Laura Snowden and Dani Howard, both of which make a superb and compelling contribution to the guitar repertoire. This is Jack Hancher’s debut recording.
01. Praeludium, P. 98
02. Fantasia in G Major, P. 1
03. Forlorn Hope Fancy, P. 2
04. Fantasy for Guitar, Op. 107 I. Prelude
05. Fantasy for Guitar, Op. 107 II. Scherzo
06. Fantasy for Guitar, Op. 107 III. Arietta I
07. Fantasy for Guitar, Op. 107 IV. Fughetta
08. Fantasy for Guitar, Op. 107 V. Arietta II
09. Fantasy for Guitar, Op. 107 VI. March
10. Fantasy for Guitar, Op. 107 VII. Postlude
11. The Memory Garden
12. You Don’t Have To Tell Me Twice
13. Nocturnal after John Dowland, Op. 70 I. Musingly
14. Nocturnal after John Dowland, Op. 70 II. Very Agitated
15. Nocturnal after John Dowland, Op. 70 III. Restless
16. Nocturnal after John Dowland, Op. 70 IV. Uneasy
17. Nocturnal after John Dowland, Op. 70 V. March-like
18. Nocturnal after John Dowland, Op. 70 VI. Dreaming
19. Nocturnal after John Dowland, Op. 70 VII. Gently Rocking
20. Nocturnal after John Dowland, Op. 70 VIII. Passacaglia
21. Nocturnal after John Dowland, Op. 70 IX. Slow and Quiet |
