Piano Music
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If you like Copland and Prokofiev, then you'll find Lees' music in the same tradition.

There is a fact in American music that can no longer be overlooked. There are a great number of composers over 65 who are very important and who are routinely overlooked by the major labels. This is shameful. In the fifties the music of Benjamin Lees, relatively speaking, was everywhere; the concert hall, RCA Victor, Turnabout, Louisville. So, when you have a magnificent pianist, Ian Hobson, performing the music of an equally magnificent composer, Benjamin Lees, you have an important disc. The Piano Sonata No. 4 was commissioned by the Ford Foundation for Gary Graffman and given its world premiere in Norfolk, Virginia. The Fantasy Variations are dedicated to Emanuel Ax who gave them their world premiere on February 1, 1984 at the Kaufmann Concert Hall in New York City. Mirrors, in six sections was composed for Ian Hobson. The first four sections were premiered by Mr. Hobson in Orchestra Hall in Chicago. Since that premiere in 1992, Mr. Lees has added two more sections. Since the work is open ended, there is no telling how many sections it will ultimately have. Here we have a disc that will really appeal to all lovers of contemporary American piano music: no - in fact, contemporary music in general.
Contents:
Benjamin Lees, composer
Piano Sonata No. 4
Ian Hobson, piano

Benjamin Lees, composer
Mirrors, in Six Sections
Ian Hobson, piano

Benjamin Lees, composer
Fantasy Variations
Ian Hobson, piano

Review:
"The rugged, restless, often contrapuntal piano music of American composer Benjamin Lees gets a virtuosic workout here with pianist Ian Hobson.the spareness of Lees's harmonies and the clarity of his musical narrative coexist with haunting bursts of lyricism and a continual exploitation of hard, tensile piano sonorities. He sounds a bit like an American Frank Martin. This is intellectually stimulating, emotionally involving music, powerfully performed, with realistic, unadorned piano sound." (American Record Guide)
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