Charles Villiers Stanford: Scherzo Marziale, No. 3 from 'Night Thoughts' , Op. 148

Description

Stanford (1852-1924), friend of Brahms, and respected Irish teacher and composer, is not well known for his piano music, which is however worth investigating. His substantial 'Night Thoughts' set dates from May 1917. I recorded the 'Soliloquy' (no. 4) in September 2007, and have enjoyed returning to this work. This scherzo would almost be a perfect Brahms pastiche were it not for the individual (and very ungermanic) melodic material. The marking 'marziale' is unusual in a scherzo - but that ...