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Aurélie Samani (Pau) et Gabriela Ungureanu (Bucarest) se sont rencontrées au Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique de Paris, dans la classe de Christian Ivaldi, où leur passion pour la musique de chambre a réuni leurs quatre mains. Schubert a scellé leur amitié et leur complicité. Parallèlement à sa carrière de soliste, chacune a poursuivi le chemin d'abord discret, puis de plus en plus nécessaire de ce partage. Elles ont donc formé le Duo "Bohêmes" qui suggère la liberté de leur répertoire, repoussant les frontières de la Bohème de Dvorak, par exemple, jusqu'à l'Inde de Pitts ou la Chine fantasmée de Ravel. La générosité de leur engagement n'a du reste d'égale que l'enthousiasme et la sensibilité de leur jeu. Lauréates de plusieurs concours internationaux en piano solo ou en formation de chambre, elles ont obtenu ensemble en 2011 le Prix d'Interprétation au Concours International de Piano à Quatre Mains de Valberg et se sont engagées dans une série de concerts et de master-classes.

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CD - 7Airs&Fantasias Kings/Pitts £10
cdtpipm08
intensely pleasant music: 7 Airs & Fantasias and other piano music by John Pitts
performed by Steven Kings THE INDEPENDENT 4 stars 4 stars 4 stars 4 stars "deftly impressive"..... MUSICWEB INTERNATIONAL "brilliantly exciting"..."a colossal musical project that deserves admiration"..."Stunning and seriously impressive"...... NEW CLASSICS "beautifully played" ..... PIANO PROFESSIONAL "great character and emotional integrity...a thoroughly worthwhile project" ..... OPUSMUSICA "recomendable" ..... CLASSICALSOURCE "surely more than just 'intensely pleasant music'." ..... VENUE 4 stars 4 stars 4 stars 4 stars ..... INTERNATIONAL RECORD REVIEW "...an overall idiom of considerable charm... 'Intensely pleasant music'? Most certainly." ..... CROSS RHYTHMS 9/10 "this album is beautiful, moving and relaxing"...... MUSICAL OPINION 5 stars 5 stars 5 stars 5 stars 5 stars "a sensitive and intelligent creative personality".....
December 2013 - re-released by 1EqualMusic/Hyperion
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Read the numerous reviews.
NAXOS 8.557330
Tonus Peregrinus, Antony Pitts
Simon Halsey  new-classics.co.uk
For this inspiring new album, the composer Antony Pitts has made arrangements that refresh the tunes of well-known carols and puts them into four narrative sequences to tell the complete Christmas story. The carols, one chosen for each day in Advent, range from some of our most famous tunes to less familiar mediaeval items, as well as brand new music that includes a delightful setting of ‘O little town of Bethlehem’ by John Pitts.
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NAXOS 8.557681
Gibbons: Hymns and Songs of the Church
Tonus Peregrinus, Antony Pitts
Orlando Gibbons’ exquisite tunes and rock-solid basslines for the first English hymnbook, Hymnes and Songs of the Church (1623), were written to be sung and played both at home and in church. Specially realized by Antony Pitts and Alexander L’Estrange for this recording, the complete collection is interleaved with new English hymns and arranged in eight sequences following the Church’s liturgical year.  Includes John's "Thy way, not mine"
 
Music & Vision
The sequences include [Antony] Pitts' realisations of all the Gibbons Songs (except the few that are sung as unison lines) beautifully interspersed with original hymns by Antony Pitts, his two brothers John and James, and Alexander L'Estrange, the countertenor of the ensemble - and all with delightful stylistic and devotional cohesion.
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Dunelm Records DRD0238
Severnside Composers Alliance Inaugural Recital by Peter Jacobs, piano.
Recorded on 23rd February 2005 Michael Tippett Centre, Bath.
Geoffrey SELF (b. 1930)
Sonatina 1 [6:41]
Ivor GURNEY (1890-1937)
Preludes (first set) F #; A minor; D b; D # minor; D. (1921) [8:31]
Jolyon LAYCOCK (b. 1946)
L’Abri Pataud [3:40]
Richard BARNARD (b. 1977)
On Erin Shore [3:47]
Steven KINGS (b. 1962)
Fingers pointing to the Moon [10:33]
Ivor GURNEY (1890-1937)
Preludes 2nd set –Fragment; F minor; D; C; F # [4:19]
Susan COPPARD (b. 1937)
Round and Around (1995} [2:29]
John PITTS (b. 1976)
Aire 1; Fantasy 1; Fantasy 5. [9:41]
James PATTEN (b. 1936)
Nocturne 3; Nocturne 4. [8:57]
Sulyen CARADON (b. 1942)
Dorian Dirge [2:12]
Ivor GURNEY (1890-1937)
Preludes 3rd set C minor; F sharp (unfinished). (1924) [4:16]
Raymond WARREN (b. 1928)
Monody; Chaconne. [12:04]
 
John Pitts’ music reminds me of Herbert Howells’ Lambert’s Clavichord; not in idiom so much as his ‘picking up’ an older style of keyboard composition and re-presenting it for our times. One ‘Aire’ and two ‘Fantasys’ are given here. The former relying on ‘tune’ whilst the latter owes more to ‘pattern’. Fantasy 5 is based on a prelude by Bach. This is lovely music to listen to and shows a deep absorption of earlier styles but with a large degree of originality added for good measure.
...Aside from the Gurney the highlights for me are the Self, the Warren and the Pitts!
 
Calum MacDonald  International Record Review - October 2005
Three Pieces - an Aire and two Fantasies by John Pitts (b.1976) are intensely pleasant music with a serene rhythmic sense and a sure harmonic ear.
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Dunelm Records DRD0243 [73:14]
Steven Kings and Christopher Northam (pianists).
Recorded ‘LIVE’ at a recital given in the Bristol Music Club 14 May 2005.
Bohuslav MARTINU (1890-1959)
Three Czech Dances (1949) [16:31];
David BEDFORD (b.1932)
Hoquetus David (1987) [5:02];
John PITTS (b.1976)
Changes (1995) [3:34];
Robin HOLLOWAY (b.1943)
Gilded Goldbergs Suite (1997) [23:26];
Jolyon LAYCOCK (b.1946)
Die! A1 Sparrow (2002) [11:51];
Francis POULENC (1899-1963)
Élégie (1959) [6:15];
Witold LUTOSLAWSKI (1913-1994)
Paganini Variations (1941) [5:50].
 
The only work for piano duet – four hands on one piano – is by John Pitts, the secretary of the Severnside Composers’ Alliance, and his short minimalist Changes is great fun, with players in such great command that quaver patterns of 14 against 15 sound to provide no difficulties – amazing!
Very well recommended.

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Vox Novus 796873087025
60x60 is a project containing 60 compositions from 60 different composers, each composition 60 seconds or less in duration.
Double disc set - 2006 and 2007 mixes.
Includes John's "60 second Fantasy VII".
 
Stephen Eddins, All Music Guide
Among the most memorable tracks are haunting electronic pieces by Brad Decker and Al Margolis; Journey to the Light by Tuan Hung Le, based in Vietnamese folk traditions; Andrea Vigani's sparkling Post scripta; and John Pitts' Nancarrowian 60 Second Fantasy VII. The terrific concept and the quality of many of the miniatures make this a CD that should be of interest to fans of new music.