CD 1: 2 songs from Three Romances, Op. 3 6 songs from Nine Songs after Goethe, Op. 6 Two Poems, Op. 13 4 songs from Twelve Songs after Goethe, Op. 15 3 songs from Six Poems after Goethe, Op. 18 5 songs from Eight Poems, Op. 24 4 songs from Seven Poems, Op. 28 4 songs from Seven Poems after Pushkin, Op. 29
CD 2: 3 songs from Six Poems, Op. 32 5 songs from Six Poems after Pushkin, Op. 36 3 songs from Five Poems, Op. 37 3 songs from Four Poems, Op. 45 3 songs from Seven Poems, Op. 46 2 songs from Seven Songs on Poems by Pushkin, Op. 52 4 songs from Eight Songs, Op. 61
Following the rapturous reception given to his complete Rachmaninov: Songs on Delphian, pianist Iain Burnside set out to bring together six regular collaborators in a survey of songs by Nikolai Medtner. Born into a family that was both prosperous and well read, Medtner was deeply immersed in the heady intellectualism of the era. More than any other genre, his songs exemplify his dual German/Russian heritage, manifest in his devotion to both Goethe and Pushkin. Musically, too, there are paradoxes, with the self-proclaimed defiant conservative’s work shot through with moments of striking modernity. Pianistically, he was a giant – the writing makes Herculean demands of the player – yet he is often most eloquent when simplest. From an output of over 100 songs, Burnside has selected just over fifty, carefully matching them to his chosen singers to reveal a compositional voice that is itself unique.