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Andalusian Fantasy
Lionel Sainsbury composer and pianist
The Spanish tradition of flamenco music, by way of Paco Peña and Paco de Lucia, has significantly influenced the classical music world. Now composer and pianist Lionel Sainsbury explores the fiery passion and harmonic tension of flamenco on his latest Navona Records release ANDALUSIAN FANTASY.
The composer says of his affinity for flamenco music, “It has been described as containing ‘the brilliance of the guitar playing, the haunting laments of the singers, and the electrifying rhythms of the dancers.’ It’s that triumvirate, and its incredible complexity that appeals to me – that dark passion, almost a blackness, or duende, a wonderful, untranslatable Spanish word that combines nostalgia and suffering.” The composer-pianist translates the flavor of the flamenco guitar to the keyboard, with his polished and intricate technique and agile playing.
This album of Sainsbury’s impassioned and virtuosic solo piano works also includes Nocturne, South American Suite, and Twelve Preludes, elaborately reflecting his influences from classical, jazz and blues, honoring the styles and works of Chopin, Rachmaninov, Gershwin, Ravel, Scriabin, and more.
From passion, tension, and intensity to sensuality, languidness, and mystery, Sainsbury’s emotionally complex and reflective writing takes on several forms, such as the hypnotic Cuban Fantasy and the evocative Esquisse, works which also express the sense of longing found in the flamenco tradition.
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Artist Information
Lionel Sainsbury
Lionel Sainsbury began to play the piano at an early age and soon started to compose his own music. Born in Wiltshire, England, in 1958, he studied composition with Patric Standford at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London. At the age of 21 he was awarded a Mendelssohn Scholarship, which brought him into contact with composers as diverse as Edmund Rubbra, John McCabe and Henri Dutilleux.
