Compiled in one album for the first time: Kurt Schwertsik's Piano Works. Albumblätter - 14 short works for friends, plus Cinque Nocturnes (Op 10b), Fantasia & Fuga (Op 105), Am Morgen vor der Reise (Op 119) and Eden-Bar Seefeld (Op 6). Includes contextual notes by the composer. Kurt Schwertsik's music is charactirised by ever-changing moods and is idiosyncratic with a refreshing lightness of touch. Though a pupil of Stockhausen, the composer rejected serialism in favour of new forms of tonality. His search for an 'alternative' modern culture draws inspiration from Satie and the Dada movement. His wide-ranging portfolio includes operas, ballets, the Irdische Klänge orchestral cycle, concertos for violin, alphorn, guitar, double bass, timpani, flute and trombone, numerous song cycles and Nachtmusiken- a nocturnal orchestral journey through wartime Vienna. ''the book is as stunning as the music within...the published collection fills a gap for accessible contemporary pieces that will be p layable by most pianists, and which embody artistic integrity, emotional honesty, mercurial humour and lyrical sincerity.'' - Andrew Eales, Pianodao