SAK 4610-1

Howard Skempton – British composer in the experimental tradition – is known to have written well over a hundred short piano pieces. "But if the piano pieces are 'the central nervous system' of my work, then the music for accordion definitely is the heart", he says. On Home and Abroad Skempton plays almost everything he has written for the small accordion he bought in 1971 for performing with the Scratch Orchestra. Exquisitely simple and stunningly beautiful – all the way from um-pah to ethereal eternity. "Skempton achieves an admirable balance between the rigorous compositional structure of the works and the sheer pleasure of hearing them. Delightful." (The Wire)

Cakes and Ale (1984) (2:33)
One for the Road (1976) (1:27)
Small Change* (1985) (2:01)
Under the Elder* (1982) (1:17)
Crane’s Waltz (1991) (1:30)
Recessional* (1983) (2:06)
merry-go-round (1978) (2:01)
Corsham Street (1992) (2:22)
Something of an Occasion (1986) (2:45)
Pendulum (1978) (1:17)
Slow Waltz (1973) (1:23)
Ada’s Dance (1975) (1:55)
Twin Set (1984) (1:30)
Wedding Tune (1983) (1:52)
Home and Abroad (1985) (1:32)
Axis (1986) (2:39)
Christmas Melody (1983) (3:00)
Deeply Shaded (1975) (2:06)
Summer Waltz (1975) (1:17)
Romance (1982) (1:01)
Hurdy-gurdy (1982) (0:46)
Gentle Melody (1974) (2:31)
Axis 2 (1986) (4:27)
Parsons’ Waltz (1996) (1:31)
Hornpipe (1982) (1:23)
Second Suite (1985) (1:11, 1:56, 1:47, 1:22)
Third Suite, Third Movement (1985) (1:39)
Pendulum (1978) (1:49)
Not-Very-Long-Song (1972) (1:05)
Adjö (1993) (2:42)

Total time 66:36
All first recordings, except *