Peter Lawson
Erik Satie Piano Music
Music For Pleasure (UK) 1980
CFP 40329 (LP)
sleeve : EX-(WC)
media : EX-/EX-(some slightly surface noise and some slightly click noise.)
Released in 1980, this album comes from Manchester-born pianist Peter Lawson, who studied under Derrick Wyndham and Sulamita Aronovsky, and went on to build a wide-ranging repertoire spanning Baroque music through to contemporary jazz. Lawson was also active as a soloist with the vast majority of the UK’s orchestras—no small credential. Here, he turns his attention to the compositions of Erik Satie, the composer of Musique d’ameublement (Furniture Music), whose ideas famously had a profound influence on Brian Eno in the conception of ambient music. The program includes 11 pieces in total, led by Satie’s ever-familiar classics “Gymnopédies” and “Gnossiennes,” tunes almost everyone has heard at least once. Rather than indulging in grand gestures, Lawson’s calm, unadorned approach leaves a beautifully understated impression. A gently flowing, highly comfortable listen throughout—equally perfect as attentive listening or as refined music for the interior. Highly agreeable stuff.