Chris Beier - Scarborough Variations (2018) [Hi-Res]

"Scarborough Variations" is the title of a work available for some time now in various versions and recordings. With this album it can now finally be heard on its own. "Scarborough Variations" is also the title of the whole disc. As with "Aeolian Green", these are recordings which radiate their magical effects from the very first note. (From the liner notes by Michael Wollny)

On hearing this music one asks oneself again and again how it is that these harmonies resonate the lowest strings in one’s own being, quite why these melodies stick around in one's head for hours and for days, and how a piano can sound both so archaic and so perfect at the same time. […] Every note in this music calls out to the listener, ushering in a timeless present in which things in and around us miraculously unscramble themselves. (Michael Wollny, Leipzig, 2018)

Music that flows quietly but energetically as it continuously creates new colours and harmonies Chris Beier is an incomparable pianist, who “has created a highly individual style” (Süddeutsche Zeitung)

Chris Beier, piano

Recorded by Michael Hanf at Schüttbau, Rügheim, March 30 - April 1, 2009
Mixed and mastered by Klaus Scheuermann, March 2018
Produced by Chris Beier