Godard: Piano Works, Vol. 2

Though he died in his mid-forties Benjamin Godard, a child prodigy who had entered the Paris Conservatoire at the age of ten, wrote prolifically in almost all genres. Stylistically he adhered to models such as Schumann and Chopin rather than aligning himself with Wagner. Spanning the breadth of Godard’s compositional career, this recording draws together a broad selection of piano works from the relatively early Trois Fragments Poétiques, Op.13, with their long-spun lyrical melodies, to later works such as the Fantaisie which demonstrates his more virtuosic side. Composed across two decades, the Nocturnes from the early 1890s are sometimes spiced with unusual harmonies and balance perfectly the differing demands of the salon and the concert hall.