REVIEWS
Severnside Inaugurual Recital, Peter jacobs (piano)
Dunelm Records DRD0238 [78.22]
John Pitts’ music reminds me of Herbert Howells’ Lambert’s Clavichord; not in idiom so much as his ‘picking up’ an older style of keyboard composition and re-presenting it for our times. One ‘Aire’ and two ‘Fantasys’ are given here. The former relying on ‘tune’ whilst the latter owes more to ‘pattern’. Fantasy 5 is based on a prelude by Bach. This is lovely music to listen to and shows a deep absorption of earlier styles but with a large degree of originality added for good measure.
...Aside from the Gurney the highlights for me are the Self, the Warren and the Pitts!
 Calum MacDonald International Record Review - October 2005
Three Pieces - an Aire and two Fantasies by John Pitts (b.1976) are intensely pleasant music with a serene rhythmic sense and a sure harmonic ear.
John Pitts’ selection from his decorative Aires and Fantasies is more companionable – the 2nd Fantasy (his No 5) based enigmatically on a Bach Prelude, with some rich and evocative chords. I would have liked to hear more of this music.
A Recital By Two Pianists, Steve Kings & Christopher Northam
DUNELM RECORDS DRD0243 [73:14]
The only work for piano duet – four hands on one piano – is by John Pitts, the secretary of the Severnside Composers’ Alliance, and his short minimalist Changes is great fun, with players in such great command that quaver patterns of 14 against 15 sound to provide no difficulties – amazing!
Very well recommended.
The Naxos Book of Carols, Tonus Peregrinus
NAXOS 8.557330
For this inspiring new album, the composer Antony Pitts has made arrangements that refresh the tunes of well-known carols and puts them into four narrative sequences to tell the complete Christmas story. The carols, one chosen for each day in Advent, range from some of our most famous tunes to less familiar mediaeval items, as well as brand new music that includes a delightful setting of ‘O little town of Bethlehem’ by John Pitts.
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