Review by MusicWeb International: Steve Law stands in an illustrious tradition as composer and pianist. At first self-taught he later studied music at Bristol University. His Masters was founded on the jazz opera ‘Heaven on Earth’ which is reportedly ‘a significant contribution to the genre’. It would be good to hear it. His transcriptions and arrangements for Dudley Moore and Jack Gibbons have been performed in the UK and United States. He currently concentrates on song-writing and also teaches. Mention of Jack Gibbons is particularly apposite. Listening to these kaleidoscopically varied works one might also cite Nikolai Kapustin, Will Todd and Lionel Sainsbury as cousins in music. The music is lively and dreamy in a grand manner rooted in the language of John Ireland (On a May Morning and Amberley Wild Brooks), William Baines (Thoughtdrift and Island of the Fey) and Billy Mayerl in his more dreamy-poetic moments. In the extended and ambitious four-movement Piano Sonata the hallmarks are all present: engagement with melody, subtle shifting impressionistic atmosphere, a swaying bluesy slide and jazzy syncopation. The Largo rises to a dignified and beautiful grandeur which is sustained into the final Allegro Appassionato. There’s a great deal of satisfying music-making here. There are five preludes here. The F sharp one has that sea-w**d tidal sway heard in the green depths of the Sonata. The G minor dates from 1991 but was revised in 2006 has a similar character but with less complexity and a more hypnotic effect - at least on the surface. The A flat has a more muscular jazzy undertow and the strength of loud bell-towers. The B flat minor is liquidly warm and dreamy. There is more foot-tapping drama and joyous urgency in the B major. It makes a great calling card for this composer; I really liked this piece and instantly played it again. Theme for an American Movie has a big sentimental impact mixed with that broad and jazzy confidence heard elsewhere on the disc. The Waltz for Laura is the short version of the one of two pieces he wrote in memory of Laura Sadler - an actress best known from the BBC hospital soap, Holby City - who died in 2003. Its strengths are in a slowly burning passion and the immediacy of bell-figuration that crisses and crosses these pieces. Let’s hope for more from Steve Law. It would be good to hear him in a Piano Concerto and perhaps a sequence of Etudes-Tableaux. His music seems to promise good things. Rob Barnett My earliest sketches for the first sonata were made before I started university but most of the composition was done between 2005 and 2007. The first movement contrasts two themes, one mournful in C minor, the second lighter and in G major. A transitional motif is heard between the two. There is a long development section, the mood changes from reflective to jazzy and aggressive, slow to fast to slow. At the climax there is a grand statement of the second theme with rapid arpeggios. The mood then calms and there is a personal reference to Erroll Garner and Dudley Moore - both of whom made a deep impression on me. The second movement opens with fast quaver patterns in B flat minor which originate from the first three notes of the opening theme of the first movement. There is also a repeated note idea which is found in the last movement. During the middle of the allegro the first few notes of the first movement’s opening theme are inverted into the first few notes of the main theme of the last movement. There follows a brief section in A minor which runs through material from the last movement speeded up. The key then returns to B flat minor, the ‘transitional motif’ is hammered out in octaves before a slow and tender version of the opening of the last movement (Lento). The Largo opens with a sparse theme followed by a gently rocking second theme in B minor. Then a phrase with a slow dotted note rhythm is introduced which becomes the basis of a mysterious section with repeated note accompaniment. There follows a tender melodic development of the transitional motif and some anticipations of the last movement’s main theme. The music builds up from dream like versions of the two opening themes into more sweeping versions in E and B major with chords from both keys clashing at times. The finale is complex in rhythm, sometimes involving two different asymmetrical patterns set against each other out of phase. The idea of a fast movement which is both fast and sad was partly inspired by the last movement of Chopin’s third sonata. In between statements of the main theme there are episodes either recalling the hope theme from the first movement or developing material from the last movement. Later there is a sudden key change to C minor and the return of the sonata’s opening theme – first simultaneously combined with the last movement’s theme. The music then turns back to B minor, hammering the transitional motif into submission as arpeggios in the left hand sweep up the piano. There is a final statement of the last movement theme before the music subsides and ends with more arpeggios reaching upwards. The preludes on this disc are more developed pieces than fragments or sketches. The Prelude in F sharp is song like, the G minor Prelude melancholy and innocent, the A flat jazzy in feel and the B flat minor Prelude expressive and pensive. The Prelude in B is more virtuosic, contrasting a flowing first theme with sections in 7/8 time and a central theme in dotted rhythm and minor tonality. The actress Laura Sadler was best known from the BBC soap Holby City. In 2003 she tragically fell to her death from a balcony aged 22. Waltz for Laura (short version) is one of the two pieces I wrote in her memory. Theme for an American Movie is warmly romantic and melodic, an extract from a project influenced by American film composers such as John Williams and Aaron Copland. It is dedicated to the pianist and composer Neil Crossland. Programme notes © Steve Law 2009 Steve Law (b.1973) is a composer and pianist from London who studied music at Bristol University, receiving M Mus for his jazz opera Heaven on Earth which was described as ‘a significant contribution to the genre’. His transcriptions and arrangements for musicians such as Rena Fruchter, Jack Gibbons and Geoffrey Stern have been performed in the UK and United States. His note for note transcriptions of Dudley Moore’s album Songs Without Words are published by Faber. Steve’s music is characterised by melody, expressive harmony and rhythmic drive, fusing together pop, jazz and classical influences.