I Dream a World (CD)

From award-winning Australian/Sierra Leonean pianist Tonya Lemoh, an album of utterly enchanting solo piano music featuring works by Elena Kats-Chernin, Samuel Coleridge-Taylor and Florence Price, plus Robert Schumann’s iconic Scenes from Childhood.

The title of this album was inspired by Harlem Renaissance poet Langston Hughes’ poem I Dream a World. The concept of the album was inspired by Lemoh’s father, a Sierra Leonean paediatrician: his unshakeable faith in the uniquely precious state of childhood, and the hope that each new generation represents of a better future. ‘The works explore childhood from different angles,’ says Lemoh. ‘Some capture my own nostalgia and memories of childhood, while others are connected to the rich cultural heritage in the music of Africa, Europe, America and Australia.’

TRACK LIST

SAMUEL COLERIDGE-TAYLOR (1875–1912)
1. They Will Not Lend Me a Child
2. Oloba
3. Sometimes I Feel like a Motherless Child

FLORENCE PRICE (1887–1953)
4. Child Asleep
5. His Dream
6. Nimble Feet (Dances in the Canebrakes No. 1)

TONYA LEMOH
Two Mende Melodies
7. I. Homage to Samuel Coleridge-Taylor
8. II. Mende Lullaby

ROBERT SCHUMANN (1810–1856)
Kinderszenen (Scenes from Childhood), Op. 15[19’19]
9. I. Von fremden Ländern und Menschen (Of Foreign Lands and Peoples)
10. II. Curiose Geschichte (A Curious Story)
11. III. Hasche-Mann (Blind Man’s Buff)
12. IV. Bittendes Kind (Pleading Child)
13. V. Glückes genug (Quite Contented)
14. VI. Wichtige Begebenheit (An Important Event)
15. VII. Träumerei (Daydreaming)
16. VIII. Am Kamin (At the Fireside)
17. IX. Ritter vom Steckenpferd (Knight of the Hobby-Horse)
18. X. Fast zu ernst (Almost Too Serious)
19. XI. Fürchtenmachen (Frightening)
20. XII. Kind im Einschlummern (Child Falling Asleep)
21. XIII. Der Dichter spricht (The Poet Speaks)

ELENA KATS-CHERNIN (born 1957)
Five pieces from ‘Piano Village’:
22. Lullaby for Nick
23. April Code
24. Blue Tears
25. Green Leaf Prelude
26. Eliza Aria

Tonya Lemoh piano