Edmund Finnis - Youth

This album for Pentatone features beautifully evocative music written for Clare by Edmund Finnis. It won an Edison Klassiek Award and Presto Classical's 'EP of the Year' Award in 2024. Listen here.

Youth is a piano cycle in ten movements, each of which recalls an image, sense of place, significant encounter or moment of vivid perception. Evocative and enchanting, it was inspired by childhood experiences as well as the artworks of Daniel Buren, Helen Frankenthaler and Vilhelm Hammershøi. The album closes with Lullaby for Emmeline, commissioned by Clare and her husband on the occasion of their second daughter's birth.

"The impressionistic sound paintings of the album Youth immediately transport you to another world. A world with many facets: sometimes pulsating and rhythmically rippling, then again quiet or tender, but always exciting and interesting. Music that is not only beautiful, but also full of character. Composer Edmund Finnis has found the ideal performer for his visual music in pianist Clare Hammond, who is equally at home in classical piano repertoire as new music, and she brings each piece to life perfectly." (Jury, Edison Klassiek Awards 2024).

The album was released in full on the 2 February 2024 and is available here.

Youth was commissioned by Clare with support from the John S Cohen Foundation, Hinrichsen Foundation and Vaughan Williams Foundation.