Nocturnes: Music for Two Pianos

Pianist Craig Armstrong has been around for some years, with his reputation spreading beyond his native Scotland and into crossover piano territory. It has grown to a point where this 2021 release landed in the top reaches of classical charts. In addition to solo piano music -- a category into which this release falls, for he played and recorded both parts of these nocturnes during coronavirus lockdowns -- he has composed film music. These 14 nocturnes reflect that background, with each short piece (from one to five minutes long) reflecting a single mood or affect. Theyre distinct from one another and yet hang together as a whole. Armstrongs influences include Ryuichi Sakamoto, who also wrote film music, and Max Richter, whose easy-on-the-ears but not artless music seems to be growing ever more popular. The art in Armstrongs music lies not in his tonalities, which are basic, but in his combination of rhythms which are simple in themselves but reveal subtlety in their juxtaposition if listeners immerse themselves. A few minutes of sampling are likely to reveal listeners basic sympathy or lack thereof for the music here; try Nocturne 11, where his debt to Sakamoto is especially clear.