Leprechaun’s Leap (1940)
Meadowsweet from In My Garden: Summertime (1947)
Alpine Bluebell from In My Garden: Summertime (1947)
Amber Leaves from In My Garden: Autumntime (1946)
6am – The Milkman: Scherzo from Three Syncopated Rambles (1933)
Postman’s Knock (1951)
Ladybird Lullaby from Insect Oddities (1940)
Praying Mantis from Insect Oddities (1940)
Beguine Impromptu (1952)
Pastoral from Three Contrasts op.24 (1929)
Minuet for Pamela (1945)
April’s Fool (1945)
Weeping Willow: An Idylle (1932)
Antiquary from Piano Exaggerations (1926)
Siberian Lament (1934)
From a Spanish Lattice: A Southern Tone Picture (1938)
Clowning from The Big Top (1948)
Entrance of the Trick Cyclists from The Big Top (1948)
Trapeze from The Big Top (1948)
The Forgotten Forest: A Poem (1945)
The Cherry Dance from Three Japanese Pictures op.25 (1931)
Song of the Fir-tree: A Swedish Impression (1938)
Jill all Alone (1955)
Phil the Fluter’s Ball [W Percy French arr: Mayerl] (1938)

Leslie De’Ath (piano)
Recorded at Maureen Forrester Recital Hall, Faculty of Music, Wilfrid Laurier University, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada, 24 November & 9 December 2007

CDLX 7211

Canadian pianist Leslie De’Ath, in an interlude from his acclaimed Dutton Epoch Cyril Scott series, presents an unmissable and toe-tapping survey of the syncopated popular piano music of British composer Billy Mayerl. De’Ath’s virtuosity and light touch are on display throughout these twenty-four charming selections, all of which demonstrate his affinity with Mayerl’s music. Mayerl once said, “I own quite frankly that I am a commercial composer... I am not rich enough to become a ‘good’ composer.” De’Ath points out in his typically eloquent liner note accompanying the CD: “Implicit in this statement is his conviction that he possessed everything it took to become a serious composer except means, and deliberately chose otherwise. The world is richer for that decision, and it is pointless to speculate on what he might have accomplished had he pursued a different life course. His music is masterfully crafted and full of imaginative melodic, harmonic and rhythmic detail. But its great strength lies in its utter lack of pretence. This is light music at its finest.” How true.