‘Moonlight’ by pianist Michael McHale is released this week by Ergodos. It follows on from the successful 2016 album ‘Schubert: Four Impromptus’ (also on Ergodos), in which McHale took four Franz Schubert pieces and programmed them alongside new works. In this release he does the same again, this time matching two significant sonatas by Ludwig van Beethoven (‘Moonlight’ and ‘Appassionata’) with two new preludes: Solas na Gealaí by Linda Buckley, and Raindrop Prelude by Áine Mallon.

As McHale describes this album, “for many years I have been interested in projects that bring together established canonic masterpieces with newly-commissioned works, something which I feel can provide a fresh context for appreciating both the old and the new.”

The works by Linda Buckley and Áine Mallon were commissioned by Moving On Music (with support from both the Arts Council and the Arts Council of Northern Ireland), and first performed together at an online event last July for West Cork Music. The recording is available from 24 February at ergodos.bandcamp.com/album/moonlight

Image of Michael McHale by Bjorn Kommerell