Pianist Peter Lawson cultivates a full and resonant sonority and wide
dynamic range that suits the rugged registral valleys mapped by Carter
and Copland in their respective sonatas. He lavishes similar care over
the delicate harmonic twists throughout Griffes' Sonata and lovingly
tends the spacious, transcendent lyricism Charles Ives spins when he's
not bashing out good dissonances like a man. Listen, for instance, to
Lawson's sustained calm and delicately placed "celesta" notes midway
through Ives' Three Page Sonata, or to his twinkling dispatch of the
Copland Sonata's zesty middle movement. Lawson sustains the slow
movement of Roger Sessions' gnarly Second Sonata as eloquently as Robert
Helps' more texturally differentiated live recording (CRI), and offers a
cogent, somewhat reserved foil to Charles Rosen's more amply engineered
and dramatically colored Elliott Carter Sonata (Bridge). by Jed Distler
1. Sonata for Piano in E flat minor, Op. 26 by Samuel Barber
Length: 19 Minutes 46 Secs.
Performer: Peter Lawson (Piano)
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1949; USA
Date of Recording: 1989
Venue: EMI Abbey Road Studio no 1, London, UK
2. Sonata for Piano "Three Page" by Charles Ives
Performer: Peter Lawson (Piano)
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1905; USA
Date of Recording: 1989
Venue: EMI Abbey Road Studio no 1, London, UK
Length: 7 Minutes 16 Secs.
3. Sonata for Piano no 2 by Roger Sessions
Performer: Peter Lawson (Piano)
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1946; USA
Date of Recording: 1991
Venue: EMI Abbey Road Studio no 1, London, UK
Length: 15 Minutes 15 Secs.
4. Sonata for Piano no 1 by Charles Ives
Performer: Peter Lawson (Piano)
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1901-1909; USA
Date of Recording: 1991
Venue: EMI Abbey Road Studio no 1, London, UK
Length: 39 Minutes 18 Secs.
5. Sonata for Piano in G major by Aaron Copland
Performer: Peter Lawson (Piano)
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1920-1921; USA
Date of Recording: 1989
Venue: EMI Abbey Road Studio no 1, London, UK
Length: 23 Minutes 43 Secs.
6. Sonata for Piano by Elliott Carter
Performer: Peter Lawson (Piano)
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1945-1946; USA
Date of Recording: 1989
Venue: EMI Abbey Road Studio no 1, London, UK
Length: 24 Minutes 11 Secs.
7. Sonata for Piano by Charles T. Griffes
Length: 17 Minutes 25 Secs.
Performer: Peter Lawson (Piano)
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1917-1918; USA
Date of Recording: 1991
Venue: EMI Abbey Road Studio no 1, London, UK 
