Pieces from Childhood

Geoffrey Tozer’s Pieces from Childhood offer a brief window onto a young genius finding his way in classical music. The emotions he shapes – sometimes tumultuous, sometimes meditative – are the embodiment of a growing artist.

Lachlan Redd piano

Geoffrey Tozer composer

The compositions of Geoffrey Tozer were unknown and unpublished at his death in 2009. The works on this disc were written between 1961 and 1969, when he was between seven and fourteen.

After the Geoffrey Tozer Archive was established in 2009–2010, more than a hundred original hand-written manuscripts came to light. They were edited for publication and performance in five volumes under the Tozart imprint, a name Tozer coined at the age of eight.

Geoffrey Tozer’s Pieces from Childhood are microcosms of his experience and his understanding of playing and performing the works of the great composers at a young age – reflections of his own humour and delight at ‘writing in the style’.

After he performs Beethoven, we can recognise Geoffrey’s homage, Fantasy on a theme by Dr Floyd, that is surely playing with an understanding of the Master. Similarly, Bach, Mozart and Schubert all merit his attention, and even suites in the style of the baroque specialists earn a tribute. Geoffrey demonstrates his affinity to these composers, delighting in creating works that echo his understanding of the various styles; music and playing that anticipates what we hear in his famous improvisations as an adult performer. The emotions he expresses – sometimes tumultuous, sometimes meditative – are ever the embodiment of a growing young artist.

These miniatures are a lens through which we glimpse, if only briefly, Geoffrey’s adventures into the world of classical music at so young an age.

— Lachlan Redd

Reviews

Geoffrey Tozer dying at too young an age of 54 in 2009 was described as an artist of the first rank and amongst the world's finest. He had a boundless musical memory, the ability to improvise and to create on the piano a rich reduction of an orchestral score at sight. Most importantly he was a musician's musician. The works included on this CD allow the listener to glimpse the adventures of a young genius into the world of classical music. Sometimes his music is tumultuous, sometimes meditative but it is ever the embodiment of a growing young artist. There are in all 38 mostly very short tracks… all performed with energy and sensitivity by Lachlan Redd.

— Emyr Evans, 2MBS Fine Music Magazine

Artists

Lachlan Redd

Concert pianist Lachlan Redd came to international attention when, aged just twenty, he won First Prize in the prestigious Virtuosi of the Year 2000 competition in St Petersburg.

Geoffrey Tozer

Geoffrey Tozer (1954–2009) was an Australian concert pianist and composer of the first rank, gifted with perfect pitch, a boundless musical memory, and the ability to improvise, transpose instantly into any key, or reduce an orchestral score at sight.

Tracks

The Frank Bridge Suite: 6 Minatures (sic) Geoffrey Tozer

Pastoral :46
Quarrel :19
Village Band 1:17
Crooning :48
(five) :14
Entrance to 1965 :52
Musical Box Geoffrey Tozer 1:27
Album Leaves Geoffrey Tozer :50
Variations on Greensleeves in the Aolian Mode Geoffrey Tozer 1:22
Piano Frolic Geoffrey Tozer :53
Puck's Dance Geoffrey Tozer :29
Rondo Op. 13 No. 5 Geoffrey Tozer :28
Hommage to Bela Bartok Geoffrey Tozer :20
Hornpipe Geoffrey Tozer :46
Waltz in D Geoffrey Tozer :50
Semiquaveraver Geoffrey Tozer :56
Minuet and Trio Geoffrey Tozer 1:39
Lamentation Geoffrey Tozer 1:53
Album Leaf: The Cuckoo Geoffrey Tozer 1:02
Fantasy on a Theme of Dr. Floyd Geoffrey Tozer 2:42
The Old Mill Geoffrey Tozer 1:30
Snowing Geoffrey Tozer 1:35
Rain Geoffrey Tozer :40
Whirlwind Geoffrey Tozer 1:05

Les petits Geoffrey Tozer

Ouverture 1:41
Borree 2:12

Variations Geoffrey Tozer

Variation I: JSB 2:05
Variation II: WAM 1:22

Little Sweet Geoffrey Tozer

Cherry Ripe 1:12
Toblerone 1:17
Hazelnut :16
Mars Bar :44
Caramello :41

Suite No. 2 in F Geoffrey Tozer

Allemande :52
Courante :38
Sarabande 3:05
Gigue 1:01
Two Dances from the Elizabethan Age Geoffrey Tozer 3:32

Performers

Lachlan Redd

Where to listen

Pieces from Childhood is available for streaming through Apple Music. It can also be purchased through the iTunes Music Store.

Pieces from Childhood is available as a CD. It can be purchased online through Buywell Music or the Australian Music Centre which both offer online ordering.