Eric Craven: Set Two For Piano [CD]

July 2026, Divine Art presents Set Two for Piano from visionary composer Eric Craven, the latest in a series of releases showcasing his 'non-prescriptive' method of composition. This unique method features different levels of notation allowing the performer varying degrees of freedom to manipulate choices around a set core. The composer states that his hope is "to reward any pianist with even modest ability with immediate success" (Pieces for Pianists Vol 1 & 2) in creating something beautiful and expressive while also providing a challenge to more accomplished pianists to explore new territory. Irish pianist Mary Dullea is Eric Craven's collaborator on all these recordings and in Set Two for Piano she brings her long experience of realising Eric's music to her wonderfully instinctive performance. This new collection offers 12 hugely enjoyable pieces that are more expansive than the previous SET, each plainly numbered without named titles. They reference a range of different styles, from toccata-like study to jaunty waltz, often with a backbone of jazz, and all varying from low-, middle- to high order notation, the levels of non-prescription with which Craven presents the score. Low-order refers to music that appears with pitch and rhythm plus bar-lines; high-order is only pitches; and middle-order somewhere in between. There are no other details given such as tempo, time-signatures, dynamics, articulation, character, or duration. "... there is a day when the recording must be made with that version of the piece committed to a presence in the world for others to hear! Essentially I am pushed to make decisions about the performances at every moment; one might say that this is part of the spontaneity of the act of performance anyway but what is particular to this is that, apart from pitches and rhythms... I aways have the choice to do something else. So, the journey from first receiving a score to defining one interpretation is a combination of experimentation and control." American Record Guide has previously said of the collaboration between Eric Craven and Mary Dullea: "the result of this artistic input from these two musicians is of true artistic alchemy". "Much of Set for Piano is abrasively wantonly tonal - abrasive in the sense that Craven's tonality is literal and daringly untreated; triads shocking in their nakedness... He cuts across stylistic allegiances, those same old same old allegiances that box so many composers in." Philip Clark, Gramophone. Manchester-born Eric Craven has left little musical footprint. He has composed since his teenage years but has rarely sought to introduce his music to a wider audience through performance or publication. The original SET was the first of his 'non-prescriptive' compositions to be recorded after Craven was persuaded by leading and eminent pianists to make his work available. This was followed by Entangled States, a set of forty-eight short pieces and two volumes of Pieces for Pianists - a collection intended to present more immediately accessible scores to a wider audience of pianists. Also released on Divine Art were his highly acclaimed Piano Sonatas 7,8 and 9, also with Mary Dullea. Mary Dullea enjoys a very busy career as a soloist and chamber musician and regularly performs and broadcasts internationally. Her exceptional discography demonstrates her support and championing of new music, and her pianism, musicality and remarkable virtuosity make her an ideal interpreter. She is currently Director of Performance at Royal Holloway, University of London, where she is also a Professor in Music. She has collaborated with Eric Craven for many years, with a number of releases on Divine Art and Metier.