Numbers Suite by Daniel Thomas Wright

Writing music is something I've wanted to do since childhood.
I studied performance and composition at Dartington College of Arts furthering my interest in classical piano.
After graduation I turned my attention to performance under the tuition of Eva Warren and reached a high standard playing Debussy, Ravel, Faure, Shostakovich, Beethoven and Mozart, amongst other composers, winning trophies at local competitions.

During this period I wrote a handful of compositions inspired by minimalists like Philip Glass.
Then, in my late thirties I suffered an accident which impaired my wrists and forearms.
When I realised that performance was not an option, I turned my full attention to composing.
I now have a body of work written over the last 11 years, the Numbers Suite being the most recent compositions to be recorded.

I first met Ben Parkinson in October 2023. He plays blues, jazz and classical piano.
The first process was to establish dynamics and tempo in the then incomplete scores.
At the next meeting I was pleased to hear how Ben had given life to the somewhat robotic sound of the MIDI files.
Before the recording Ben and I went to test the piano. By this time Ben had made a good interpretation of my compositions. I began to hear them in a new light as Ben had made them his own. The recording date was a success, made easier by the experience of Marcus the sound engineer.

The piano, a C.Bechstein Concert Grand from around 1890, belongs to a friend who gave us the use of it, and his living room, for a day. Grand pianos produce an incredible variety of sounds, at a very wide range of volumes. For our recording engineer (and my brother), Marcus this was an enjoyable challenge.

For those who take an interest in these things, large diaphragm capacitor microphones were placed at waist height three feet from each side of the piano. More or less in the middle of the space between the strings and the inside of the lid Marcus suspended a stereo ribbon microphone.

These recordings are all complete performances, with no edits or overdubs.

Thanks to Ben, Marcus & High Street Records, Simon Catterall

Pianist and composer