Here is an enticing programme of eclectic, always tuneful works, most attractively laid out for two pianos. The dream-like Aubade, a suite of eight movements, is reminiscent of twentieth-century French music in its elegance and bursts of pianistic exuberance and is evocative and entertaining, too. It reminds me a little of Debussy’s Boite a joujoux. With its mixed imagery of “Charcoal burners”, moto perpetuo “Moths”, “Tin soldiers” (who come from Waterloo), and an ungainly yet witty waltz, danced by unlikely partners (the Duke of Wellington and Lady Hamilton), its fantasy world is quirkily evoked. Later come rather more solemn “Monks and Lutherans” and “Bells” which first ripple magically in the morning air but ring out more rumbustiously in the finale.
The boisterous Road through Samarkand, written as a bravura solo piece for John Ogdon and brilliantly expanded for the present performers, is a splashy and highly inventive toccata. It has catchy syncopated touches, but ends disconsolately (although with a final surge of energy) as the travellers from our own culture fail to find salvation in the East.
In melodic terms most memorable of all is Eventide, a youthful inspiration (originally intended as a carol) that has an engaging theme, with variations; if perhaps a trifle overelaborated it nevertheless haunts the memory. Goldstone and Clemmow relish its delicacy alongside its momentary rhetoric, and they play the whole programme with persuasive virtuosity and a fine command of pianistic colour. The reverberant recording (as often with two pianos) sounds as though it has been made in an empty hall but is otherwise faithful: Lloyd fans need not hesitate.'