Clare Longendyke to Release TWELVE PRELUDES & A FANTASY on Blue Griffin
Composer David Colson's decade-spanning piano work honors his late mother in its concluding movement.
Blue Griffin Recordings announced the October 9, 2026 release of David Colson: Twelve Preludes & a Fantasy, from Billboard chart-topping pianist Clare Longendyke, in the first complete recording of the collection.
GRAMMY Award-nominated musician David Colson's Twelve Preludes & a Fantasy forms an arc with a big circle around it to tell a story which allows listeners to be guided by their own experiences. In this way, the work is 'about everything and nothing.' The work borrows from and is influenced by a multitude of master composers, ranging from the Middle Ages through the 20th Century, from Palestrina and Josquin des Prez, to Elliott Carter and George Crumb.
Written over a ten-year span from 2016 to 2026, the set began as a single small piano piece and grew into the Twelve Preludes, and finally a culminating Fantasy, originally conceived as another prelude before its scale and technical demands led Colson to set it apart as a stand-alone showpiece. a Fantasy is dedicated to the memory of his mother, Nancy K. Colson, who died shortly after he began work on the album. In the Twelve Preludes, the titles for each are small sentences and phrases that evoke disparate worlds and atmospheres—nearly poetic, the titles are a guide for how one might listen to these pieces. The titles are intentionally ambiguous clues to the images or emotions of the composition, with the music adding the greatest focus.
Pianist Clare Longendyke is a soloist, chamber musician, and passionate advocate for new music. She brings daring repertoire, curiosity, and thoughtful storytelling to the concert stage in unique and imaginative programs; among her recent successes are her sold-out Carnegie Hall Weill Recital Hall debut, and reaching #2 on the Billboard Traditional Classical chart.
About Blue Griffin
Blue Griffin Recording is an independent recording label and a full-service recording company for classical musicians led by GRAMMY Award-nominated producer and sound engineer Sergei Kvitko.
Since its birth in 2000, Blue Griffin rose from a small recording company into an internationally recognized label with almost 300 titles in its catalog and an artist roster that spans the Americas, Europe, Africa, and Asia.
Blue Griffin is dedicated to recording and promoting new music and closely collaborating with living composers. The label's studio has been honored to host such prominent contemporary composers as Ricky Ian Gordon, Lowell Liebermann, Steven Bryant, John Mackey, Ricardo Lorenz, William Horne, Jenni Brandon, Carter Pann, Jon Magnussen, Thomas Osborne, Charles Ruggiero, David Amram, and many others.
