The Collected Works for Piano 5

Ireland’s piano music is as vital a contribution to the British tradition as is that of Fauré to the French; and the work of both composers (wholly personal, yet at the same time completely typical of their own countries) is an enrichment of the heritage of European music.

The Piano Sonata was written between October 1918 and January 1920, at roughly the same period as his three London Pieces (Chelsea Reach, Ragamuffin and Soho Forenoons). It was published by Augener Ltd in 1920. Ireland revised it in 1951, but for some reason the 1951 edition did not become widely available. This version, printed in 2011, reinstates the 1951 version.

The pieces in the first four volumes of this collected edition are arranged in chronological order of composition. The Piano Sonata (1920) is issued separately as Volume 5. A sixth volume, published in 2012 to mark the fiftieth anniversary of John Ireland’s death, contains a number of uncollected original solo pieces and arrangements for piano.