At the heart of this new album from renowned British pianist Charles Owen stand two towering masterpieces: Liszt’s Weinen, Klagen, Sorgen, Zagen and Franck’s Prélude, Choral et Fugue – works that chart spiritual journeys through grief, doubt and despair toward radiant, redemptive hope. Each embodies the essence of De Profundis – a rising from the depths, a cry of the soul yearning for transcendence.

Liszt and Franck, so different in temperament yet united by deep mutual admiration and shared faith, drew profound inspiration from their Catholic spirituality. Where Liszt’s unbridled Romanticism blazes with drama and colour, Franck’s introspection glows with quiet devotion; both speak to the indomitable human spirit.

Balancing such intensity are Liszt’s visions of nature in the Deux Légendes and Les jeux d’eaux à la Villa d’Este: birdsong, flowing water, and the shimmer of divine light. His piano writing moves from the lightest suspension of sound to thunderous resonance, creating musical landscapes of awe and serenity.

Charles Owen brings this immensely personal recording to life with luminous clarity and poetic insight, revealing music of both earthly struggle and eternal hope.