CD REVIEW -
NICHOLAS SCOTT-BURT
24 PRELUDES FOR PIANO
DA-HEE KIM, piano
divine art ddx 21248 [54:18 & 51:33]

Here is the second piano release sent by this enterprising label. It is the premiere recording of a 2-CD work marking the Divine Art debut for both composer and pianist; names your reviewer has not either encountered before. The 24 preludes explore all the major and minor keys, which are organized into four books, each containing six preludes. These books are designed to function like the four movements of a symphony.

Nicholas Scott-Burt (no relation!), Bristol born in 1962, is among many varied musical activities a composer with a very wide range of music sacred and secular to his name. He is a Classical and Senior Jazz Examiner for ABRSM (Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music) and plays the organ and piano at Rugby United Reformed Church, also a poet and writer.

Da-Hee Kim, a mother of twins, is another award-winning Korean pianist, whose playing has been praised for its "luminous glow" and "distinctive palette of tone colours." She now lives in the UK and is currently a pianist at Elmhurst Ballet School in association with Birmingham Royal Ballet.

Although as a non-musician I found listening to the music perfectly pleasant, I can't help thinking it will appeal even more to pianists as they read and understand Scott-Burt's copious explanatory booklet notes.

© Peter Burt, March 2026