The title of this recording is inspired by the painter and poet William Blake's collection of poems, Songs of Innocence and of Experience. It is a title that lends itself well to the pieces presented here, exploring as they do themes of light and darkness, life and death, angelic purity and demonic passion. These works are among those most frequently performed by pianists and they have each long been a central part of my own repertoire. They are however, compositions rich enough in their expression to be able to carry a steady stream of new interpretations; interpretations that together constitute a continually changing tradition.