On his new solo piano album, Stephen Hough's Piano Postcards, Sir Stephen Hough explores the world from the perspective of a traveling pianist sending musical messages home. He selects popular songs and melodies from around the world and reinterprets them in a sophisticated way. These new arrangements are a tribute to the countries he has come to love throughout his life of traveling and performing—musical souvenirs he brings back to his audience.
Asian music is represented by “Spring Breeze Prelude” by Taiwanese composer Deng Yu-Hsien and a delicate piano version of “Aka Tombo,” a children's song that is very popular in Japan and can even be heard in the nationwide “5 o'clock chime.” Folklore and popular traditions are expressed in “Cielito lindo” and “Nature boy,” while the last group of pieces turns to nature with works by MacDowell, Schumann, and Sinding. In addition to these musical travelogues, Stephen Hough sprinkles in sparkling new transcriptions of songs from popular films.
“Piano Postcards” reflects above all the tradition of pianist-composers: musicians who performed, arranged, and curated their own repertoire with freedom and individuality. Hough sums up the spirit of the album thus: “The musical appetizer may contain profound poetry or wit and whimsy, whether subtle or loud. All on one handy menu.”

Tracklisting:
Side A
Marry Poppins Suite
1. I. Chim chim cher-ee
2. II. Feed the Birds
3. III. Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious

4. Chasins: Preludes, Book 3, Op. 12: No. 2 in E-Flat Minor. Prelude No. 14
5. Kreisler: Liebesleid
6. Rimsky-Korsakov: The Tale of Tsar Saltan: Flight of the Bumblebee
7. Yu-Hsien: Spring Breeze Prelude
8. Yamada: Aka tombo
9. Do You Want to Build a Snowman? - From "Frozen"
10. Reflection - From "Mulan"
11. Remember Me - From "Coco"

Side B
1. Cielito lindo
2. Granados: Danzas españolas, Op. 37: V. Andaluza (Playera)
3. Handel: Minuet in G Minor, HWV 434/4
4. Chaminade: Les sylvains, Op. 60
5. Malcolm Williamson: Travel Diaries, New York: V. Broadway (Midnight)
6. Sibelius: 13 Pieces for Piano, Op. 76: No. 2, Etude in A Minor
7. Nature Boy
8. MacDowell: Woodland Sketches, Op. 51: I. To a Wild Rose
9. Schumann: Waldszenen, Op. 82: VII. Vogel als Prophet
10. Sinding: Rustle of Spring, Op. 32 No. 3