Harrison Gradwell Slater's remarkable new Chopin CD is a tour de force of evocative playing and dazzling technique. It provides a compelling soundtrack to his novel, Nocturne, a work of literary fiction that, for the first time, includes a soundtrack, performed by the author, and integrated into the text. Some of Chopin's most poignant gems -- etudes, nocturnes, mazurkas, waltzes -- are woven into a vibrant narrative of suspense and obsession. The piano works of Chopin provide an atmospheric portrait to the story of young lovers separated by two centuries. An excerpt from Harrison Gradwell Slater’s, Nocturne: This time, words flowed out of Maria Wodzinska’s pen like never before as she found herself swept away by the memory of ineffable beauty: The soft crackle of burning embers reverberated in the hushed silence, the muted scent of pine filtered through the air already saturated with anticipation. Chopin, his pale vulnerability accentuated by the fading flicker of a dozen tapers, began a serenade to his beloved with the opening theme of his new nocturne – a solitary voice, full of desperate eloquence at the fateful moment of decision: “Take my hand, the boat is waiting.” Two centuries later, just when her life in New York seems to be unraveling, Artemisia Talbot receives a commission to photograph Chopin’s Paris. And in the City of Light, she discovers unconditional love for the first time with the young American musicologist Matthew Pierce. Artemisia accompanies Matthew to Warsaw, where he purchases a diary that describes Chopin’s ill-fated love affair with “little Marynia,” a talented pianist and watercolorist. But the diary also holds some disturbing parallels to contemporary events, and the brilliance of Artemisia’s surroundings – in Paris, Warsaw, and Nohant — obscures the grim reality that she is being followed by an obsessive killer bent on revenge. Internationally known author, scholar and pianist Harrison Slater continues on the path of his acclaimed best-selling novel, Night Music, which was voted "Rising Star of 2003" by sales representatives of nine publishing houses, was on the Barnes and Noble bestseller list for mystery trade paperback for over fourteen weeks, and was optioned as a film in Europe. Just as Night Music opened the world of Mozart to mystery readers, Nocturne brings the poetic panoramas of Chopin to those who love historical novels, as well as those of contemporary suspense. A Ph.D. in musicology, Harrison Gradwell Slater is author of "Chopin and the Vocal Nocturne," plus four books including Night Music and In Mozart’s Footsteps. In addition to writing and recording, Slater coaches many world-class pianists, thanks to his musical association with Paul Doguereau, whose experience links him to the greatest pianists of the twentieth century: Maurice Ravel, Emma Bardac (the second wife of Claude Debussy) and Ignaz Paderewski. Slater is also President and Artistic Director of the Peabody Mason International Piano Competition. The album, Nocturne: Piano Music of Chopin is Slater’s long awaited, second CD. The pianist/author divides his time between Boston, Paris and historic Mount Holly, New Jersey.