Jeneba Kanneh-Mason explores Jane Austen’s musical world on Jane Austen Piano. The new EP, which celebrates the 250th anniversary of the beloved author’s birth, will be released on Sony Classical in December 2025.
To which books does a busy professional musician turn for relaxation in between the hectic whirl of rehearsals, performances and travel?
In the case of young rising star pianist, Jeneba Kanneh-Mason, whose debut album ‘Fantasie’ was praised by Gramophone for its “poetry and confidence” and by BBC Music Magazine for its “sparkle and self-possession”, it’s the novels of Jane Austen (1775-1817) that provide her with an unending source of enjoyment and contentment as well as revelry in the understated humour and social commentary contained therein.
So much so that Jeneba started to reflect on references to music in Jane Austen’s works and more broadly on the music of the time. It started a new train of thought for her: known to be a pianist herself, with which music may Jane Austen have been familiar? Which pieces might she have performed privately?
Happily, Jeneba had two important lines of enquiry to follow: the original Austen family music book collection dating from Jane Austen’s lifetime is extant and was able to provide some direction. Furthermore, Jane Austen is also very likely to have visited the annual local Hampshire Music Meeting, for which records exist. In fact, Jane Austen’s own piano teacher Dr George Chard, assistant organist at Winchester Cathedral (where Jane Austen is buried), was someone who helped organise the festival and curate the programme, all of which no doubt had a lasting musical influence on his private pupils.
The result of Jeneba’s fascination with the music of Jane Austen’s time is this brand-new recording for solo piano: ‘Jane Austen’s Piano’, scheduled for release on 5th December 2025 to commemorate the 250th anniversary of Jane Austen’s birth on 16th December 1775.
The recording consists of six pieces overall, mirroring the fact that Jane Austen wrote six full, famous and much-loved novels: ‘Sense and Sensibility’ (published in 1811), ‘Pride and Prejudice’ (1813), ‘Mansfield Park’ (1814), ‘Emma’ (1815), ‘Persuasion’ (1817) and ‘Northanger Abbey’ (1817).
‘Jane Austen’s Piano’ includes music hand-picked by Jeneba either because of its specific link to Jane Austen or for its significance to the time. It features music by George Frideric Händel (1732-1809), Joseph Haydn (1685-1759), George Kiallmark (1781-1835) and Johann Baptiste Cramer (1771-1858) plus a bonus Jane Austen-related work composed by Dario Marianelli (b. 1963).
Jeneba has chosen Händel’s Suite in B flat major/Menuet and his Suite in D minor/Allemande for inclusion on the recording. Jane Austen would have been very familiar with Händel’s music, as his works were regularly featured at the local music festival and several arrangements of his vocal works formed part of her family’s own personal music collection.
In showcasing Haydn, Jeneba performs the Piano Sonata in C major, first published in 1780 but only published in London in 1792. It is extra-special to Jeneba as a copy of this work in Jane Austen’s own hand appears in the Austen family music collection. It is therefore highly likely that the author herself performed this work.
As for music specifically referenced in Jane Austen’s work, Jeneba has included the Robin Adair Variations by British violinist and composer George Kiallmark, as mentioned in Jane Austen’s fourth novel ‘Emma’. This version of the Irish folk tune appears in the Austen family music collection, signed by Jane’s sister, Cassandra and is likely the version Jane would have had in mind when referencing the piece in her novel. Kiallmark was also someone well-known to the audiences of the local music festival, performing there in 1803 and 1805 and appointed by Jane’s teacher George Chard to be one of the principal instrumentalists at the event.
Johann Baptist Cramer was a famous English pianist and composer of German origin, some of whose music is also contained in the Austen family music collection. He is the only composer to be named by Jane Austen in all her novels (also in ‘Emma’, referenced there as “something quite new”). His Etude No. 3 in A minor, although not in the family collection, is a welcome addition, introducing early flares of romanticism into Jane Austen’s mostly very classical piano literature.
Finally, sitting alongside the music of the period is Dario Marianelli’s ‘Dawn’ from his Oscar-nominated 2005 soundtrack to the film ‘Pride and Prejudice’, directed by Joe Wright. Jeneba has included it as a modern cinematic homage to Jane Austen’s world, bridging historical inspiration with contemporary interpretation, and also marking the 20th anniversary of the film.
About her new recording, Jeneba Kanneh-Mason notes: “I am an avid reader and from a very young age, I have thoroughly enjoyed Jane Austen’s novels and being immersed in the world that she inhabits. When I read her books, I always find myself imaging a soundtrack to each novel. Curating this collection has therefore been such a joy, as the music has all been in my head for a very long time”.
