[ Naxos / CD ]
Release Date: Monday 5 January 2015
This item is currently out of stock. It may take 6 or more weeks to obtain from when you place your order as this is a specialist product.
This survey of British cello music focuses on three composers whose critical fortunes have never quite matched their undoubted musical gifts.
William Wordsworth always displayed independence of mind and considerable melodic invention, and his cello works reflect a kinship with the music of Bartók and, later, Shostakovich. The short-lived William Busch is represented by his Suite, both a passionate oration and a brilliant dance. Much earlier in the twentieth century the prolific Josef Holbrooke composed a Fantasie-Sonata that is irresistibly lively and virtuosic.
This is an ex-British Music Society release [BMS436CD] issued in 2010. The disc will be of particular interest to collectors of British chamber music of the twentieth-century as it contains rare never-before recorded works.
Wordsworth and Busch both wrote approachable music. The only other widely available Wordsworth is the recording of his Symphonies on Lyrita. Holbrooke is a somewhat earlier composer but better represented on disc on a wide variety of labels - CPO, Dutton, Cameo, Lyrita, Symposium etc. His music is also on Marco Polo and Naxos recorded his violin works on 8572649. These performances of Wordsworth's Sonata No.2 and Busch's Suite are also on 8571352, differently coupled with works by Leighton and Cooke.
"this disc is self-recommending, and indeed required listening for anyone who wishes to explore the byways of more 'traditional' British composition in the second half of the twentieth century. We are not likely to get further recordings of the music - and indeed any prospective rival would have its work cut out to match these performances - so potential purchasers are advised to snap this one up while it remains readily available. The Wordsworth and Cooke sonatas in particular will give them much enjoyment." (MusicWeb July 2014)
Busch, W - A Memory
Elegy
Suite for Cello and Piano
Holbrooke - Fantasie-Sonate, Op. 19
Wordsworth - Cello Sonata No. 2, Op. 66
Sonata for Violoncello, Op. 70
Nocturne, Op. 29
Scherzo, Op. 42