COMPOSERS: Bowen,Foulds,Walker
LABELS: British Music Society
WORKS: Cello Sonata, Op. 6
PERFORMER: Jo Cole (cello), John Talbot (piano)
CATALOGUE NO: BMS 423 CD
In producing these premiere recordings, the British Music Society is fulfilling its mission to promote interest in, and understanding and performance of, unjustly neglected British music. Foulds’s Sonata (composed 1905, revised 1927) was voted by BMS members the work they most wanted recorded. Considered radical for its period, it is distinguished by its central Lento with the use of harp-like pizzicato cello chords, a use of bell-like pizzicato harmonics, Foulds’s earliest use of quarter-tones and a warm, homely melody. Ernest Walker is remembered for his History of Music in England and his long connection with Oxford’s Balliol College. His Sonata was written in 1914, when he suffered a personal and spiritual crisis, suggested by the torrent of passion in the first movement which is followed by a calm yet deeply felt Adagio. The Bowen work is the most immediately attractive. Each movement has appealing melodies. My ears were continually seduced by the piano’s music which dominates the work and is often quite ravishing. Cole and Talbot play all three works with enthusiasm and commitment. Ian Lace
Foulds, Walker, Bowen
In producing these premiere recordings, the British Music Society is fulfilling its mission to promote interest in, and understanding and performance of, unjustly neglected British music. Foulds’s Sonata (composed 1905, revised 1927) was voted by BMS members the work they most wanted recorded. Considered radical for its period, it is distinguished by its central Lento with the use of harp-like pizzicato cello chords, a use of bell-like pizzicato harmonics, Foulds’s earliest use of quarter-tones and a warm, homely melody.
Our rating
4
Published: January 20, 2012 at 3:11 pm