[ Chandos / CD ]
Release Date: Friday 1 May 2020
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BBC Music Award WINNER 2021 - Chamber
Tasmin Little and Piers Lane complete their three album overview of British violin sonatas with works by York Bowen, John Ireland, William Alwyn, Eric Coates, and the world premiere recording of James Francis Brown's The Hart's Grace. Composed for the inaugural Hertfordshire Festival of Music, the work was premiered by Tasmin in Hertford in June 2016. The central premise of The Hart's Grace is the emotional transformation experienced by a restless observer when encountering the almost magical, elusive freedom of the deer. John Ireland composed his Second Sonata between 1915 and 1917, dedicating it to Albert Sammons who gave the premiere. Alwyn's Sonatina dates from 1933, whilst the Coates and Bowen pieces were both composed during the Second World War (1943 and 1945 respectively). Coates's First Meeting was commissioned by Lionel Tertis and originally conceived for viola, but it was revised for violin for its publication (in 1943).
"Mervyn Cooke's helpful notes have been supplemented by Little's performer's note which makes for good reading. This is a tremendous disc, and shows how Little and Lane have continued to explore their repertoire, to hone and refine their interpretations, and to present the public with the bounty of their art." MusicWeb recommended
"The performers respond to both aspects of [Bowen's] music with muscular virtuosity and affection. Especially in the high tessitura of the slow movement, Tasmin Little's tonal variety and rhythmic freedom capture the romantic outpouring...[The Ireland] receives a performance which mirrors the conviction of the composer" BBC Music Award WINNER 2021 - Chamber
"Little brings out [the Ireland's] stark contrast with impressive aplomb, the wonderful emergence of the effulgent second subject from the bleaker first being one such example. Lane's nuanced handling of the capacious accompaniment is also insightfully executed" Gramophone
YORK BOWEN
Sonata, Op.112 (1945)
JOHN IRELAND
Sonata No.2 (1915-17)
JAMES FRANCIS BROWN
premiere recording.
The Hart's Grace (2016)
WILLIAM ALWYN
Sonatina (1933)
ERIC COATES
premiere recording in this version
First Meeting (1941, revised 1943)