British Works for Cello and Piano, Vol. 4

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BENNETT / HODDINOTT / LEIGHTON / LUTYENS
British Works for Cello and Piano, Vol. 4
Paul Watkins (cello) & Huw Watkins (piano)

[ Chandos / CD ]

Release Date: Thursday 25 June 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.

The cellist Paul Watkins and his pianist brother Huw present this fourth volume of British works for cello and piano. 'Remain[ing] by far the best recorded guides to this powerful and enjoyable repertoire', according to BBC Music, the Watkins brothers continue their exploration of what became a very rich and popular repertoire in British musical life of the last decades of the twentieth century, thanks to inspiring star soloists such as Paul Tortelier, Mstislav Rostropovich, and Jacqueline du Pré. Kenneth Leighton's Partita opens with an intense lyrical Elegy, revealing English influences such as Vaughan Williams. The second movement is a Scherzo full of Walton-like syncopations and energy, and the work ends with a bell-like theme followed by free variations.

Similarly, Richard Rodney Bennett's Sonata ends with a theme - rising and falling in graceful curve - and a continuous sequence of variations, one of which is for piano alone. The other sonata, by Alun Hoddinott, is notable for its clear, open textures, often of two-part counterpoint. Largely self-taught as a composer, Elisabeth Lutyens adopted a very special system of rhythmic notation, laid out in free time without bar lines, using three symbols for notes of different lengths. The 'constants' of the title are four melodic and harmonic intervals which are used exclusively throughout the work.

"Throughout this disc we can enjoy Paul Watkins' eloquent cello playing: a wonderful tone, immaculate technique and a habit of shaping every phrase and playing throughout each note. Huw Watkins is an elegant and refined pianist: I can imagine him playing Ravel, but he concentrates, most admirably, on contemporary repertoire and he is also active as a composer." (MusicWeb)

"In bringing together four highly contrasting British composers of the later 20th century, this vibrant recording, with splendid playing by Paul and Huw Watkins, demonstrates the extent of the cello's inspiration and versatility in a range of modern idioms." (Gramophone)

Tracks:

Bennett, R R:
Cello Sonata

Hoddinott:
Sonata No. 2, Op. 96, No. 1

Leighton:
Partita for Cello & Piano op.35

Lutyens:
Constants, Op. 110