EMR CD019–20 | DETAILS
  EMR CD019–20
   
  Howells: THE COMPLETE WORKS FOR VIOLIN AND PIANO
  Rupert Marshall-Luck (vn) | Matthew Rickard (pf)
   
  Release date: 24 April 2014 | EAN 5 060263 500179

This double-disc set comprises the complete extant music for violin and piano of Herbert Howells, including his three already published Violin Sonatas, the second of which has recently been restored to its original four-movement structure and which was recorded in this form for the first time; and several of the composer's shorter works, three of which are also World Première recordings. The set also includes the Sonata in B minor, a vibrant and colourful work, full of youthful vigour and red-blooded emotional expression; which, thanks to this recording, is now available for the first time for music enthusiasts the world over to savour.

TRACK LISTING AND AUDIO EXTRACTS
     

CD1

     
Herbert Howells (1892–1983)
SONATA IN B MINOR FOR VIOLIN AND PIANO (1911) (World Première recording)
1. I. Lento, quasi recitative –    
2. Poco andante e molto moderato – Molto moderato, e cantabile – Più moto (Allegro) – Lento – Tempo primo (molto andante) – Molto moderato e cantabile – Poco lento, e quasi trista  
3. II. Quasi lento, e molto espressivo – Più moto e agitato – Come primo (Quasi lento)  
4. III. Molto moderato e sostenuto – Allegro moderato e maestoso – Più tranquillo – Più allegro – Tempo primo – Poco allegro e agitato – Allegro moderato – Molto allegro e con passione  
       
5. ‘SLOW AIR’ (World Première recording)  
6. ‘COUNTRY TUNE’ (World Première recording)  
       
SONATA FOR VIOLIN AND PIANO NO.2 IN E-FLAT MAJOR, OP.26 (1917)
7. I. Allegro moderato – Molto meno mosso  
8. II. Lento, assai espressivo  
9. III. Allegro moderato, assai ritmico –  
10. IV. Lento – Allegro molto, assai ritmico  
       
BONUS TRACK
11. Alternative opening of Sonata in B minor for Violin and Piano    
       
       

CD2

       
SONATA FOR VIOLIN AND PIANO NO.1 IN E MAJOR, OP.18 (1918)  
1. I. Allegretto, sempre un poco rubato – Poco più mosso, agitato – Inquieto – Tempo primo –  
2. II. Meno mosso – Più mosso, e ritmico –  
3. III. Allegro molto – Più deciso – Poco meno mosso, più espressivo –  
4. IV. Assai tranquillo – Più lento  
       
5. ‘CRADLE SONG’  
6. ‘LENTO, ASSAI ESPRESSIVO’ (World Première recording)  
       
SONATA FOR VIOLIN AND PIANO NO.3 IN E MINOR, OP.38 (1923)  
7. I. Poco allegro, semplice – Più animato – Come primo – Meno mosso, tranquillo  
8. II. Allegro moderato, assai ritmico  
9. III. Vivace, assai ritmico – Poco meno mosso – Quasi tempo primo, più espressivo – Come primo – Tranquillo, meno mosso  
       
THREE PIECES FOR VIOLIN AND PIANO, OP.28  
10. ‘Pastorale’  
11. ‘Luchinushka’  
12. ‘Chosen’ Tune  

 

REVIEWS
Beautifully shaped by Benjamin Frith... Beguiling sounds, graced by the tawny richness and unexaggerated line of Richard Jenkinson’s cello playing... The sense of purpose and sureness of line of Ian Venables’ music is pure oxygen.
EMR CD31 | BBC MUSIC MAGAZINE
Exquisitely rewarding... Ravishing accounts.
EMR CD029 | CHOIR AND ORGAN
This is music of great beauty and integrity and the performances fully do it justice. It would be criminal to let it pass you by.

EMR CD028 | INTERNATIONAL
RECORD REVIEW

The Bridge Quartet approach these pieces with a sympathetic and insightful warmth, and confirm their ambassadorial credentials for British chamber music. A lovely, radiant disc.
EMR CD025 | Gramophone
Duncan Honeybourne’s playing is astonishingly affectionate, yet never saccharine... Honeybourne plays with suave confidence.
EMR CD024 | INTERNATIONAL PIANO
Rupert Marshall-Luck is an ideal interpreter: generously but not effusively lyrical; agile and athletic... The warm, folk-song like slow movement is at times almost painfully beautiful, with a shimmering pastoral central section... Marshall-Luck is, again, indefatigable and keenly picks up on the work’s melancholic strain.  Finely recorded and with comprehensive booklet notes, this is a must for fans of 20th-century English repertoire.
EMR CD023 | THE STRAD