EMR CD058–59 | DETAILS
  EMR CD058–59
   
 

RADIANT WITH CELESTIAL FIRE
Solo-violin works by Graham Whettam
   
  Rupert Marshall-Luck (vn)
   
  EAN 5 060263 500551

Graham Whettam (1927–2007) was a largely self-taught composer who occupies a place in the English symphonic tradition. His works include five symphonies – among them the ‘Sinfonia Contra Timore’ and the ‘Promethean Symphony’ – and a wealth of chamber works, including four string quartets, various trios and a series of works for solo instruments.

 

Spanning a period of over 40 years, Whettam’s works for solo violin are informed and directed by compositional rigour, technical assurance and an analytical musical grammar, but, at the same time, are full of vivid colour, dramatic inventiveness and, above all, a sense of deep humanity. Featuring the internationally-acclaimed violinist Rupert Marshall-Luck, whose solo performances have been frequently broadcast on BBC Radio 3, ABC Classic FM (Australia), RTÉ (Ireland), SABC (South Africa), Radio Suisse Romande (Switzerland), and in Canada, France, New Zealand and the USA, this new recording promises vital, committed and imaginative readings of these powerful and moving compositions.

TRACK LISTING AND AUDIO EXTRACTS
     

CD1
 
Graham Whettam (1927–2007)
SONATA NO.1 FOR SOLO VIOLIN (1958; rev. 1986)
(World Première recording)
1. I. Andante  
2. II. SCHERZO. Molto vivace – Moderato – Molto vivace come prima  
3. III. ELEGY. Molto moderato  
       
SONATA NO.2 FOR SOLO VIOLIN (1972; rev. 1993)
(World Première recording)
4. I. Adagio appassionato – Deciso – Adagio molto  
5. II. SCHERZO. Presto – Allegretto con rubato – Presto come prima  
6. III. Lento molto – Con moto – Lento molto – Poco più mosso –  
7. IV. FUGA. Con moto  
       
       

CD2
       
ROMANZA NO.1 (1993)
(World Première recording)
1. Andante cantabile – Allegro ma non troppo – Andante cantabile come prima  
       
ROMANZA NO.2 (pub. 2000)
(World Première recording)
2. Andante cantabile – Leggiero con moto – Andante come prima – Esuberante  
       
SONATA NO.3 FOR SOLO VIOLIN (pub. 1990)
(World Première recording)
3. I. Allegro assai  
4. II. Largo – Poco più mosso – Largo come prima  
5. III. SCHERZO SVELTO. Presto – Andante con moto – Ancora presto  
6. IV. FINALE. In modo di ciaccona – A tempo ma con molto rubato
– Poco più animato – Con energico; fuocoso – Poco lento; tranquillo – Molto animato e marcato – Lento cantabile – Animato assai – Lento molto – A tempo		  

 

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