The three works on this fine recital by German violist Barbara Buntrock were all, as promised, composed in 1919. Two of them have a further link: they were entries in a contest sponsored by the American heiress and arts patron Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge. Ernest Bloch's Suite for viola & piano and Rebecca Clarke's Sonata for viola & piano tied for first place, but the prize was given to Bloch under circumstances that remain under dispute; playing at least a partial role was the fact that the judges did not believe the work ...
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The three works on this fine recital by German violist Barbara Buntrock were all, as promised, composed in 1919. Two of them have a further link: they were entries in a contest sponsored by the American heiress and arts patron Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge. Ernest Bloch's Suite for viola & piano and Rebecca Clarke's Sonata for viola & piano tied for first place, but the prize was given to Bloch under circumstances that remain under dispute; playing at least a partial role was the fact that the judges did not believe the work could have been composed by a woman. Clarke is a sorely underrated figure, and the album is worth the price for her sonata alone: she had clearly absorbed the intricate late chamber style of Debussy, but the work has an emotional forthrightness tying it to the composer's native Britain. Hindemith's Viola Sonata, Op. 11/4, is also a sparsely performed piece, even though it was one of the composer's own favorites; he wrote it for himself to perform, and did so frequently. Harmonically...
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