The British music for violin and piano heard on this release by violinist Clare Howick comes from a small slice of the history of the combination: most of it is from the first two decades of the 20th century. It's an obscure corner of the tradition even for lovers of British chamber music, but it would be hard to imagine it being done better than in the quietly graceful, precise readings on offer here. Howick frames her program with two Elgar works: the serious Violin Sonata of 1918 and the virtuoso Mazurka of 1899. But the ...
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The British music for violin and piano heard on this release by violinist Clare Howick comes from a small slice of the history of the combination: most of it is from the first two decades of the 20th century. It's an obscure corner of the tradition even for lovers of British chamber music, but it would be hard to imagine it being done better than in the quietly graceful, precise readings on offer here. Howick frames her program with two Elgar works: the serious Violin Sonata of 1918 and the virtuoso Mazurka of 1899. But the real interest is in between, where Elgar does not appear at all. Instead, Howick devotes herself to music that's halfway between the conservatory and the salon, unearthing several totally forgotten pieces and giving them their world premiere recordings. Among these you might sample Frank Bridge's "Une lamentation d'amour," but the entire thing is overflowing with enough great tunes to make you a bit irritated that solemn modernism consigned these pieces to the trash bin. Howick has...
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