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Wednesday, February 19, 2020

Various Composers - British Music for Violin and Piano (Clare Howick; John Paul Ekins)


Information

  1. Edward Elgar - Violin Sonata in E minor, Op. 82: I. Allegro: Risoluto
  2. Edward Elgar - Violin Sonata in E minor, Op. 82: II. Romance: Andante
  3. Edward Elgar - Violin Sonata in E minor, Op. 82: III. Allegro non troppo
  4. Frank Bridge - Romanze
  5. Frank Bridge - Serenade
  6. Frederick Delius - Five Piano Pieces: IV. Lullaby for a Modern Baby
  7. Cyril Scott - Vesperale (arr. Richard Lange)
  8. Frank Bridge - Three Dances: III. Moto perpetuo
  9. Frank Bridge - Gondoliera
  10. Cyril Scott - Sonnet No. 1
  11. Cyril Scott - Sonnet No. 2
  12. Cyril Scott - Bumble-Bees
  13. Frank Bridge - Four Short Pieces: IV. Country Dance
  14. Frederick Delius - Hassan: Serenade (arr. Lionel Tertis)
  15. Frank Bridge - Con moto
  16. Frederick Delius - Romance
  17. John Ireland - Bagatelle
  18. Frank Bridge - Romance: Une lamentation d'amour
  19. John Ireland - Cavatina
  20. Frank Bridge - Four Short Pieces: I. Meditation
  21. Cyril Scott - The Gentle Maiden
  22. Edward Elgar - Three Characteristic Pieces, Op. 10: No. 1. Mazurka

Clare Howick, violin
John Paul Ekins, piano

Date: 2017
Label: Naxos
https://www.naxos.com/catalogue/item.asp?item_code=8.573790

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Review

This attractive, well thought-out and well imagined disc of English chamber music includes five world premiere recordings. Clare Howick’s violin has a nice tone and she is sympathetically accompanied by John Paul Ekins. There is a nice sense of togetherness and understanding between the two.

The disc opens with a fairly good rendition of the Elgar Sonata, a clean and well paced performance. It is worth a listen, though Tasmin Little and Martin Roscoe give a more nuanced performance (GMNCD113). Elgar is also represented by the final work on this disc, a spirited Mazurka.

The rest of the disc is dedicated to short works by four prominent English composers of their day. Frederick Delius was an excellent composer of chamber music, a part of his output all too often forgotten now in favour of his orchestral miniatures. I know a piano version of Lullaby for a Modern Baby but this version is new to me. It contains an extra melodic line which can either be hummed by the pianist or played as here on a muted violin.

Frank Bridge is represented by eight pieces, four of which receive their premiere recording. He experimented with musical styles but these pieces are all charmingly romantic, fitting well with the other works on this disc. The same can be said of John Ireland. Both his short pieces here emanate from his early period.

The last composer presented here is Cyril Scott. I have come to appreciate him through recordings on Chandos, Lyrita, and especially on Dutton Epoch who should be applauded for championing Scott. One of my favourites is the Dutton disc of music for violin and piano (CDLX7200), superbly played by Clare Howick with her usual partner, pianist Sophia Rahman. There is no overlap between these two discs. Vesperale is a premiere recording. The more I hear of Cyril Scott’s music the more I enjoy it. In Howick, he has an excellent advocate.

The performances throughout are fine, even Elgar’s sonata, of which Howick and Ekins give a committed account. The liner notes and recorded sound are also very good, making this a well filled and attractive disc.

-- Stuart SillitoeMusicWeb International

More reviews:
https://www.thestrad.com/reviews/clare-howick-john-paul-ekins-british-music-for-violin-and-piano-/7458.article
https://www.allmusic.com/album/british-music-for-violin-and-piano-mw0003091242
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Edward-Elgar-Frank-Bridge-Cyril/dp/B074HXBGB6

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Clare Howick was a student of Maurice Hasson at the Royal Academy of Music, and also studied with Anne-Sophie Mutter, Zahkar Bron, Ida Haendel and Dorothy DeLay. She won First Prize at the Jellinek Competition as well as many other prizes and awards. Howick has performed most of the violin concerto repertoire (encompassing 52 concerti and works) with several orchestras, including the Philharmonia and BBC Scottish SO, and has performed at major festivals in the UK. As a champion of new music, she has premiered many new works, both on disc and in performance.
http://www.clarehowick.co.uk/

***

John Paul Ekins graduated from the Royal College of Music in 2009, and from the Guildhall School of Music and Drama (under Charles Owen) in 2011. International competition successes have brought him as many as 19 awards and prizes. In great demand as a recitalist, concerto soloist and chamber musician, John Paul Ekins has given performances throughout the UK, and overseas in Azerbaijan, the Czech Republic, France, Germany, Italy, Kuwait, Norway, Poland, Romania, Spain and Switzerland, and he has been broadcast on the BBC, on Romanian national television and radio, and on Polish television.
http://www.jpekinspianist.com/

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