Arthur Benjamin: Music for Violin, Viola & Orchestra

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Arthur Benjamin: Music for Violin, Viola & Orchestra

Recorded: RSNO Centre, Henry Wood Hall, Glasgow, 26-27 May 2011

Lorraine McAslan (violin), Sarah-Jane Bradley (viola) & Lorraine McAslan (violin), Sarah-Jane Bradley (viola)

Royal Scottish National Orchestra, John Gibbons

[the Violin Concerto is] a sparkily inventive, urgently expressive and immaculately crafted work...[the Romantic Fantasy] also proves a genuine find, with writing that is conspicuously imaginative,... — Gramophone Magazine, March 2012 More…

Release Date: 17th Oct 2011
Catalogue No: CDLX7279
Label: Dutton
Series: Epoch
Length: 67 minutes

John Gerard Gibbons: Violin Concerto

Work length26:10

$4.50

$6.30

Royal National Scottish Orchestra

I. Rhapsody (Allegro giusto - Largamente ed appassionato - cadenza - Allegro con brio)

Track length12:39

$2.00

$2.80

II. Intermezzo (Andante piacevole)

Track length6:04

$1.00

$1.40

III. Rondo (Allegro vivace - ma non troppo presto)

Track length7:27

$1.50

$2.10

John Gerard Gibbons: Romantic Fantasy for Violin, Viola & Orchestra

Work length22:49

$4.00

$5.60

Royal National Scottish Orchestra

I. Nocturne (Lento - cadenza)

Track length7:29

$1.50

$2.10

II. Scherzino (Presto leggiero e fantastico) - Trio (Meno presto - cadenza) - Allegro non troppo

Track length6:05

$1.00

$1.40

III. Sonata-Finale (Allegro, tempo giusto) - Come il notturno - Come il scherzino

Track length9:15

$1.50

$2.10

John Gerard Gibbons: Elegy, Waltz and Toccata - Viola Concerto for Viola & Orchestra

Work length18:23

$3.50

$4.90

Royal National Scottish Orchestra

I. Elegy (Adagio e mesto - Molto giusto - Appassionato e largamente)

Track length8:12

$1.50

$2.10

II. Waltz (Quasi improvisatore - Vivace - Tempo del adagio)

Track length6:14

$1.00

$1.40

III. Toccata (Allegro ma non troppo)

Track length3:57

$1.00

$1.40

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Why has no one previously thought to release Arthur Benjamin’s three string concertos together on one CD? Maybe this has to do with the difficulty of the music. Now Dutton Epoch’s solo team of violinist Lorraine McAslan and violist Sarah-Jane Bradley, playing with the Royal Scottish National Orchestra, have produced remarkably involving performances. Here we have the almost unknown Benjamin Violin Concerto and Viola Concerto, the soloists uniting for the more familiar Romantic Fantasy for violin, viola and orchestra. Dedicated to Walton, the Violin Concerto is notable for its wealth of invention, for the English feel of the opening movement (owing to its pentatonic colouration) and for the lilting siciliana charm of the middle movement. Listeners will particularly engage with the music’s energy, thrillingly articulated by soloist Lorraine McAslan’s flashing violin playing, especially in the driven Rondo finale. McAslan is joined by Sarah-Jane Bradley in the Romantic Fantasy for Violin, Viola and Orchestra. This is a delightful score of ever-shifting lyricism, of exchange and interplay between the soloist and with the orchestra. Sarah-Jane Bradley is soloist in the wartime Viola Concerto, sometimes known as ‘Elegy, Waltz and Toccata’, the composer’s own orchestration of his Viola Sonata. Reflecting the times, Benjamin essays a score of sombre tone but of no less eloquence, expressively performed by Sarah-Jane Bradley.

Reviews

March 2012

[the Violin Concerto is] a sparkily inventive, urgently expressive and immaculately crafted work...[the Romantic Fantasy] also proves a genuine find, with writing that is conspicuously imaginative, resourceful and idiomatic...These performances have fine dash and infectious commitment about them, while the sound is extremely vivid to match...Do lend an ear to this most enterprising issue.

Arthur Benjamin: Music for Violin, Viola & Orchestra

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