Walton - Piano Quartet, Violin Sonata, Toccata | Naxos 8573892

Walton - Piano Quartet, Violin Sonata, Toccata

£12.30

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Label: Naxos

Cat No: 8573892

Format: CD

Number of Discs: 1

Genre: Chamber

Release Date: 27th November 2020

Contents

Artists

Matthew Jones (violin)
Sarah-Jane Bradley (viola)
Tim Lowe (cello)
Annabel Thwaite (piano)

Works

Walton, William

Piano Quartet in D minor
Pieces (2) for violin and piano
Toccata for Violin and Piano
Violin Sonata

Artists

Matthew Jones (violin)
Sarah-Jane Bradley (viola)
Tim Lowe (cello)
Annabel Thwaite (piano)

About

These four works represent all of Sir William Walton’s chamber music involving both violin and piano, as well as being a microcosm of his compositional output between 1918 and 1950. They offer a fascinating glimpse of Walton’s stylistic journey, from the youthful exuberance of the early Piano Quartet and the Toccata to the unconventional but masterful Violin Sonata, and the Two Pieces with their connection to his music for films. Matthew Jones and Annabel Thwaite’s recording of works by Benjamin Britten (Naxos 8573136) was summed up as ‘superb’ by BBC Music Magazine.

Many of the works in this programme are not unfamiliar on recordings, but this is the first single-disc release to include all of the composer’s chamber works involving both violin and piano. The presence of the often overlooked Toccata is unusual, and shows a dimension of Walton’s music that is rarely given mention. The disc is the result of a Guildhall School research project entitled ‘Walton: his voice through the violin’, inspired by violinist Matthew Jones’s lifelong love of Walton’s music.

Violinist Matthew Jones and pianist Annabel Thwaite have recorded violin and viola works by Benjamin Britten on 8573136, in which ‘Jones’s playing of both instruments enthralls. Annabel Thwaite’s accompaniments, beautifully shaded and weighted, are on the same superb level’ (BBC Music Magazine).

Matthew Jones can also be heard on Prokofiev’s Romeo and Juliet arranged for viola and piano (8572318) and his recital of English viola music (8572579), regarded as a programme of ‘consistently fine performances, beautifully recorded’ by Gramophone.

Viola player Sarah-Jane Bradley has also made numerous recordings for Naxos, including a recital of English music (8572761) in which her ‘viola has a singing quality beautifully suited to this essentially ruminative, lyrical repertoire’ (Gramophone). Cellist Tim Lowe performs regularly in the UK and Europe, and has recorded chamber music album for various labels.

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