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The Pre-Raphaelite Cello
SOMM Recordings

The Pre-Raphaelite Cello

$32.99

Details

Composer
Hugo Becker, Percy Grainger, Iwan Knorr, Roger Quilter, Cyril Scott
Artist
Adrian Bradbury, Andrew West
Format
CD
Label
SOMM Recordings
Released
May 17, 2024
Catalog #
SOMMCD 0685
UPC
748871068520

About

SOMM Recordings is proud to announce a recital disc from cellist Adrian Bradbury and pianist Andrew West titled The Pre-Raphaelite Cello – at once ground-breaking and celebratory, and rich with first recordings. The curiosity piqued by the album’s unusual name will be amply rewarded with the fascinating story of the artistic threads this programme weaves together and their relevance to important commemorations being observed this year.

The idea was conceived and devised by pianist Oliver Davies (1938–2020)*, and the recording is dedicated to his memory. It is a tribute to the renowned British cellist Beatrice Harrison and her association with the composers of The Frankfurt Gang whose music she championed. And the occasion of this tribute is the 100th anniversary of the Nightingale Broadcast, one of the earliest ever made by the BBC from a remote location: on 19 May 1924 Beatrice sat and played her cello in the garden of “Foyle Riding” (the family home at Oxted), duetting with the local nightingales before a microphone that carried them over the airwaves to more than a million listeners and enchanted a nation.

The composers in Beatrice’s circle included a multi-year cohort of anglophone composition students under Iwan Knorr at Frankfurt before the turn of the 20th century. Englishmen Roger Quilter and Cyril Scott and the Australian Percy Grainger belonged to this Frankfurt Gang, who remained close friends after their student days in Germany and who adopted the Pre-Raphaelite banner from the like-minded brotherhood of English painters and poets, distinguishing themselves musically from other British composers through a focus on emotion rather than musical architecture. They were among the composers inspired by Beatrice’s musicianship, and their works on this album were arranged for her or played and loved by her. These are prefaced on the programme by cello-piano pieces from Iwan Knorr (the composition professor who unites the Gang) and Hugo Becker (Beatrice’s cello teacher from the age of 15).

Tracklist 16 tracks

  1. 1 Variationen über ein Thema von K. Klimsch, Op. 4 13:37
    Track
    1
    Title
    Variationen über ein Thema von K. Klimsch, Op. 4
    Duration
    13:37
    Composer
    Iwan Knorr
    Performer
    Adrian Bradbury, Andrew West
  2. 2 Liebesleben, Op. 7: No. 5. Frage - No. 6. Antwort 03:02
    Track
    2
    Title
    Liebesleben, Op. 7: No. 5. Frage - No. 6. Antwort
    Duration
    03:02
    Composer
    Hugo Becker
    Performer
    Adrian Bradbury, Andrew West
  3. 3 L'Amour de Moy (arr. R. Quilter for cello and piano) 03:34
    Track
    3
    Title
    L'Amour de Moy (arr. R. Quilter for cello and piano)
    Duration
    03:34
    Composer
    Traditional
    Performer
    Adrian Bradbury, Andrew West
  4. 4 Amadis, Act II: Bois epais (arr. R. Quilter for cello and piano) 02:33
    Track
    4
    Title
    Amadis, Act II: Bois epais (arr. R. Quilter for cello and piano)
    Duration
    02:33
    Composer
    Jean-Baptiste Lully
    Performer
    Adrian Bradbury, Andrew West
  5. 5 No. 3. To Daisies 02:33
    Track
    5
    Title
    No. 3. To Daisies
    Duration
    02:33
    Composer
    Roger Quilter
    Performer
    Adrian Bradbury, Andrew West
  6. 6 No. 5. Julia's Hair 01:49
    Track
    6
    Title
    No. 5. Julia's Hair
    Duration
    01:49
    Composer
    Roger Quilter
    Performer
    Adrian Bradbury, Andrew West
  7. 7 Where the Rainbow Ends: Slumber Song (arr. for cello and piano) 01:54
    Track
    7
    Title
    Where the Rainbow Ends: Slumber Song (arr. for cello and piano)
    Duration
    01:54
    Composer
    Roger Quilter
    Performer
    Adrian Bradbury, Andrew West
  8. 8 3 Songs of William Blake, Op. 20: No. 1. Dream Valley (arr. for cello and piano) 02:16
    Track
    8
    Title
    3 Songs of William Blake, Op. 20: No. 1. Dream Valley (arr. for cello and piano)
    Duration
    02:16
    Composer
    Roger Quilter
    Performer
    Adrian Bradbury, Andrew West
  9. 9 Vesperale, Op. 40, No. 2 (arr. B. Hambourg for cello and piano) 02:45
    Track
    9
    Title
    Vesperale, Op. 40, No. 2 (arr. B. Hambourg for cello and piano)
    Duration
    02:45
    Composer
    Cyril Scott
    Performer
    Adrian Bradbury, Andrew West
  10. 10 Lullaby, Op. 57, No. 2 (arr. C. Warwick-Evans for cello and piano) 02:18
    Track
    10
    Title
    Lullaby, Op. 57, No. 2 (arr. C. Warwick-Evans for cello and piano)
    Duration
    02:18
    Composer
    Cyril Scott
    Performer
    Adrian Bradbury, Andrew West
  11. 11 Pierrot amoureux 07:44
    Track
    11
    Title
    Pierrot amoureux
    Duration
    07:44
    Composer
    Cyril Scott
    Performer
    Adrian Bradbury, Andrew West
  12. 12 Pastoral and Reel 05:27
    Track
    12
    Title
    Pastoral and Reel
    Duration
    05:27
    Composer
    Cyril Scott
    Performer
    Adrian Bradbury, Andrew West
  13. 13 Ballade 13:29
    Track
    13
    Title
    Ballade
    Duration
    13:29
    Composer
    Cyril Scott
    Performer
    Adrian Bradbury, Andrew West
  14. 14 Youthful Rapture (version for cello and piano) 05:02
    Track
    14
    Title
    Youthful Rapture (version for cello and piano)
    Duration
    05:02
    Composer
    Percy Grainger
    Performer
    Adrian Bradbury, Andrew West
  15. 15 Variations on Handel's The Harmonious Blacksmith (arr. for cello and piano) 01:38
    Track
    15
    Title
    Variations on Handel's The Harmonious Blacksmith (arr. for cello and piano)
    Duration
    01:38
    Composer
    Percy Grainger
    Performer
    Adrian Bradbury, Andrew West
  16. 16 The Sussex Mummers' Christmas Carol (version for cello and piano) 03:31
    Track
    16
    Title
    The Sussex Mummers' Christmas Carol (version for cello and piano)
    Duration
    03:31
    Composer
    Percy Grainger
    Performer
    Adrian Bradbury, Andrew West