YORK BOWEN (1884-1961): Viola Sonatas No. 1 in C Minor, Op. 18 and No. 2 in F, Op. 22, Phantasy for Viola and Piano, Op. 54.
Catalogue Number: 01N051
Label: Naxos
Reference: 8.572580
Format: CD
Price: $11.98
Description: This duplicates a 2003 Dutton Epoch release (now out-of-print): two sonatas written for Lionel Tertis, both from 1905 while the composer was still a student at the Royal Academy of Music. Although we don't consider Bowen today to be an innovator and these sonatas are "well-made" works in a pre-existing idiom, they still would have had a freshness which must have struck audiences used to German Romanticism. The Phantasy of 1918 (another Cobbett Competition winner) is remarkably virtuosic but Bowen, who played both instruments, always gives the piano plenty to do and it is usually far more than just an accompanist. The Bridge Duo.