LERA AUERBACH (b.1973): Violin Sonata No. 3, RICHARD BEAUDOIN (b.1975): In höchster Not for Violin and Piano (both First Recordings), JOHN CAGE (1812-1992): Nocturne, OLIVIER MESSIAEN (1908-1992): Thème et variations.

Description: As in the previous works of hers that we’ve offered (03O097, 09J078, 08I092, 07F068), Auerbach's idiom in this powerful four-movement sonata is one of emotionally intense, full-blooded neo-romanticism, suggesting a continuation of the Russian tradition of which Catoire was a part. The harsh lament of the slow first movement suggests Shostakovich, though muscular, strident chords here an even more so in the devastating climax of the finale come closer to Ustvolskaya (though without the clusters). The second movement is a motoric scherzo, the third a tragic slow movement with leaden, tolling bells. The final funereal gesture of the work has the violin progressively detuned downward, like the ebbing of a life. Beaudoin suggests that Finnissy was an influence on the composition of In höchster Not [In deepest need], which may be felt in the composed lack of rhythmic synchronicity between the instruments and some extravagantly virtuosic gestures, but overall the piece avoids the freewheeling atonal complexity for which Finnissy is known, and its contrapuntal lines are frequently underpinned by tonal-sounding chords, and the melodic lines proceed stepwise and in small intervals rather than leaping across registers. A thoughtful, contemplative work, not one of extreme modernism, with a definite narrative arc. Daniel Kurganov (violin), Constantine Finehouse (piano).