REBECCA CLARKE (1877-1950): Rhapsody for Cello and Piano, Passacaglia, I’ll Bid My Heart Be Still, Epilogue, Viola Sonata, JOHN YORK (b. circa 1950): Dialogue with Rebecca Clarke.

Description: The 1923 Rhapsody (like its immediate predecessors the viola sonata and piano trio commissions by Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge) was prepared from a photocopy of the handwritten score whose original does not exist any more). Its emotionally fraught, often turbulent course relies on a deepening in complexity and confident use of dissonance, with complex colors and rich textures and, in the second section (the 24-minute work is in five sections played wthout breaks), the exotic harmonies of a Debussy or a Scriabin. Yet, as the pianist puts it in his notes, English modality and “the spirit of Holst and Vaughan Williams [is] lurking somewhere nearby whenever consolation is needed.” Yes, it’s worth buying the disc just for this piece! Raphael Wallfisch (cello), John York (piano).