Coleridge TaylorSomervell

COMPOSERS: Coleridge TaylorSomervell
LABELS: Hyperion
ALBUM TITLE: Coleridge Taylor & Somervell
WORKS: Violin concerto in G minor
PERFORMER: Anthony Marwood

BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra

Martyn Brabbins
CATALOGUE NO: CDA 67420

Samuel Coleridge-Taylor (1875-



1912) wrote his only concerto



for violin, his own instrument, in



1912, shortly before his death at



the age of 37. Its dedicatee, the



violinist Maud Powell, described



the composer as ‘the Negro



Dvo?ák’; and Dvo?ák certainly



hovers in the background of the



work, not least in the strong



opening melody, self-contained



but asymmetrical, and in the lovely



moonlit slow movement.



This new recording in



Hyperion’s ‘Romantic Violin



Concerto’ series is generally an



improvement on Avie’s premiere



recording (reviewed June 2004).



Where Avie’s soloist, Philippe



Graffin, is sometimes slack in



rhythm, leading to poor coordination



with the orchestra,



Anthony Marwood is absolutely



reliable in rhythm as well as



pitching, though he still loosens



up at appropriate moments; and



Marwood’s faster tempo for the



slow movement, and more relaxed



speeds for the finale, bring out



more of their charm. Moreover,



while Graffin’s silvery tone



sometimes disappears beneath the



weighty orchestra, Hyperion’s



balance keeps the soloist to the fore,



albeit at the cost of relegating the



wind to the distance.



A further plus for the Hyperion



is the coupling: while there’s logic



to Avie’s choice of the Dvo?ák



Concerto, collectors may well



prefer another rarity, the first



recording of Arthur Somervell’s



1930 Concerto. Here the



background eminence is Brahms,



whose large-scale formal schemes



and developmental methods are



applied to some attractive melodies



with a tinge of English folksong



– and, in the final rondo, of an all



too hearty drawing-room ballad.



Marwood is again the complete



virtuoso in another assured and



enjoyable performance.



Anthony Burton