English Fantasy for Viola & Harp [Import]

Bax (Artist), Vaughan Williams (Artist), Lederer (Artist), Mollenhauer (Artist) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (September 24, 2002)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Import
• Label: Centaur
• ASIN: B00006IZOU
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #614,460 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Phantasy Sonata, for viola & harp: I. Allegro Molto

2. Phantasy Sonata, for viola & harp: II. Allegro moderato

3. Phantasy Sonata, for viola & harp: III. Lento espressivo

4. Phantasy Sonata, for viola & harp: IV. Allegro

5. Berceuse, for piano

6. Pensiero, for viola & piano

7. Cradle Song, for violin (or cello) & piano

8. Romance for viola & piano

9. Studies in English Folk Song (6) for cello (or violin, viola, clarinet) & piano: I. Adagio

10. Studies in English Folk Song (6) for cello (or violin, viola, clarinet) & piano: II. Andante Sostenuto

11. Studies in English Folk Song (6) for cello (or violin, viola, clarinet) & piano: III. Larghetto

12. Studies in English Folk Song (6) for cello (or violin, viola, clarinet) & piano: IV. Lento

13. Studies in English Folk Song (6) for cello (or violin, viola, clarinet) & piano: V. Andante tranquillo

14. Studies in English Folk Song (6) for cello (or violin, viola, clarinet) & piano: VI. Allegro vivace

15. Fantasia on Greensleeves, for harp, flute & strings (arranged by R. Greaves; from the opera 'Sir John In Love')

16. The Winter's Willow, song for voice & piano

17. Folksong Arrangements, Vol. I 'British Isles', for voice & piano: The Sally Gardens

18. Folksong Arrangements, Vol. I 'British Isles', for voice & piano: Little Sir William

19. Folksong Arrangements, Vol. I 'British Isles', for voice & piano: O Can Ye Sew Cushions?

20. Folksong Arrangements, Vol. I 'British Isles', for voice & piano: The Trees They Grow So High

See all 23 tracks on this disc

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Music for Romantics, March 31, 2003

By 

Brian Forst (Reston, VA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: English Fantasy for Viola & Harp (Audio CD)

Viola and harp duets? Of course, why not? Sir Arnold Bax (1883-1953) had some lush late-romantic ideas for this pairing and gave expression to them with a sublime four movement fantasy sonata. This is nostalgic pastoral music to accompany Andrew Wyeth's haunting, melancholic painting, "Christina's World". Violist Doris Lederer and harpist Jude Mollenhauer bring this beatific music to life exquisitely, with passion and extraordinary technique. They then treat us to their transcriptions of works for viola and piano, and viola and voice, by other English composers: Frank Bridge, Ralph Vaughan Williams, Benjamin Britten, and Percy Grainger. Except for Williams's Fantasia on Greensleeves and Britten's Ash Grove, the melodies are unfamiliar, but they are of a form and intimacy that gives them an instant old-friends quality.

Charles Parsons calls this a "musical treat" in his review of this CD in the March/April 2003 American Record Guide; it is precisely that. This is a recording that brings the outdoors into the room, rustles of wind and ripples of water. I put it on frequently as a companion, to work or leisure, stopping now and then to listen intently, enjoying the pieces thoroughly as objects of interest and as background.