American Record Guide

An English Fantasy for Viola and Harp
BAX: Fantasy Sonata; BRIDGE: 3 Pieces; VAUGHAN WILLIAMS: Romance; 6 Studies in English folk song; Greensleeves; A Winter’s Willow; BRITTEN: 6 English Folk Tunes; GRAINGER: Sussex Mummers’ Christmas Carol
Doris Lederer, viola; Jude Mollenhauer, harp
Centaur 2570 [69 minutes]

The English seem to be particularly apt at fashioning music that reflects the English spirit and yet is most comfortable, peaceful, relaxing, and imbued with nostalgia and melancholy. Couple the lyric freshness of the eight selections heard here with arrangements by Lederer and Mollenhauer for viola and harp and one has a “serious” artistic version of those chintzy compilations such as “Music for a Rainy Afternoon”. By making this comparison I truly do not mean to denigrate this recording.
Much of the music is rarely heard; only the Greensleeves fantasy and the Britten Folk Tune Arrangements are familiar. Only the Bax Fantasy Sonata (1927) was originally composed for viola and harp; the others are arrangements. ‘Winter’s Willow’ (1903) is an original simple song (text by W Barnes) for voice and piano; the folk song studies were originally for voice and piano; the Romance for viola and piano. Frank Bridge’s Three Pieces were originally for viola and piano. The Bax and Bridge compositions were composed for viola virtuoso Lionel Tertis (1876-1975). The familiar Britten folk-tune arrangements (‘The Sally Gardens’, ‘Little Sir William’,The Ash Grove’, Oliver Cromwell’, ‘O Can Ye Sew Cushions?’, The Trees They Grow So High’ are for voice and piano.
Both artists are American virtuosos in their own right. Ms Lederer has been a member of the Audubon Quartet since 1976 as well as a distinguished soloist. Jude Mollenhauer (Jude is presumably pronounced Judy) has been principal harpist of the Columbus (Ohio) Symphony since 1985 and has been active in chamber music. Both are superb musicians, and their program is a musical treat.

CHARLES PARSONS
March/April 2003

American Record Guide

Passion of Bliss, Bowen, & Bridge
BOWEN: Fantasie Quartet for 4 Violas; Melody on the G String; Rhapsody; BRIDGE: Lament for 2 Violas; BLISS: Sonata
Doris Lederer, Dariusz Korcz, Jennifer Cassin, Franklin Shaw, viola; Bruce Murray, piano
Centaur 2692_[64 minutes]

This is a wonderful release that expands my understanding of the effect that Lionel Tertis (1876-1975) had on British composers.
I’d never even heard of violist-composer York Bowen (1884-1961) before I heard this, but I can guarantee I’ll never forget him now. (We reviewed his viola sonata twice, in May/June 2003 and Sept/Oct 2004. -Ed) The most remarkable composition on this record is his Quartet for four violas. Even the most committed violaphile must now be thinking that this has got to be one off the tonally most monotonous works in the repertoire- I expected that myself- but, lo and behold, that is not at all the case. When you think about it, Bowen only deprives himself of the bottom octave of the cello and the top fifth of the violin of a traditional string quartet if he exploits the full range of the viola, which he does. Composed in 1909, it abounds in chromatic harmonies and employs an impressionist range of tone color. A compositional tour de force. Bowen’s other works here are not quite as satisfying, but they are still pleasing.
Frank Bridge (1879-1941), another violist-composer, wrote the Elegy for two violas in 1912 for himself and Tertis. Its sound world is no less varied and satisfying than Bowen’s Quartet.
The major work here is the Viola Sonata of Arthur Bliss (1891-1975), written in 1933, Bliss was wounded and lost a brother in WW I, and the Sonata shows some of the emotional pain he must have felt, especially in the remarkable coda to the finale.
I know what you’re thinking now. “Did they get together four violists good enough to do justice to the music”” The answer is, “You bet!” The players have gorgeous sounds, both individually and in ensemble, and intonation is only rarely a problem when the writing ascends far above the staff. On top of it all, it has all been wonderfully recorded. All viola lovers should snatch up this disc.

JOSEPH MAGIL
July/August 2005

Gramophone

Music of Arnold Bax and York Bowen
BOWEN Viola Sonata in C minor, BOWEN Fantasy for Viola and Piano, BAX Sonata
Doris Lederer (viola), and Jane Coop (piano)
Centaur CRC 2660 (68′ DDD)
– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –The Passion of Bliss, Bowen and Bridge
BOWEN Fantasie for Four Violas / BRIDGE Lament for 2 ViolasBOWEN Melody for the G String / Rhapsody for Viola and PianoBILSS Sonata for Viola and Piano
Doris Lederer, Dariusz Korcz, Jennifer Cassin, Franklin Shaw (viola), and Bruce Murray (piano)
Centaur CRC 2692 (64′ DDD)Bowen: Sonata, Phantasy -selected comparison:
Boyd, Forsberg (7/03) (DUTT) CDLX7126

Off-the-beaten-track listening for Anglophiles and viola aficionados alike
Written in 1921-22 for Lionel Tertis, Bax’s masterly Viola Sonata shows the composer at the peak of his powers, its demonic central Scherzo framed by a touching tightly knit opening movement and slumberingly intense Molto lento finale. Having been comparatively underwhelmed by the partnership of Medici Quartet viola player Ivo-Jan van der Werff and Simon Marlow on Koch Classics (1/02), it’s good to be able to bestow a more positive reception to Doris Lederer’s altogether more emotionally candid and imaginatively shaped reading, which has the benefit of a highly idiomatic and personable contribution from the fine Canadian pianist Jane Coop. In fact, my only gripe of note is that, as captured by the microphones, the piano tone is inclined to harden under pressure; otherwise, this represents a very useful addition to the Bax discography.Tertis was also the inspiration behind all of York Bowen’s viola music. Lederer and Coop give us the glorious (and often jaw droppingly virtuoso) Cobbett Prize-winning Phantasy of 1918, as well as the 20-year-old composer’s First Sonata from 1905 (whose exuberant concluding Presto emerges as a close cousin to the finale of his 1907 Viola Concerto). In both works I find little to choose between these newcomers and the similarly scrupulous and shapely performances by James Boyd and Bengt Forsberg.There’s plenty more Bowen on the companion disc, the most eyebrow-raising item being the Fantasie Quartet for four violas, whose considerable technical demands (not least some scarily vertiginous writing for the leader) are confidently met by Lederer and her three colleagues. Bowen joined Tertis and two others for the January 1910 premiere. Just over two years later, in London’s Aeolian (now Wigmore) Hall, it was the turn of another composer/viola player, Frank Bridge, to partner Tertis in the first performance of his Lament for two violas, a deeply felt, resourcefully argued colloquy, eloquently served by Lederer and Dariusz Korcz.Elsewhere, Lederer and pianist Bruce Murray forge a sympathetic alliance in Bowen’s toothsome Melody for the G String and Rhapsody (the latter dating from as late as 1955). A very capable showing they make, too, in Bliss’s imposing 1933 Sonata. Again, the sound may hardly be in the luxury class but the music-making is consistently sympathetic, and both these Centaur anthologies possess many sterling virtues.

Andrew Achenbach
December 2006

American Record Guide

January/February edition (page 65)

Bowen’s represented here that makes me prick up my ears is the Fantasia for Four Violas of 1907. While there is no piano part—thus making this work the odd man out in this set—it still has the broadest tonal palette. Written for Tertis and three of his students, it doesn’t shy from the higher regions of the fingerboard, so the brightness of the upper A string contrasts delightfully with the darkness of the low positions on the C string.

Two other notable works are the Melody for the G String of 1917 and the Melody for the C String of 1918. While it had been common since at least the time of Paganini to write entire works or extended sections of compositions for the G string on the violin, these are the first concert works I know that were written specifically for the lower two strings of the viola, the two strings that contribute most to giving the instrument its distinctive sound. The Phantasy of 1918 and the Rhapsody of 1955 are Bowen’s most satisfying extended works for viola and piano, showing a much firmer grasp of compositional niceties than the two sonatas, with no lack of inspiration.

While it is good to have all this music in one set, much of it has appeared on a trio of CDs by Doris Lederer. I reviewed two of them, The Passion of Bliss, Bowen and Bridge, which has the Fantasia for Four Violas, the Melody for the G string, and the Rhapsody (July/Aug 2005) and the recording of the Viola Concerto and Viola Sonata 2 (Nov/Dec 2006), and David Moore reviewed the recording of Viola Sonata 1 and the Phantasie (Sept/Oct 2004). We were both impressed by Lederer’s musicianship and tone. Also, all three recordings are on the Centaur label, and the recordings have more presence and hall ambience than the Hyperion set, though I must admit Hyperion’s sound is very refined. Lederer’s viola has a deeper, sweeter sound than Power’s, and her tone is richer. Lederer is a very fine musician who knows how to sing through her instrument and bring a musical line to life. Power is a fine musician too, and has a bit wider dynamic range than Lederer, playing real pianissimos—something many soloists are afraid to do—and inserting the occasional uniquely beautiful nuance. Of the two, I lean toward Lederer, who has a more assertive personality and voluptuous tone. These two qualities are especially noticeable in the Fantasia for Four Violas. Lederer and her quartet are ravishing and exciting from beginning to end, while the ensemble sound isn’t as rich and full and the music doesn’t consistently hold my interest in Power’s recording. Power is no slouch, and he is a fine musician and excellent technician, so those who really want to have all of Bowen’s music for viola and piano would do well to pick up this set.

JOSEPH MAGIL

Musicweb International

Music by York Bowen (1884-1961)
Viola Concerto in C Minor Op. 25 (1907) [35.33]
Viola Sonata No. 2 in F Major (1911) [26.07]
Melody for the C string Op. 51 No. 2 [4.48]
Doris Lederer (viola)
Czech Philharmonic Chamber Orchestra/Paul Polivnick
Bruce Murray (piano)
Rec. 19-20 Nov 2004, Prague Radio Studio 1; 7 June 2004, LSU Rectal Hall, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge. DDD
CENTAUR CRC 2786 [68.22]

There is something very appealing about the gritty immediacy – some might say ferocity – of this recording of the Bowen Viola Concerto. By comparison with the luxurious concert realism and transparency of the Hyperion recording with Laurence Power this grips the listener from the beginning. Doris Lederer, by now the veteran of three previous British music collections on Centaur, completes the picture with an ardent tone that reaches out imploring and imperious.

The York Bowen was written for Lionel Tertis, the subject of John White’s biography to be published later this year. It is a tremendously ardent work. The writing is stirringly romantic and quite Straussian or to use a closer national parallel, Bantock-like. The start of the slow movement is surely influenced by Bantock’s Pierrot, by his Scottish highland fantasies, perhaps by Delius and by the Bruch Scottish Fantasy. The finale is notable for its chirpy Sibelian writing for the woodwind.

The optimistic tone of the writing veers between melodrama and lighter ideas that may remind you of the music-hall. In this juxtaposing and reconciling of the incongruous we can think of Holbrooke’s orchestral music (e.g. his Byron and Ulalume) and, at a more exalted level, of Mahler and his dalliance with military band music. All in all this is a fascinatingly entertaining piece which ends in a wonderful shriek from the trumpets and a war-whoop from horns.

The Second Viola Sonata is from three years later. It is in three movements again but this time the tone is rather different from that of the concerto. Essentially it is light music with its terms of reference firmly harnessed to the music-hall and the salon. It’s all very polished but there is little of the profundity of the first viola sonata or the quartets or of many of the other works featured in the Dutton Epoch series. The Melody in C is a grateful and soulful piece. Despite its brevity, coming after the salon-light sonata the Melody impresses with its tawny slow-flowing Brahmsian sentiment.

The scene-setting notes are by accompanist Bruce Murray.

If I had to go for a single version of the Bowen Viola Concerto this would be it. The contrasting Forsyth Concerto makes the Hyperion very special if you would like a collection of two viola concertos. On the other hand if you are still exploring York Bowen then this all-Bowen collection is the choice offering a truly vibrant .recording of the Concerto and the only recording of the Melody and Second Sonata.

ROB BARNETT (Musicweb International)