Lionel Handy, the cellist on this recording, has a commitment to expanding the solo cello repertoire and has commissioned and premiered many new works.
Composer Biography
Stanley Bate, the composer of the second Cello Concerto on this album, studied with notable figures like Ralph Vaughan Williams, Nadia Boulanger, and Paul Hindemith.
Composer Biography
Stanley Bate's music was more widely recognized in the USA and Europe than in his home country, the UK, a neglect that is thought to have contributed to his suicide.
Critical Reception
Arnold Bax's Cello Concerto was considered by him to be one of the major disappointments of his musical life because it failed to gain a permanent place in the repertoire.
Compositional Technique
In his Cello Concerto, Arnold Bax uses a notably restrained orchestration, with an absence of trombones and tuba, and only two trumpets, to ensure the solo cello is clearly audible.
Composition History
Arnold Bax, the composer of the Cello Concerto, initially had reservations about writing it, describing it as a "hideous fate" and only acquiescing after being "bullied into it."
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