Simon Callaghan - Chamber Music of William Busch (2025) [Official Digital Download 24/96]

Lyrita releases its Chamber Music of William Busch album on 3 January 2025, with members of the Piatti Quartet, Simon Callaghan and Ashok Klouda (SRCD 439).

Three Pieces for Violin and Piano were written as individual works: as such, they can be presented separately or, if given collectively as a suite, played in any order. Busch wrote his Passacaglia for violin and viola in 1939: the score takes the form of a decisive, four-bar theme followed by thirty variants upon it. These mini variations range widely in character, from trenchant and forceful to airy and smooth.

A Memory for 'Cello and Piano was written for Elizabeth Poston. Busch subtly conveys the idea of a reminiscence suggested by the title with simple, lightly sketched ideas presented with an air of hazy nostalgia. Eventually, the feeling of distance and reserve created in the opening portion of the work is replaced by a more troubled mood. The music ends in sorrow with a heartfelt, steeply descending sequence for unaccompanied cello followed by the merest hint of the opening material.

The Quartet for Piano and Strings is the most substantial of William Busch’s chamber pieces. Although the composer’s lyrical gifts are much in evidence, the four movements are also rigorously concise. Considerable dramatic rewards are gained from the creative tension between the music’s unforced expressivity and the formal rigour with which Busch’s powerful themes are worked out.

The Suite for 'Cello and Piano is among Busch’s most searching and variegated instrumental works. In a postwar assessment of the score, The Times’ critic noted that its four pieces ‘reveal a sensitive and interesting mind’.

Elegy for 'Cello and Piano exploits fully the stringed instrument’s lyrical qualities and capacity for rich, autumnal colours. The work begins with an extended soliloquy for unaccompanied cello and the cellist continues to preside over the entire opening section, which features only a couple of brief interjections from the piano. © Paul Conway

Tracklist:
01 - Three pieces for violin and piano_ I. Cantilena, Larghetto con molto espressione
02 - Three pieces for violin and piano_ II. Caprice, Molto vivace, leggiero e ritmico
03 - Three pieces for violin and piano_ III. Lacrimosa, Andante con molto espressione
04 - Passacaglia for violin and viola_ Allegro con brio, energico
05 - A Memory for violoncello and piano_ Lento, molto espressivo
06 - Quartet for piano and strings_ I. Allegro con brio
07 - Quartet for piano and strings_ II. Largo, molto cantabile ed espressivo
08 - Quartet for piano and strings_ III. Molto vivace ed energico
09 - Quartet for piano and strings_ IV. Andante non troppo, con solennita
10 - Suite for cello and piano_ I. Prelude, Grave, risoluto e con intensità
11 - Suite for cello and piano_ II. Capricco, Allegro giocoso
12 - Suite for cello and piano_ III. Nocturne, Adagio, molto tranquillo ma con espressione
13 - Suite for cello and piano_ IV. Tarantella, Presto, molto sostenuto
14 - Elegy for violoncello and piano_ Adagio, molto sostenuto


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