Composer: Buxton Orr
Performer: Andrew Roberts, Maya Homburger, Barry Guy, Beethoven String Trio of London
Format: FLAC (tracks)
Label: Toccata
Catalogue: TOCC0103
Release: 2012
Size: 298 MB
Recovery: +3%
Scan: yes
String Quartet No. 1, ‘Refrains IV’
01. I. Arditamente (maestoso)
02. II. Allegro lirico
03. II. Adagio
04. III. Solenne
05. III. La croma subito piu mosso (Molto vivace)
06. IV. Liberamente (quasi cadenza)
07. IV. Lento
08. V. Allegro energico
09. V. Tempo l’istesso
Duo for Baroque Violin and Double Bass
10. I. Quasi improvisando
11. II. Andante con moto
12. III. Subito allegro ritmico
String Trio
13. I. Adagio
14. II. Andante Resoluto
15. III. Allegro vivace
String Quartet No. 2
16. I. Con moto
17. II. Adagio
18. III. Vivace
19. IV. Tema con variazioni: Larghetto con rubato
Buxton Orr, born in Glasgow in 1924, was for many years a respected teacher at the Guildhall School in London. Very little of his music – which ranges from tuneful folksong settings to toughly argued twelve-tone compositions such as those here – has been heard since his death in 1997; these four works for strings are all first recordings. Two of the four works here are performed by the musicians who commissioned them, and most were friends of the composer. The music on this disc is tough and earnest but also lyrical and energetic and focuses attention on an important British composer whose music deserves more frequent.