Composer: Simon Bainbridge
Performer: Linda Merrick, Kreutzer Quartet
Format: FLAC (tracks)
Label: Toccata
Catalogue: TOCC0573
Release: 2021
Size: 923 MB
Recovery: +3%
Scan: yes
01. String Quartet No. 1
02. Clarinet Quintet
03. Cheltenham Fragments
04. String Quartet No. 2
The composing career of Simon Bainbridge (born in London in 1952) is spanned by the four chamber works in this album, all of them cast as single narrative spans. The First String Quartet, written when its composer was not yet twenty, blends lyricism and pointillism, rather as if it were recasting abstract poetry in sound; and the recent Second offers a kaleidoscopic tableau of colour and nervous energy inspired by visual art. In his Cheltenham Fragments, as the title suggests, Bainbridge uses mosaic technique to build up textures and thematic outlines. And the long lines of the virtuosic Clarinet Quintet generate fleetfooted whirlwinds as they unfold. Linda Merrick and the Kreutzer Quartet worked closely with the composer on the preparation of these recordings.