Composer: William Sterndale Bennett
Performer: Villiers Quartet, Leon Bosch, Jeremy Young
Format: FLAC (tracks)
Label: Naxos
Catalogue: 8571379
Release: 2018
Size: 1.33 GB
Recovery: +3%
Scan: yes
Piano Sextet in F-Sharp Minor, Op. 8
01. I. Allegro moderato ma con passione
02. II. Scherzo. Quasi presto
03. III. Andante grazioso
04. IV. Finale. Allegro assai ed energico
Chamber Trio in A Major, Op. 26
05. I. Andante tranquillo ma con moto
06. II. Serenade. Andante ma un poco scherzando
07. III. Finale. Allegro fermato
String Quartet in G major, WoO17
08. I. Allegro moderato
09. II. Adagio
10. III. Menuetto. Allegro
11. IV. Finale. Allegro
Known for his sequence of Piano Concertos, Sterndale Bennett also wrote a small but distiguished body of chamber music. The String Quartet in G major is one of his earliest surviving works, revealing a precocious talent still strongly influenced by Haydn. Mendelssohn is the model for the Sextet, though Bennett’s highly virtuousic piano writing, with its concertante interplay, reinforces the work’s lyrical qualities and required dexterity as well as its advanced harmonies and hymnal beauty. The concise Chamber Trio radiates sheer charm while displaying an even greater grasp of structure and is the first English example in the trio form where both string instruments are given parts independent of the piano. The Villiers Quartet are British chamber music specialists with recent recordings by Elgar and Delius, and Fricker – ‘Compelling, challenging and deeply satisfying British Music’ The Strad