One of the plethora
of British composers who wrote such
exquisite and moving music in the early-mid
twentieth century, Ireland is, like
most of them, unjustly neglected. As
the works on this recent disc from ASV
show, his compositions were full of
character, innovation and beauty. Julian
Lloyd Webber and John McCabe are familiar
champions of English music on the ASV
label, with two volumes of British cello
music out (both discs that I highly
recommend). Here, they are joined by
Daniel Hope in four Ireland chamber
works, including a setting of the famous
carol The Holy Boy.
Ireland’s first sonata,
in D minor, for violin and piano won
the first prize in the legendary Cobbett
competition in 1909. It opens with a
passionate, lyrical, expansive and wistful
first movement that, despite obvious
French and German influences still has
a very English sound. The aptly titled
"Romance" is gentle and tender,
and the final Rondo is a gorgeously
lively, bubbling, lilting movement that
effervesces with unsuppressed energy
and good cheer. With a great piano part,
the Rondo is wonderfully good fun for
both instruments and provides a strong
finish to an amazing work - as is brought
out brilliantly by Hope’s performance.
Although Hope’s playing comes across
as just slightly distanced and detached,
he creates a beautiful sound and his
interpretation of this work cannot be
criticised. The piano is a little muffled
and far less closely miked than the
violin, which leads to some imbalance,
possibly at the expense of richness
and resonance.
The Trio No. 2 is thought
to be strongly influenced by the First
World War, and one can certainly hear
the heart-felt bitterness, despair and
loss in the opening poco lento section.
A march-like episode in the middle of
the work is said to represent British
troops emerging from the trenches to
fight the Germans. This leads to a beautifully
rich lyrical section, and the work ends
with the march-like episode again. This
a perfectly characterised performance
of a rather aggressive and defiant,
yet at the same time, deeply poignant
piece.
The sonata for cello
and piano in G minor is undoubtedly
the highlight of the disc for me. The
first movement is melancholic, restless
and brooding, while the heart-breakingly
beautiful second movement, poco largamente
is gentle and lyrical, with stunning
chromatic inflexions and harmonies.
The work concludes in a rumbustious
dissonant and lively movement with a
radiant ending. An intense, passionate
and sensitive Julian Lloyd Webber gives
a magical performance of this work with
intelligent, thoughtful and reflective
playing and perfect intonation.
The disc ends with
one of the very many arrangements of
the Holy Boy, this one by the
composer himself, for cello and piano.
Needless to say, it is beautifully played.
This disc has some
pretty formidable competition. All four
works are available on a Chandos disc
with Karine Georgian, Ian Brown and
Lydia Mordkovitch. The cello sonata
can also be found on the Marco Polo
label with Raphael Wallfisch and John
York, and the violin sonata appears
on Hyperion with Paul Barritt and Catherine
Edwards, as well as with Frederick Grinke
and the composer himself on the Historic
Epoch label. Whilst I would advise getting
hold of a copy of the Grinke and Ireland’s
own recording as something of a definitive
version of the violin sonata, I would
recommend this disc over and above the
Chandos, Hyperion and Marco Polo versions.
One simply can’t get much better than
the performers here, all of whom are
well-known for their dedication to English
music and consummate musicianship.
Em Marshall
see also review
by Jonathan Woolf
John
Ireland Trust pages
Daniel Hope (violin), Julian Lloyd Webber (cello),
John McCabe (piano) DDD 
