This chamber music album spotlights the impressive skills of violist Yue Yu. A rising star in her native China and beyond, she makes her Naxos debut with this recording. The programme showcases lesser-known works that feature viola by three 20th-century English composers, including several arrangements of originals for cello and violin that testify to the instrument's versatility.
An accomplished horn and viola player, York Bowen is said to have preferred the tone of the viola to the violin. Inspired by the virtuosity and vibrato style of the distinguished violist, Lionel Tertis, Bowen wrote several works for him and became his accompanist. Bowen’s subtle shifts of key and heartfelt melodies are well in evidence here, including the powerful and poised Rhapsody, Op. 149, considered to be one of his most important works. Gustav Holst’s daughter Imogen is represented here by the open-air freshness of her Four Easy Pieces and the terse, laconic narrative of her Duo for Viola and Piano. Britten’s spiky Waltz is full of 1930s wit.