Catalogue Connection: 25160

In Violin Muse, violinist Madeleine Mitchell has assembled works by her roughly contemporary British composers. She inspired many of them, and all receive on this disc their recorded premieres. The first, Godfrey Poole’s Rhapsody—according to the composer, who has served as her accompanist, though not here—explores the “op. 96” aspect of Mitchell’s musical virtuosity and loosely fol¬lows a poem, “Song,” by Dorianne Laux. It’s tonal in an extended sense, but it’s not consistently singing or lyrical—-jagged interjections interrupt its flow. Mitchell and her pianist, Nigel Clayton, capture both the sunny and the unsettled manners it limns.

Guto Pryderi Puw’s two-movement Violin Concerto, “Soft Stillness,” also draws on poetry, in this case, lines from act V of Shakespeare’s play The Merchant of Venice. In the first movement, according to Puw, the conflicts between soloist and orchestra may actually mimic the relationship between Lorenzo and Jessica. The more unsettled tumult at the end of this movement grows stridently dissonant, while the beginning of the second movement, after an abrupt ending to the first, returns to the more contemplative manner of the concerto’s opening. The melodies assume familiar shapes, but listeners shouldn’t expect to hear them coalescing in sweet tonal harmony, despite the preponderance of consonant intervals. In both the first movement’s dissonant moments and the second’s lyrical ones, the engineers have placed Mitchell well within, rather than in front of, the web of orchestral sound, making the concerto, like her performance of it, a sort of exercise in chamber-like cooperation and intimacy.

Mitchell asked David Matthews to write a Romanza for her, resulting in two versions—for violin and strings and this reduction for violin and piano. Mitchell suggests that he wasn’t sure how to proceed after the introduction, but took note of an essay proclaiming that triple time isn’t so common nowadays and accordingly wrote what might loosely be called a waltz. Mitchell’s tonal luster in the opening section and her rhythmic verve and assured double-stops in the triple-time sections make a strong impression, both for her performance and for the piece itself. How does the version for violin and strings, upon which this one’s based, compare? Does the string accompaniment support the harmonic shifts as effectively (or as slyly) as does Nigel Clayton’s alert pianism? Sadie Harrison wrote Aurea Luce for Mitchell and Poole, intending it for St. Peter’s in Shaftesbury on the occasion of Harrison’s 50th birthday. It follows a plainsong hymn for the Feast of St. Peter’s Chair and, although it breaks into double-stops and imitates the pealing of bells in its middle section, it largely retains the eternal serenity of its Gregorian origins.

In Judith Weir’s set of three pieces for two violins, Cerys Jones joins Mitchell. Of the three works—Sleep Sound ida Mornin’, Atlantic Drift, and Rain and Mist Are on the Mountain, I’d Better Buy Some Shoes (this piece in four parts)—the first sounds like a fiddle tune (Weir heard it on the Orkney Islands) and the third derives from a Gaelic folk song. Weir wrote the second, Atlantic Drift, without relying on such sources. While these pieces may have origins in folk song, they’re far from simple fiddle tunes, and Mitchell and Jones take them very seriously indeed. Michael Berkeley derived Veillieuse (which he translates as “Night Watch”) for the Belgrade Festival from the slow movement of an earlier violin sonata, but it also contains some tonal material—according to the notes, drawn from some of his early string music. Now it’s a quasi-exotic meditation chastely accompanied by the piano, and more somber and forbidding. The program comes to a conclusion with Michael Nyman’s Taking It As Read, a pair of short pieces more traditional in their harmonic schemes (Mitchell describes them as suggesting a Welsh hymn); Mitchell and Clayton invest them with the lush warmth their style demands.

For those who enjoy exploring the ways and byways of contemporary British music, Mitchell’s protean compilation could serve as a vade mecum. Not everything will be likely to be to every listener’s taste, but there’s so much here that something’s almost bound to reach a receptive audience. Recommended to those explorers.

This is a fine collection of music assembled and performed by violinist Madeleine Mitchell. The only orchestral work on the album, Puw’s Violin Concerto (Soft Stillness), stands out also as one of its more exciting works. Inspired by lines from Shakespeare’s Merchant of Venice, the violin and orchestra spar with each other in lively displays of color.

Poole’s Rhapsody is another high point, with simple, yet interesting melodies flowing between moments of movement and static, consonance and dissonance. Harrison’s ‘Aurea Luce’ relies on plainchant for its tranquil nature—before moving into forceful, scattering violin lines. Works by Matthews and Berkeley are fine music, but a bit familiar. The drama is balanced by lighter works—Weir’s folk-influenced ‘Atlantic Drift’ for two violins and Nyman’s simple, tuneful ‘Taking it as Read’ for violin and piano.

Madeleine Mitchell is a British violinist who is rightly regarded in high esteem both as a solo violinist, and chamber musician. She is a violinist of great virtuosity and one who shows a willingness to experiment. She is a powerful force in contemporary music having commissioned many new works and this release exemplifies her efforts to keep the culture of ‘classical’ music alive¹. Five of the seven works were written for and premiered by Madeleine Mitchell; all seven works represent premiere recordings.

The disc begins with Geoffrey Poole’s Rhapsody for violin & piano. This piece was inspired by a poem from American writer Dorianne Laux, celebrating her husband’s life — he survived falling off a ladder and the ladder’s unsteady rungs are described in Rhapsody’s tenser passages, according to the composer. This piece hints at Shostakovich with its melodies and jazz inflections. It is a varied piece at times humorous, at times searching, at others melancholic. All of this is brought of with seeming ease by Mitchell.

Guto Puw’s Violin Concerto ‘Soft Stillness’ is the most substantial work on the CD. This work was inspired by lines from act five of Shakespeare’s play The Merchant of Venice and for this work Mitchell is joined by the BBC National Orchestra of Wales. This is one of the highlights of the disc and the members of BBC NOW combine well with the soloist in this rich, imaginative score.

David Matthews wrote two versions of the Romanza; one with piano accompaniment and one with string orchestra, and Madeleine premiered both. We have here the former version with Mitchell ably partnered by Nigel Clayton. This pairing continues with Sadie Harrison’s Aurea Luce, based on a plainsong melody. This piece was originally written at Madeleine Mitchell’s request for a concert to celebrate Sadie Harrison’s 50th birthday. Harrison started writing Aurea Luce on International Women’s Day, and based it on a text by the first wife of Boethius.

Next up Madeleine Mitchell is joined by a second violinist, Cerys Jones, for Judith Weir’s Atlantic Drift. These three pieces, which Weir admits are among her favourites, are influenced by the age-old flow of traditional music between Britain and North America and vice versa. The music is original but contains snatches of folk song that evoke the Orkneys. It is surely a work that I will come back to frequently.

Michael Berkeley’s Veilleuse, for violin & piano (Nightwatch) is a reworking of the slow movement of his Violin Sonata. It begins with a quiet restlessness before erupting into a passionate outburst before settling once more. The disc ends with Nyman’s two short pieces Taking it as Read, Nos. 1 & 2 written for the opening of Mitchell’s ‘Red Violin Festival’ in Cardiff.

Despite having been recorded in a variety of venues the overall sound quality of this CD is consistently good. It comes with helpful notes on the pieces, the composers and the performers.

This is a splendid disc that deserves a place in the library of all lovers of contemporary violin music, presenting, as it does, a range of contrasting but complementary pieces of high quality. Mitchell proves to be a persuasive advocate for these colourful new works. Moreover each of the works is highly accessible and does not ‘challenge’ the listener in the manner of some contemporary works that appear to have been more interesting to write than to listen to! Thus this CD would be a great introduction to modern violin works for collectors who habitually steer clear of contemporary works.

The world of contemporary Anglo-Saxon music boasts composers who have the prerogative of applying popular modes of the past and melodic inspiration. This is confirmed by this recording that stars one of the greatest British violinists, Madeleine Mitchell, who, in addition to being a very talented artist, is also as the title reads, a “violin muse”, in the sense that she collaborates with different composers, suggesting and commissioning new compositions.

And the works presented here, for violin and piano, two violins and violin concerto by authors such as David Matthews, Geoffrey Poole, Guto Puw, Judith Weir, Michael Berkeley, Michael Nyman and Sadie Harrison, are a perfect demonstration. The result is a sound landscape in which tradition and innovation are able to coexist, showing a cornucopia of expressiveness, of well-thought out research, never separated from a very high level of expression that is not ashamed to highlight lyricism and melodic development.

Mitchell, well supported by pianist Nigel Clayton, is able to mold to the needs of the various scores, as are the violinist Cerys Jones (in a delicious duet with Mitchell) and the orchestral team.
Artistic judgement: EXCEPTIONAL
Technical judgement: EXCELLENT- EXCEPTIONAL
Andrea Bedetti (Audiophile Sound)

Few British violinists have been as active in recent years as Madeleine Mitchell in promoting and the commissioning of new music, as can be heard on Violin Muse.

The largest work here is a violin concerto – Guto Pryderi Puw’s Soft Stillness, taking its cue from “The Merchant of Venice” over two movements, restless then soulful, evoking much of its nocturnal expectancy. There is also Atlantic Drift, a piquant set of folk-inspired pieces for two violinists by Judith Weir in which Mitchell is partnered by Cerys Jones. Otherwise, she and pianist Nigel Clayton tackle the teasing understatement of Geoffrey Poole’s Rhapsody, amalgam of intermezzo and waltz in David Matthews’s Romanza, plainsong-informed meditation that is Sadie Harrison’s Aurea Luce and wistful melancholy of Michael Berkeley’s Veilleuse.

Taking it as Read, two hymn-like miniatures by Michael Nyman, round off a diverse and finely realised programme.

Well, here’s a pretty exciting CD to receive and listen to, so excuse me a little while I tune in my auditory senses and share a few words about it! A set of world premiere recordings from some of the finest of the UK’s contemporary composers, always seems like an early xmas pressy to me. Also, the enclosed booklet notes provided are a mine of information and a pure delight to read, with composers programme notes, their biographies and the performers biogs included too, which help us enter into both the performers and composers worlds, equally. All these pieces were new to me in fact, so I eagerly devoured the album at one sitting, so to speak, when I got the first opportunity!

‘Rhapsody’ by Geoffrey Poole, a work for violin and piano, funnily enough, not in a humerous way of course, is actually with two versions available, written with, as the composer tells us, with an idiomatic feel, either the accompaniment of orchestra, or, as here, piano, both totally valid and in form and keeping with the composers ideal. In fact the premiere received it’s ‘live’ premiere in 2015, with Mitchell and the Stroud Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Jonathan Trim. As you expect, virtuosity shines throughout this work, with emotional intensity, equally balanced against movements of song like quality, with a calmness. Virtuosity in composition, as well as performance, with moments of pizzicato, harmonics, cascading arpeggios, etc, all the while Mitchell’s tone is balanced by the wonderful accompaniment of Nigel Clayton on piano. With sections of beauty, contrasted by intensity, which at times is almost overwhelming, is the feeling I get whilst listening to this opening work on the CD. A truly inspired work and totally convincing performance of it, and a good intro to the album.

‘Violin Concerto – Soft stillness’ by Guto Pryderi Puw comes to light in my ears, exploding in a sensuous arousal of musical tones, as the next track in. Set in two movements, instead of the formal tradition of three, this is a beautiful, and at times, tense, beginning to this work, led by the solo violin, drawing the listener in, before we’re taken into the 1st movement proper. Inspired by lines from Shakespeare’s ’The Merchant of Venice’, the compositional result is, well, a tremendous work, with much utilised imagery. Some terrific orchestral playing from the BBC National Orchestra of Wales with Edwin Outwater (conductor), providing such a powerful accompaniment to counter the virtuosic, intense power of expression by the soloist. The orchestration is truly wonderful, and clear, as sometimes very open and spare, allowing the violin to weave it’s way in and out of the texture, whilst at other times, such psychological tension is created, with almost overwhelming power, which takes us on its compositional journey, and then, the composer provides us with a cracking ending to the movement – a moment to enjoy! The slow orchestral intro to the 2nd movement, with some beautifully toned solo playing, takes us to a completely different tonal world. This one, haunting in its reflective beauty, with some, again, inspired scoring, the melodic and harmonic invention, is sublime in feeling, as the sounds wash over us, weaving sometimes, it feels, it’s way around us. In concert, I can only imagine what effect would be, and how the music had hold of the audience, because at times, you almost hold your breath, as not to miss a single note, the long held harmonics. A stunning piece of music, dynamically expressive, brought to a gentle close, by a long drawn out note, dying away, thus leaving us, well, leaving us to reflect and breath once more.

David Matthews piece ‘Romanza’ commissioned by Madeleine, and similar to Poole’s piece, there are actually two versions of this work. One for accompaniment of orchestra, which was premiered in Blythburg Church, Suffolk, by Prometheus Ensemble and Edmond Fivet (conductor) and the then at its London premiere, at the Proms, performed by Orchestra Nova and George Wass (conductor). The other one, as heard here, for accompaniment of piano, with the premiere with Mitchell and Nigel Clayton, taking place in Aberdeen Art Gallery, also in 2012. It’s ideal then that we have Nigel Clayton on this recording, with his ‘live’ performance experience insight. Well, I say accompaniment, this is not really the case, as it is truly a composition where both players are almost equal partners, in their musical exploits! Even from the outset, the two instruments, discuss, parry each other in a musical dual, also, sharing each others’ melodic and harmonic feelings. Add into this mix, some tremendous rhythmic phrasing, the composition takes us along such a natural path, that Matthews wants to take the listener, to share his inspirational music, and inviting us in to join him. In the dance, a waltz, which a major part of the work, is not you may think, but is on a totally different level, and absolutely magnificent it is too – dancing in an entirely original way!!

With ‘Aurea Luce’ by Sadie Harrison, we have Nigel Clayton joining Madeleine again, in another superb work. Commissioned by Madeleine Mitchell and Geoffrey Poole, who had previously performed her work ‘ …an angel reads my open book…..’, and because of this the composer then had completely in her mind and heart, the performers, their stylistic qualities of the intended soloist, right from square one, so to speak. Doing this, it enables the composer to be able to write a work on a personal, as well as musical level. Knowing this, all the musical, creatively inspired ideas that are written, will open up, in a way, in performance, totally different to writing a work for a soloist you’ve never met, or heard. Based on a plainsong melody, sung for the Feast of St Peter’s chair, in Rome, where the actual premiere took place. From the beautiful entrance of the violin, we enter a musical space of thoughtful reflection. The violin spins it’s mystical magic, by stating the melody, whilst bare chordal piano supports it. As the music develops, creating an intensity of sound, through passages, or musical paragraphs, if you like, to the story of the composers creation. such an amazing musical imagery, almost visual, feeling is created in the listener, with an intense performance, as both players have total insight, understanding, but more importantly, a passionate belief in both the music and composer, which takes us along with it totally. This piece is totally convincing as a work of musical art, as it is taking us into an intense, but also intimate imagination. The premiere of this work actually took place in another St Peter’s, in Shaftesbury, performed by the commissioners, in 2015 and the work is dedicated to them.

‘Atlantic Drift’ by Judith Weir, is a set of three pieces for two violins. Here Madeleine is joined by Cery’s Jones, a true work for two violins it is! The first movement ’Sleep Sound ida Mornin’, based on a traditional tune the composer heard in the Orkney islands, though then, it was heard on a banjo. It brings to us a totally free spirited, island dance feel, and certainly put a spring in my feet – well, in my head, a great duet performance. The next movement ‘Atlantic Drift’ although an original melody, has the feel, again, of a scottish isle tune, though this time Hebridean, and beautiful convincing it is is too. ‘Rain and Mist are on the Mountain, I’d Better Buy Some Shoes’ is the final movement – I love the title, it made me smile – well, actually this is a four-movement, movement! A lovely set of four very short pieces round off a wonderful work for two violins. Premiered at Wigmore hall in 2005, it closes an excellent work in the catalogue of violin duets.

Michael Berkeley’s ‘Veilleuse’ (Nightwatch), is the next of these works written for Madeleine Mitchell. Commissioned in 1997, for the Belgrade Festival, it uses not only the slow movement of the composer’s early violin sonata, but also utilises tonal material from his earliest string piece ‘Meditations’. As the booklet states, it is a slightly melancholic work, but also quite restless too, with passages of such intense power bursting out, sometimes catching the listener off guard completely. The work is such a great, unified, and expressive composition, that the composers creative inspirations draw us along, into it’s wake, that we don’t want it to actually stop. The intense feelings, both head and heart here, take us there and we’re left wondering, wow, what happened, as our heart races and our ears are now so taut and tuned into the music in equal measure – terrific stuff!!

The final work on this recording is ’Taking it as Read’ written for Madeleine by Michael Nyman. Composed in two short movements, appropriately titled No1 and No 2, this is a truly delightful work, and a pleasure for your auditory nerves and heart, in equal measure. With a gentle, quiet opening, Nyman introduces a melody, which has the violin ’sing’ – a more understandable explanation is in the programme note, written by the composer, and included in the booklet. The second movement comes straight in, without giving you a moment to reflect on the first. Although in a different key, this time in E flat major, as opposed to the first’s G major, we would expect a little bit of a musical jolt here, maybe? But no, here the contrasting harmonic feel at once gives a pleasant stimulation of our senses. We now have a variation on the melodic idea, from the first movement, thereby linking both. The melody itself, which Mitchell states herself, is actually like a Welsh tune. Taking this melodic phrase, and it’s variation, to reach a climax point, before resolving into a short coda to finish the composers work. Both Mitchell and Nigel Clayton (piano) are totally in tune – no pun intended – with the composers thoughts and inspirational expression. With these two short movements, they bring the listener to a conclusion of a really expressive and creative project – 7 composers’ works written for superb violinist Madeleine Mitchell, by some of Britain’s greatest contemporary artists, with the interpretation of each captured on one disc by the dedicatee. As throughout the whole recording, Madeleine Mitchell’s playing is a total wonder to behold – auditory wise, of course. With such an emotional input, as on all the compositions on this CD, with the works written for her specifically, she has got such a personal and musical insight into the pieces, by having direct contact with each composer during their composition, this becomes even more obvious on repeated listening. Having said that though, I have to say from my personal experience, that from the very first hearing, every single note, phrase, melody, etc, was exquisite on both ear and heart, it just got better and better – a CD, which I believe, will stay on your CD player, and the sounds in your head, for a long, long time. I will certainly be playing these tracks on my show ’Trust Me…..I’m A Composer!’ so tune into Fab Radio International each Saturday afternoon to hear a selection!!

Here’s a fresh collection of commissions from the ever-enterprising Madeleine Mitchell. Each one has sprung from a personal connection and shared interest: from Geoffrey Poole’s kaleidoscopic Rhapsody, inspired by Beethoven’s Op. 96, to Guto Puw’s Violin Concerto on nocturnal verses from The Merchant of Venice.

For all its textural and structural sophistication, Puw’s work bears a strong resemblance to several recent violin concertos, by Ryan Wigglesworth and Pascal Dusapin to name but two. There seems to be an early 21st-century ‘mode’ in which the violinist soars or arpeggiates lyrically over a no-expense-spared orchestration jangling with percussion. There are some original mass pizzicatos effects in the orchestra and inspired touches of scoring when the texture thins out, finely rendered by the BBC National Orchestra of Wales. Mitchell, occasionally sluggish in the first part, is at her best in the mysterious meditative pool of the second movement, ‘Soft, stillness, sweet harmony’.

In Sadie Harrison’s Aurea Luce, based on a plainsong melody, the violin hangs glinting in the air, like some angelic visitation, ambivalent bell-like harmonies crowding beneath. Michael Berkeley’s Veilleuse, sidling in like a sinister cradle song, develops into a grandly sensuous statement. Judith Weir’s Atlantic Drift duos call to mind shifting shades of salty grey. Romanze is David Matthews’s playful response to Bayan Northcott’s assertion that contemporary composers have abandoned 3/4, and weaves a mischievous waltz into an exploratory rhapsody. There’s something brave and touching about Michael Nyman’s Take it as Read – two bold, folk-like melodies, simply sung.
PERFORMANCE (4 stars) RECORDING (4 stars)

The disc provides a set of world premiere recordings from some of the finest of the UK’s contemporary composers and performers. In Rhapsody by Geoffrey Poole, virtuosity shines throughout this work tempered with emotional intensity yet equally balanced against movements of song like quality and stillness. Throughout its challenges Madeline Mitchell’s tone is balanced by the wonderful accompaniment of Nigel Clayton on piano. It seems a truly inspired work and totally convincing performance of it.

The Violin Concerto – Soft stillness by Guto Puw is set in two movements, instead of the usual three. What a beautiful, tense, beginning there is to this work, the solo violin, drawing the listener in, before we’re taken into the 1st movement proper. Inspired by lines from Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice (famous from Vaughan Williams’ Serenade to Music) the compositional result is a tremendously effective work. The terrific orchestral playing from the BBC National Orchestra of Wales under Edwin Outwater, provides a powerful accompaniment to the virtuosic, intense power of the soloist. The orchestration is truly wonderful; at times open and spare, allowing the violin to weave its way in and out of the texture, whilst at other times, taut with psychological tension. The slow orchestral intro to the 2nd movement, with some beautifully toned solo playing, takes us to a completely different tonal world. This one, haunting in reflective beauty, with once again, inspired scoring, melodic and harmonic invention which is brought to a gentle close, by a long drawn out note, dying away, thus leaving us, well, leaving us to reflect and breath once more.

David Matthews’ Romanza was commissioned and premiered by Mitchell and Clayton and it is truly a composition where both players are almost equal partners, in their musical exploits! Even from the outset, the two instruments, discuss, parry each other in a musical dual, also, sharing each other’s melodic and harmonic feelings. In the dance, a waltz, which a major part of the work holds a number of surprises and absolutely magnificent it is too.

Aurea Luce by Sadie Harrison is based on a plainsong melody, sung for the Feast of St Peter’s chair, in Rome, where the actual premiere took place. From the beautiful entrance of the violin, we enter a musical space of thoughtful reflection. The violin spins its mystical magic, by stating the melody, whilst bare chordal piano supports it. This work is totally convincing as a work of musical art, as it is taking us into an intense, but also intimate imagination. Atlantic Drift by Judith Weir is a set of three short pieces for two violins in which Mitchell is joined by Cerys Jones. All have the sound of Scotland in them though all are not authentic tunes. Michael Berkeley’s Veilleuse (Nightwatch) was written in 1997 for Madeleine Mitchell. It is a somewhat melancholic work, but also quite restless too, with passages of such intense power bursting out, sometimes catching the listener off guard completely – terrific stuff!

The final work on this recording is Taking it as Read by Michael Nyman. Composed in two short movements is a truly delightful work, and a pleasure for one’s auditory nerves and heart, in equal measure. Both Mitchell and Clayton are totally in tune – no pun intended – with the composers’ thoughts and inspirational expression. With these two short movements, they bring the listener to a conclusion of a really expressive and creative project – 7 composers works written for superb violinist Madeleine Mitchell; throughout her playing is a total wonder.
Peter Byrom-Smith

This collection of recordings, all of them world premières, is an eloquent testimony to the artistry and dedication of Madeleine Mitchell. Several of the pieces here were commissioned or first performed by her, and although the reduction of some of the scores (originally written with orchestral accompaniment) to piano versions might be regretted, the appearance of the works on CD so soon after their first performances is nonetheless most welcome.

I was present at the Cardiff performance of Guto Puw’s Violin Concerto given in May 2016 as part of the Vale of Glamorgan Festival, following on from its world première two years earlier with the same soloist during the Bangor Music Festival. Perhaps I might repeat my comments then as published on the Seen and Heard section of this site. “[The] concerto…found slow material framing more energetic sections, and the sense of atmospheric stillness…was amply supplied by the inward playing of Madeleine Mitchell at the beginning of the second movement. The concerto, as so often with this composer’s music, reflected literary sources – in this case the scene in Shakespeare’s The merchant of Venice, which also inspired Vaughan Williams’s Serenade to Music, with the second movement directly quoting the lines ‘soft stillness and the night become the touches of sweet harmony’. The faster material in the first movement again brought echoes of Delius, most noticeably the music that the older composer wrote for the haunting scene in Flecker’s Hassan, where the ghosts in the garden are driven back into their graves by the wind rising through the trees. Rather oddly the composer observed in his programme note that the concerto ‘in its present form’ comprised two movements, with the implication that maybe there might be a finale yet to come; but the work is already a very substantial whole…and it is hard to imagine what could follow the extended and very effective dying fall at the end of the slow second meditation. The piece was superbly played by all concerned.” I note from the composer’s extensive booklet note with this CD that the reference to “in its present form” has now been removed, and so we should regard the work as complete as it stands – and very satisfactorily complete it is, too. I should reiterate my enthusiasm for the work itself, the performers, and the work of the BBC engineers. The close scrutiny of the microphone deployment serves also to demonstrate the superlatively athletic playing of Madeleine Mitchell, with every note perfectly in its proper place. The enthusiastic applause which greeted the performance in the concert hall has been removed.

The disc opens with Geoffrey Poole’s Rhapsody, a work which begins with an immediately appealing lyrical line which is then subjected to livelier treatment in a Bartókian manner. Although the piece was originally performed with orchestral accompaniment, it sounds idiomatic with a piano, especially when the part is given with such enthusiasm by Nigel Clayton, and there are only occasional moments when one might have welcomed a bigger and more forthright approach. The Romanza by David Matthews was similarly written with alternative accompaniments (piano or strings) in mind. Like the Poole, its larger gestures sometimes suggest the need for bigger forces, but once again Clayton rises to the occasion and provides much of what is needed. Both these works by composers born in the 1940s have a sense of communication, which immediately engages the listener, as indeed does the sublimely hieratic Aurea Luce with its plainchant theme and echoes of resounding bells, which recall the ‘tintinnabulation’ of Arvo Pärt.

The three pieces for unaccompanied violin duo by Judith Weir feature both original and traditional melodies, and it is a tribute to the composer’s absorption of Hebridean style that they form such an effective unit, although they were composed at different times and for different occasions. Michael Berkeley’s Veilleuse is a beautifully delicate little gem with an impassioned central section providing an effective contrast, and a solemn conclusion. In the programme notes included in the booklet the various composers featured have provided illuminating comments, but for the final item on the disc Michael Nyman has left the violinist to supply the material; and she observes the resemblance between Nyman’s music and a Welsh hymn tune. I would have described it as a folk melody rather than a hymn tune; but whatever it is, it is a beautiful piece with a rhapsodic feel far removed from Nyman’s often more mechanical style. It makes a lovely conclusion to an enchanting disc.

The English violinist Madeleine Mitchell, is not only a very talented performer of classical repertoire, but also a specialist of the contemporary one – given also the fact that she has become a reference point for several living composers who have dedicated numerous works to her. This is especially true of the British scene in general, in which the violinist has made a great reputation. This record attests to Madeleine’s talent, presenting the interpreter under the guise of a Violin Muse, as the title of the recording work indicates. A “violin muse” able, first of all, to inspire, stimulate and involve composers in writing chamber and concert works for her instrument and then to become its sounding board, the star interpreter to whom to entrust its execution. This record, furthermore, has the merit to confirm the good health of Anglo-Saxon contemporary music through the proposition of seven works by as many authors, who actively collaborate with the violinist, born in Havering.

Seven composers, led by one of the fathers of Anglo-American minimalism, Michael Nyman (in whose 90s band Madeleine Mitchell was a player), who is also well known in our country. Madeleine performs two short pieces, “Taking it as Read” Nos 1 & 2, with piano accompaniment, songs that show us a more intimate and less histrionic Nyman. Very interesting is the “Soft Stillness” violin concerto by the Welsh composer Guto Pryderi Puw, in two movements and inspired by the Shakespearean play The Merchant of Venice, in which the research for lyricism, expressiveness and dissonance, shapes an undoubtedly involving work for the way in which violin and orchestra are in dialogue.

There is also no lack of contributions from female musicians with the Australian Sadie Harrison and the British Judith Weir; the first, taking up the rarified and eminently spiritual style of the Estonian composer Arvo Pärt, with “Aurea Luce” – musically emulating a passage of a hymn written by the first wife of the Roman philosopher Severino Boezio, the poet Elpis. The second, with “Atlantic Drift”, three pieces for two violins, expresses in a totally personal way the tradition of popular music of the British and North American islands, with an eloquence in which cultured rigour is combined with folkloristic themes of undoubtedly melodic and rhythmic gusto. And then Geoffrey Poole, whose “Rhapsody”, presented here in the version for violin and piano, is intended to be a tribute to Madeleine Mitchell’s violinism through the contemporary reinterpretation and reflection on a cornerstone of nineteenth-century chamber music, the famous Sonata op. 96 of Beethoven. Following David Matthews, with his “Romanza” Op. 119a, commissioned by Mitchell herself, in which a theme of waltz in 3/4 (a very rare time signature to find in contemporary works) is shaped and expanded through the violin of the English artist. And finally, Michael Berkeley, son of Lennox Berkeley, of whom Madeleine Mitchell performs the Veilleuse, a piece which balances tonal structure and modernist asperities – the latter trying to break the melodic and thoughtfully reflective line which evokes veiled and static nocturnal atmospheres.

What is striking in Madeleine Mitchell’s violinism is her ability to make the violin sing. Her expressivity is never divorced from an eloquence which is a legacy of a sound belonging to the great interpreters of the first half of the twentieth century. Of course, the pieces she performs are tailor-made for her, but the English artist manages to shape with her instrument the ideal interpretative attitude, ideally capturing each time the spirit of these authors’ scores. Also the other performers who accompany her, beginning with Nigel Clayton at the piano, the excellent Cerys Jones on the violin and the BBC National Orchestra of Wales, directed by Edwin Outwater, contribute to the success of this record, which is a very pleasant surprise in the Contemporary repertoire

Even the recorded sound, performed in different locations, is remarkable and excels in tonal balance (take as an example the perfect balance between violin and piano), as well as in the wide ranging dynamics in the concerto by Puw.

Brexit here, Brexit there… but we should make sure not to miss UK music in the future. The British violinist Madeleine Mitchell, together with the ‘BBC National Orchestra of Wales’ and the pianist Nigel Clayton, has made seven first recordings of works by very different British composers. The program ranges from the beautiful violin concerto ‘Soft Stillness’ by Guto Puw (*b.1971) to the no less beautiful work ‘Taking it as Read’ by Michael Nyman. There is also the interesting piece ‘Atlantic Drift’ by Judith Weir, the passionate ‘Rhapsody’ by Geoffrey Poole, a slightly restless ‘romance’ by David Matthews, the very lyrical ‘Aurea Luce’ by Sadie Harrison and lastly ‘Veilleuse’ by Michael Berkeley.

This CD demonstrates the violin at its most bleak/stark/purest; take your pick.

Even Atlantic Drift, which opens with the sound of a lively folk song, is sparse and with an edge. This is not a criticism, just to say the album is mostly not warm or romantic, just dry and slightly melancholy; more a funeral in October than dancing in May. It has a range of sounds and it’s a varied collection and hard to sum up in a short review.

Violin Muse brings together seven premiere recordings of works by British composers, five of them written for Mitchell. It’s a diverse selection, and the modern programme has a traditional air to it.

Opener is Geoffrey Poole’s Rhapsody, whose sections of jazz-ish violin and piano reminded us (but possibly no-one else) of French folk band Lo’Jo. Further in, the piece gets more melodic. Poole says he wanted the piece to be “calm, songful, soulful, sunny and accessible — yet emotionally mature and complex”.

The piece is inspired by a poem from American writer Dorianne Laux, celebrating her husband’s life — he survived falling off a ladder and the ladder’s unsteady rungs are described in Rhapsody’s tenser passages, says Poole. All this explanation and only one track in.

Guto Puw’s Violin Concerto — the disc’s only work with orchestra — is next and it’s got an oppressive feel (so, Russian, as we always find Russian music slightly claustrophobic). It is inspired by lines from act five of Shakespeare’s play The Merchant of Venice.

Overall, it’s a meaty programme with lots to hold the interest. Despite being modern, none of it is “challenging”, as the more unlistenable modern music is described. In fact, it’s got a depth you’d expect from a CD of more established music.

It features the BBC National Orchestra of Wales, Cerys Jones, Edwin Outwater and Nigel Clayton. The composers are David Matthews, Geoffrey Poole, Guto Puw, Judith Weir, Michael Berkeley, Michael Nyman and Sadie Harrison.