Sammons: The English Kreisler

CDA67096

Recording details: February 1999
St George's, Brandon Hill, United Kingdom
Produced by Andrew Keener
Engineered by Simon Eadon
Release date: June 2000
Total duration: 65 minutes 59 seconds

'Splendid fun' (The Strad)

'Charming' (Classic CD)

'Full of charm and subtlety. Paul Barritt plays with real vividness and sparkle, finely characterising each of Sammons's elegant and picturesque little sketches, and in Catherine Edwards he has found an accompanist of admirable sensitivity and delicacy of touch' (BBC Music Magazine)

'Delectable. Paul Barritt here takes on the Kreisler/Sammons mantle as to the manner born' (International Record Review)

Albert Sammons (1886-1957)

The English Kreisler

Paul Barritt (violin), Catherine Edwards (piano)

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LISTEN TO ALL EXTRACTS

	MP3	FLAC	ALAC
1	£0.30	£0.30	£0.30	Bagatelle Op 3 [2'34]
2	£0.55	£0.55	£0.55	Plantation Dance Op 24 [4'17]
3	£0.25	£0.25	£0.25	Lullaby [1'55]
4	£0.40	£0.40	£0.40	Canzonetta Op 20 [3'22]
5	£0.70	£0.70	£0.70	Roumanian Air and Gipsy Dance Op 23 [5'44]
6	£0.35	£0.35	£0.35	Petite Chanson [2'38]
7	£0.55	£0.55	£0.55	Intermezzo Op 21 [4'29]
8	£0.45	£0.45	£0.45	Bourrée Op 12 [3'36]
9	£0.40	£0.40	£0.40	Rêve d'enfant Op 10 [3'20]
10	£0.55	£0.55	£0.55	Dance Caprice Op 15 [4'32]
11	£0.35	£0.35	£0.35	Berceuse Op 6 [2'35]
12	£0.35	£0.35	£0.35	Sérénade de Printemps Op 5 [2'38]
13	£0.45	£0.45	£0.45	Humoreske Op 13 No 2 [3'25]
14	£0.25	£0.25	£0.25	A song without words Op 13 No 1 [1'59]
15	£0.45	£0.45	£0.45	Cradle Song [3'42]
16	£0.35	£0.35	£0.35	Pensée capricieuse Op 9 [2'44]
17	£0.30	£0.30	£0.30	Aubade Op 4 [2'15]
18	£0.35	£0.35	£0.35	Air de Ballet Op 17 No 2 [2'37]
19	£0.45	£0.45	£0.45	Minuet triste Op 17 No 1 [3'28]
20	£0.50	£0.50	£0.50	The faithful bird 'y Deryn Pur' [4'09]

This delightful record is a throwback to an earlier age, when short salon lollipops were in popular demand and treated with consummate grace and artistry. One of the finest violinists of his generation, Albert Sammons (1887-1957) was known as the 'English Kreisler'; like Kreisler he was self-taught as a composer, drawing on his natural instinct and deep grasp of his instrument's capabilities to create many charming and highly polished morceaux. Many of these pieces (the Dance Caprice for example) exude exhilarating virtuosity, replete with left-hand pizzicato, extensive double-stopping and harmonics, while others have a poignant lyrical simplicity stemming from folk influences. All require great skill from the violinist, and here Paul Barritt and Catherine Edwards pour their hearts into the music, playing with panache and refinement.

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