Welcome to Hyperion Records, an independent British classical label devoted to presenting high-quality recordings of music of all styles and from all periods from the twelfth century to the twenty-first.

Hyperion offers both CDs, and downloads in a number of formats. The site is also available in several languages.

Please use the dropdown buttons to set your preferred options, or use the checkbox to accept the defaults.

Click cover art to view larger version
Track(s) taken from CDA67651/2

Melody for the C string, Op 51 No 2

composer
1918; in F major; published in 1923

Lawrence Power (viola), Simon Crawford-Phillips (piano)
Recording details: November 2007
Potton Hall, Dunwich, Suffolk, United Kingdom
Produced by Andrew Keener
Engineered by Simon Eadon
Release date: July 2008
Total duration: 3 minutes 48 seconds

Cover artwork: Sunrise by the Red Trees. Romy Ragan
Private Collection / Bridgeman Images
 

Reviews

‘Bowen's music … is full of surprises and of a harmonic language and idiom peculiarly his own … both CDs are beautifully planned … and the performances could hardly be more glowing. Bowen's writing for both instruments is more than demanding yet nothing detracts from Lawrence Power's and Simon Crawford-Phillips's enviable fluency and achievement. Once again Hyperion hits the jackpot in a much-needed revival and the sound and balance are exemplary’ (Gramophone)

‘Following his successful recording of Bowen's Concerto, Lawrence Power turns to this repertoire with similar technical ease, and persuasively idiomatic tempo inflections and portamenti’ (BBC Music Magazine)

‘The music of the hugely prolific York Bowen is enjoying something of a renaissance … his long association with England's great champion of the viola, Lionel Tertis, produced some signficant sonatas, romances and rhapsodies which see the light of day again in this recording. Lawrence Power's gorgeous dark red tone is perfect for this repertoire’ (The Observer)

‘What a delicious recording … the two sonatas are fully persuasive from their first notes, each blessed with a sixth sense for Bowen's overarching structure. Power pulls new colours from his instrument with irrepressible bravura, while never losing a kindliness for the more intimate moments that … are as stylistically imperative as the grander apotheoses that call to mind Rachmaninov, Chopin or Debussy … the writing is quite masterful in its alchemy of structure and emotion and the performances are exquisitely balanced, refined and mindful of the elegiac character that broadly underpins the work … with music-making of this calibre, who can predict the summit of York Bowen's renewed celebrity? Bravo!’ (International Record Review)

‘All the pieces show Bowen's love of the instrument's capacity to unfold long-limbed, rhapsodic melodies … Lawrence Power's richly expressive moulding of them is a rare treat in itself’ (The Guardian)

‘The two viola sonatas of 1905 and 1906 are clearly inspired by the romantic style of Brahms's late sonatas for clarinet and viola. They are worthy successors, at least when played with the sumptuous tone, passionate convinction and supreme technical address that Power lavishes on them here. Even finer are the two single-movement pieces … Crawford-Phillips relishes the bravura of Bowen's writing for the piano in this superbly executed set, unlikely to be equalled very soon’ (The Sunday Times)

‘Power, the first British winner of the William Primrose International Viola Competition, now returns to this cherishable area of the repertoire with equally stunning results. Accompanied by Crawford-Phillips, Lawrence's fabulous combination of tonal seductiveness and technical wizardry works wonders in the bold expressive outlines of the two sonatas. Yet it is the heart-warming, stand-alone pieces (many recorded here for the first time) … that make this release truly indispensable. Another Hyperion winner’ (Classic FM Magazine)

‘Violist Lawrence Power and pianist Simon Crawford-Phillips touch the nerve centers of this music and convey its subtle flavors and fragrances. The recording is up to Hyperion’s high standard’ (Fanfare, USA)

‘The viola … has no better exponent than Lawrence Power … we must be very grateful that his music is now in wide circulation again … a real discovery’ (Liverpool Daily Post)

‘Lawrence Power, surely one of the finest viola players of today, and Simon Crawford-Phillips play magnificently and as one in this excellent survey of Bowen’s works for viola and piano. Hyperion’s recording, made at Potton Hall, is outstanding, and the set is recommended without reservation’ (Audiophile Audition, USA)

‘Composers whose rich romanticism was out of favour among 20th-century pundits who favoured angular austerity are finally receiving their due. Bowen believed the viola sounded more attractive than the violin and has a persuasive advocate in Power’ (Classical Music)
The Melody for the C string Op 51 No 2, was composed in 1918, and designed for Tertis to demonstrate the plangent tone of the lowest string on the instrument, which takes it down to the C in the middle of the stave in the bass clef. The mood is even more autumnal than the Melody for the G string, and Bowen’s ability to elaborate a singing line is heard to perfection as the music rises in intensity as it ascends the string.

from notes by Lewis Foreman © 2008

La Mélodie pour la corde d’ut op. 51 no 2, composée en 1918, fut conçue pour permettre à Tertis de montrer le ton plaintif de la corde la plus grave sur l’alto, qui descend jusqu’à l’ut au milieu de la portée en clef de fa. Le climat est encore plus automnal que précédemment et l’aptitude de Bowen à élaborer une ligne chantante s’entend à la perfection lorsque la musique gagne en intensité en remontant la corde.

extrait des notes rédigées par Lewis Foreman © 2008
Français: Hypérion

Die Melody for the C string („Melodie für die C-Saite“) op. 51, Nr. 2 wurde im 1918 komponiert und war dafür konzipiert, dass Tertis den klagevollen Ton der tiefsten Saite des Instruments zur Schau stellen konnte, die bis zum kleinen C in der Mitte des Systems im Bass-Schlüssel hinunter reicht. Die Stimmung ist noch herbstlicher als in der Melody for the G string, und Bowens Fähigkeit, eine Gesangslinie auszuzieren, ist hier perfekt zu hören, indem die Musik an Intensität zunimmt je höher auf der Saite sie klettert.

aus dem Begleittext von Lewis Foreman © 2008
Deutsch: Renate Wendel

Waiting for content to load...
Waiting for content to load...