Hyperion Records

Following his earlier Romance in D flat, Bowen composed the Romance in A major in 1908, this time originally for cello and piano, although he soon arranged it for viola. (He also went on to write two Romances for solo piano in 1913.) This work rises from the depths, spinning an expressive line, and as it moves up the instrument’s register it gains in tempo and emotion before sinking back. It goes through this procedure again, the second time more quickly, before the expressive viola frames the reflective coda high on the instrument.

from notes by Lewis Foreman © 2008