The brief
Elegy for violin and piano, Op 26, was published in 1916. Its song-like quality disguises a sophisticated and shifting harmonic soundscape. Rhythmically, there is also considerable sophistication, the piano accompaniment at times moving into quintuplet semiquavers overlaid with triplets. Its fragile beauty is inescapable. Unusually, this piece was published by J & W Chester and for a short while provided a glimpse of Catoire’s gifts as a composer to the world outside Russia.
from notes by Stephen Coombs © 2005
