Hyperion Records

Brooks and Shaw were probably close friends. Their violin concertos are similar in style and form, and they were both issued in parts by the London publisher Longman & Broderip, probably at the same time; the title-page of the Brooks states it is ‘No 1’, but no sequel is known. Although they were published in London, they were probably written in Bath for the concerts there. They use the same pattern of movements, with an opening Allegro in a Mozartian march rhythm, a brief slow movement setting an apparently invented tune in the ‘Scotch’ style, and a rondo in the 6/8 hunting idiom, with prominent horn passages. Their solo parts are demanding but idiomatically conceived for the violin and they are thoroughly up-to-date, with a profusion of elegant, tuneful ideas in the manner of J C Bach. Not all English composers of the period, it seems, remained wedded to the past.

from notes by Peter Holman © 1996