RaLPh Vaughan Williams: The Grinke Legacy

Description

Violinist Frederick Grinke (1911-1987) was much in demand as a soloist, chamber musician, orchestral leader, and recording artist. He was the principal violinist of the Boyd Neel Orchestra for a decade, appearing in many recordings. His advocacy for new music by British composers led to premiere releases of important compositions by Britten, Ireland, Bridge, Rubbra, Berkeley, and Vaughan Williams.

This new issue gathers into one place all of Grinke's Vaughan Williams recordings. Here can be found his 1939 reading of the Concerto Accademico (Violin Concerto) and the 1940 The Lark Ascending, as well the Hymn-Tune Prelude 'Eventide' committed to disc at the same time with Grinke in his role as orchestra leader. All three appear here in excellent new restorations by Ronald Grames. All but The Lark Ascending were first recordings when released and only the concerto has ever been commercially available in a digital format. All were vividly conducted by Louis Boyd Neel.

Vaughan Williams was so impressed by these recordings, especially The Lark, that he tailored his austere 1954 Violin Sonata in A minor to Grinke's virtuosic skills and dedicated it to him. The violinist's recording of that work is included here as well - he prepared it under Vaughan Williams's supervision before premiering it. This also makes available the only known recording of any work by pianist Michael Mullinar, who worked closely with the composer on this. This marvellous performance justifies his esteem for both artists completely.

The programme also includes Grinke's recording of Arthur Benjamin's delightful Sonatina for Violin and Piano with the composer at the keyboard. Like the Vaughan Williams sonata, with which it shared the LP, this is the authoritative recording's first appearance in the digital domain.