Par VAUGHAN WILLIAMS RALPH. Of all his early chamber works, the 'Nocturne' is most clearly by the mature Vaughan Williams, almost anticipating the influence of Ravel which followed his lessons from the French composer in 1908. In the veiled beauty of its highly chromatic harmonies we hear already the tone-poet of the slow movement of 'A London Symphony', while in the fleet-footed 'Scherzo' there is already a French influence in the way the folk-song is subtly woven into the texture, only brief snatches of the tune being heard until the penultimate page when it receives fuller treatment. The work plays for about 10 minutes. The 1904 'Scherzo' is a vigorous march with fugal episodes which lasts some 6 minutes and may effectively be performed by itself./ Répertoire / Trio ou Quatuor à Cordes

Par VAUGHAN WILLIAMS RALPH. 'Quartet In C Minor' is in four movements with a total duration of about 25 minutes. The opening Allegro is similar in style to Dvorak in its lyricism, though there is a darker, more brooding atmosphere towards the close. It is tempting to detect a hint of folk-song in the theme of the Andantino, played by the viola, but that may be stretching hindsight too far. The movement has a wistful melancholy that carries over into the following Intermezzo, a song-like episode containing some of the most virtuosic writing in the work. The last movement is a theme and six variations with a fugal ending. The theme is ballad-like with a suggestion of 18th-century elegance. Modality creeps into the second Adagio variation and there is rhythmic exhilaration in the succeeding Presto. What can be admired in this attractive quartet is its conciseness. This String Quartet was his first major composition of any kind./ Répertoire / Trio ou Quatuor à Cordes

Rarely has a musical work been better characterized by its subtitle than Nicolas Bacri's Lyric Interlude: 'A Study in Pastoral Style'. When, in 2008, the composer received the commission for a piece with English Horn from Cecilia Benner, patron of the Chamber Music Society of Detroit, he immediately thought of the duo between this instrument and the Oboe that Berlioz, in the Symphonie fantastique, placed at the beginning of the 'Scène aux champs', making suddenly appear a nocturnal country landscape where two shepherds carry on a dialogue on their pipes. First performed in March 2009 in its original version for English Horn, Violin and Cello, the Lyric Interlude for English Horn and Piano (Op.110b) nonetheless proclaims another tradition: that of British pastoralism, illustrated by the music of Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872-1958), the 50th anniversary of his death having just been celebrated. This score pays him homage of rare sensitivity: set off by refined counterpoint, the undulating lament of the beginning, rhythmically supple, evokes the waving wheat, as does Vaughan Williams in the opening undulation of his Symphony No.3. The lyrical effusion, briefly interrupted by a scherzo in 6/8, again pours out, making the work evolve towards a slow, ecstatic atmosphere, close to the last of the English composer's Three Preludes on Welsh Hymn Tunes. Far from bucolic, postcard clichés and servile imitation, this Lyric Interlude opens the doors to a realm where pure beauty reigns. The composer also wrote another version of this work for English Horn (or Flute, Clarinet or Viola), Violin and Cello, Op.110a (AL 30 751)

The Four Hymns are in similar vein to the Five Mystical Songs (1911) although on a smaller and more intimate scale. Together with the Fantasia on a Theme of Thomas Tallis these form a succession of works displaying a strong mystical, meditative content.The first of the hymns, 'Lord! come away!', employs vigorous Purcellian recitative in a setting of a Palm Sunday text from Bishop Jeremy Taylor's Golden Grove (17th century). 'Who is this fair one?' (Isaac Watts, 1674-1748) is a dialogue for the tenor and viola about divine love. As described by Christopher Palmer, 'Come Love, come Lord' (Richard Crashaw, c1613-49) 'breathes that spirit of mystical remoteness later to inform A Pastoral Symphony?. The final 'Evening Hymn' is a radiant setting of a translation from pre-4th century Greek by Robert Bridges, notable for its contrapuntal expertise over a bell-like basso ostinato.Four Hymns is also available in the version for tenor, viola and piano (979-0-060-02852-6), and the score (978-0-85162-908-7) serves as the vocal score for use with the orchestral version. However, the solo viola part of the orchestral version is incompatible with that for the piano version.Suitable for advanced standard performers. / Partie De Violon Alto Solo