Naxos
2005
Lennox Berkeley: Six Preludes; Sonatina; Concertino
About This Album
This disc of solo and chamber music by Lennox Berkeley, for all its variety -- of composition dates, instrumentation, forms, and so on -- shows a few consistencies throughout the works. What marks these pieces are the concise, clear lines, uncomplicated structure, and a shifting or compound use of both tonality and meter. These elements create music that is easy to listen to and appreciate, but with such a complexity of moods that it is often hard to describe a piece or movement as having just one overarching emotion. Biographies of Berkeley often talk about how his use of tonality changed over the years, first reflecting the influence of his French friends and finally utilizing serial techniques and atonality. Shades of Poulenc, Stravinsky, and even Chopin are heard in these. However, the latest piece here, the Duo for cello and piano, from 1971, although harder-edged than the other works, is not uncomfortably dissonant. The Three Pieces for Clarinet Solo are not traditionally tonal or tuneful either, sounding like the prose of a person's inner voice. A playful humor is the piano Preludes, Op. 23, and Short Pieces, Op. 4, while the Sonatina has bewilderment, elegiac sadness, and optimism in it. The members of the Schirmer Ensemble feel comfortable with the music, making the listener feel at ease with it also. They are all graceful, even in the more energetic moments and sections, such as the outer movements of the Concertino. They convey a sense that this is serious music, with a depth of expression, but that it is to be enjoyed rather than absorbed and analyzed. The works were recorded in a few different places, at different times, so that the sound of the recording is not consistent. There is a certain amount of space in the sound of all of the works, with the cello and piano duets sounding the most distant, but even so, there is still an overall sense of intimacy to the album. ~ Patsy Morita, All Music Guide
Track List

Sonatine For Violin & Piano, Op. 17
1.
2.
3.
Short Pieces (5) For Piano, Op. 4
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
Andantino, For Cello & Piano, Op. 21/2a
9.
Pieces (3) For Clarinet
10.
11.
12.
Mazurka For Piano, Op. 101/2
13.
Duo For Cello & Piano, Op. 81/1
14.
Preludes (6) For Piano, Op. 23
15.
16.
17.
18.
19.
20.
Concertino, For Flute (or Recorder), Violin, Cello & Harpsichord (or Piano), Op. 49
21.
22.
23.
24.