Editorial Reviews
A Tale of Two Violas is a double tale. It delves into the tradition of writing for two violas, both accompanied and unaccompanied, from J.S. Bachs innovative Brandenburg Concerto No.6, recorded here in a new edition by Iain Farrington for two violas and piano, to one of the most recent contributions to the repertoire by John Hawkins, At Two (2017), written almost 300 years later. It also explores two of the first and greatest pioneers of the instrument, Englands Lionel Tertis and Russias Vadim Borisovsky, and some of their own compositions for this ensemble: Borisovskys Suite adapted from G.B. Vitalis colourful Op.14 dances, Tertis’s sparkling showpiece Variations on a Passacaglia by Handel, Borisovsky’s virtuosic arrangement of B. Benda’s Sonata in D major, and Tertis’s serene Elizabethan Melody, based on a theme by Dowland. This album also presents for the first time Frank Bridge’s lively Caprice, a work premiered by Tertis and the composer himself, but of which only sketches survived; these have been completed by composer and violist Simon Rowland-Jones. A Tale of Two Violas takes the listener on a journey through time and history; it tells a story which has no end
