SCHULHOFF, E
Chamber Music
String Sextet
Release date 10/2016
The music of the Prague-born prodigy Erwin Schulhoff has become increasingly popular in recent decades. He moved through successive creative phases and, on this recording, Spectrum Concerts Berlin focuses on music written between 1924 and 1927.
The String Sextet contains violent contrasts and almost Cubist montage and was a key work in Schulhoff’s artistic development.
Reviews
Naxos
Benjamin Britten
Lachrymal
Artists
Philip Dukes – solo viola
Aerial Ensemble
The cd features the world premiere recording of Peter Maxwell Davies’ A Sea of Cold Flame, which seems to inhabit a similar musical language, these masterworks are complemented by the original John Dowland themes upon which Lachrymae is based. Here we have three generations of great British composers woven by a pure and unsentimental thread.
Release notes
Aerial Classics
Mozart
String Quintets
Release date 9/2010
The Nash Ensemble plays all six of Mozart’s string quintets here – the early B flat work K174, and the C minor quintet K406 that was a commercial arrangement of the wind serenade in the same key, form an upbeat to four masterpieces that follow on the later discs. With Lawrence Power as the ensemble’s viola player and Philip Dukes joining him here, there’s no chance of forgetting that Mozart favoured a quintet of strings with two violas (read on)
Beethoven
String Quintets
Op 4 & 29
The Nash Ensemble
Britain’s most versatile chamber ensemble turns its attention to two works from seminal moments in Beethoven’s career.
‘Flawless, superbly disciplined performances of Beethoven’s two string quintets … this new disc from Hyperion has to be warmly welcomed for its first-rate sound and immaculate performances’ (Gram …
Hyperion Records
Gabriel Fauré’s
Piano Quartet No. 1
Piano Trio
Kungsbacka Piano Trio, P. Dukes
Gabriel Fauré’s musical language bridges a gap between the romanticism of the 19th century and the new worlds of music which appeared in the 20th, employing subtle harmonic changes and a gift for melody to combine innovation with an entirely personal idiom. His First Piano Quartet is filled with characteristic French colour and lyricism, and the Piano Trio in D minor is a late work whose musical language is familiar from his songs. Both the Pavane and the popular Sicilienne express nostalgia for earlier times, and the short Pièce has great simplicity and charm.
Gabriel Fauré’s
Piano Quartet No. 2
Piano Trio (version for clarinet trio)
3 Romances sans paroles
Kungsbacka Piano Trio, P. Dukes, R. Hosford
Gabriel Fauré’s chamber works, long overshadowed by his popular Requiem (Naxos 8.550765), are regaining their rightful place. This new release from the Kungsbacka Piano Trio follows their recording of Fauré’s First Piano Quartet and other chamber works (8.573042), described by Gramophone as ‘a delectable way into Fauré’s chamber music’. The programme features the less frequently heard original version, with clarinet, of the Piano Trio, the Second Piano Quartet, which includes an evocation of the bells of Cadirac near the composer’s home, the Romances sans paroles, described by Marcel Proust as ‘intoxicating’ and one of Fauré’s most famous works, the Berceuse from the Dolly Suite
JOHANNES BRAHMS (1833-1897)
THE STRING SEXTETS
The Nash Ensemble
Artistic Director: Amelia Freedman CBE
Marianne Thorsen (violin 1)
Malin Broman (violin 2)
Lawrence Power (viola 1)
Philip Dukes (viola 2)
Paul Watkins (cello 1)
Tim Hugh (cello 2)
JOHANNES BRAHMS (1833-1897)
THE STRING SEXTETS
Les sextuors à cordes . Die Streichsextette
The Nash Ensemble
Artistic Director: Amelia Freedman CBE
Marianne Thorsen (violin 1)
Malin Broman (violin 2)
Lawrence Power (viola 1)
Philip Dukes (viola 2)
Paul Watkins (cello 1)
Tim Hugh (cello 2)
Klein, Krása & Schulhoff
Forbidden Music
Music from Theresienstadt Gideon Klein, Ervín Schulhoff, Hans Krása
Daniel Hope, violin
Philip Dukes, viola
Paul Watkins, cello
NI 5702
UPC: 710357570223
Beethoven
Contemporary Arrangement
for Chamber Ensemble
Artists: The Locrian Ensemble,
Rolf Wilson & Rita Manning -Violins,
Philip Dukes & Morgan Goff – Violas,
Justin Pearson – Cello
String & Flute Quartets by Volkmar Andreae
“This outstanding CD,
the second to feature Volkmar Andreae’s chamber music from Guild, contains his two string quartets and a delightful late Divertimento for flute and string trio. The performances are quite superb – as is the music, ranging in influences from Richard Strauss to the later French Impressionists – and the recording is one of the best we have issued in recent years. A most significant issue for Swiss music.”
The Locrian Ensemble of London: Rita Manning (violin), Warren Zielinski (violin), Philip Dukes (viola), Justin Pearson (cello)
Music by Volkmar Andreae (1879-1962) – Vol. 3
“We are proud to present
Volume III in the series of chamber music by the outstanding Swiss musician Volkmar Andreae, who during his lifetime was better known as conductor of the Zurich Tonhalle orchestra for many years.”
The Locrian Ensemble of London: Rita Manning (violin), Warren Zielinski (violin), Philip Dukes (viola), Justin Pearson (cello), Fali Pavri (piano)
“Back in February 2010 I praised an earlier issue by the Locrian Ensemble of music by Swiss composer Volkmar Andreae (1879-1962). I immediately discovered that his writing was of high quality and beautifully crafted.” Gramophone 2011
More Reviews
Richard Arnell
STRING QUINTET; 
TRIO FOR VIOLIN, CELLO & PIANO ETC.
Trio for Violin, Cello & Piano op.47
Music for Harp op.72a for Flute, Violin, Viola & Harp
String Quintet op.60
Trio for Flute, Cello & Piano op.168 (Threes for Three)
Locrian Ensemble:
Lorraine McAslan (violin)
Philip Dukes (viola)
Justin Pearson (cello)
Sophia Rahman (piano)
Recorded at Henry Wood Hall, London
29-31 January 2002
CDLX 7122
Walter Leigh
CHAMBER WORKS
Romance for Two Violins, Viola, Cello & Piano
Reverie for Violin & Piano (1922)RM
Music for String Orchestra
Sonatina for Viola & Piano
Trio for Flute, Oboe & Piano (1935)
Air for Treble Recorder & Piano
Three Movements for String Quartet (1930)
Sonatina for Recorder & Piano
Student String Quartet
Locrian Ensemble:
Rita Manning (violin)
Patrick Kiernan (violin)
Philip Dukes (viola)
Justin Pearson (cello)
Stacey Wotton (double bass)
Anna Noakes (flute)
John Anderson (oboe)
Martin Feinstein (recorder)
Sophia Rahman (piano)
Recorded at Henry Wood Hall, London
7-9 January 2004
CDLX 7143
ALEXANDER BORODIN (1833–1887)
String Sextet No.2 in D minor
ALEXANDER GLAZUNOV(1865–1936)
String Quintet in A op.39
ANTON ARENSKY (1861–1906)
String Quartet No.2 in A minor op.35
The Nash Ensemble
Marianne Thorsen, Laura Samuel – violins
Lawrence Power, Philip Dukes – violas
Paul Watkins, Alice Neary – cellos
“After a highly acclaimed series of Brahms chamber music releases for ONYX, the Nash Ensemble turn their attention to 19th-century Russian repertoire. Glazunov’s superbly crafted String Quintet in A of 1891 is coupled with Arensky’s Second Quartet with two cellos, and Borodin’s unfinished Sextet for strings in D minor, written according to the composer in Mendelssohnian style ‘to please the Germans’ while he was in Heidelberg.”
Mendelssohn
Octet in E flat Op. 20
Beethoven
Clarinet Trio in B flat Op. 11
This concert by the Nash Ensemble was recorded live on 19 March 2005, part of the Nash Ensemble’s 40th anniversary celebrations.
The Nash Ensemble has built up a remarkable reputation as one of Britain’s finest and most adventurous chamber groups – this is a wonderful recording that undoubtedly confirms just that.
Joaquin Turina
Piano Sextet Op. 7
“Scène Andalouse” for viola solo, piano and string quartet;
Crépuscule du Soir, A la Fenêtre; “Serenata” for String Quartet;
“El Poema de una Sanluqueña” (Fantasy for violin and piano); Ante el Espejo, La Canción del Lunar, Alucinaciones, El Rosario en la lglesia;
“Erato” for vioce and string quartet, Op. 93; Piano Quintet Op. 1 for piano and string quartet. Fugue Lente, Animé, Andante Scherzo, Recitatif, Allegro, Lento.
Philip Dukes: Viola solo;
Eileen Hulse: Soprano;
Roland Roberts: Violin solo;
Miyako Hashimoto: Piano;
Amigos String Quartet.
Richard Strauss(1864-1949)
Metamorphosen, Capriccio
The Nash Ensemble
violin Marianne Thorsen, Malin Broman
viola Lawrence Power, Philip Dukes
cello Paul Watkins, Pierre Doumenge
double bass Duncan McTier
piano Ian Brown
Hyperion Records
‘The Nash’s performance, angry and grieving, is faultless [Metamorphosen] … The real treat here is the Piano Quartet, dating from 1885, when Strauss, then aged 21, still considered himself a Brahmsian … the best of it anticipates the chamber-oriented scoring of such later works as Ariadne auf Naxos and Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme. The over-dominant piano part—Strauss wrote it as a showpiece for himself—is played with tremendous panache by Ian Brown’ (The Guardian)
Charles Villiers Stanford
Piano Quartet No. 1 and Piano Trio No. 1
Artists
Pirasti Trio
Philip Dukes
‘Presto CDs’ are manufactured by Presto Classical under license from the original record label.( ASV)
Max Bruch
– Kol Nidrei
– 8 Pieces Op 83
– plus other works
Planes Dukes Rahman Trio
(ASV CD DCA 1133)
‘In this impressive collection of chamber music by Bruch, the Plane Dukes Rahman have once again attained the highest musical standards in their dedicated, sensitive performances…The final ‘8 Pieces’ for clarinet, viola and piano on this disc are full of crystal-clear melodies, highlighted throughout by lyrical sweeps of phrasing in an immaculate performance. Overall, a cd of simple, vivid, romantic beauty.’
BBC Classical Review 2003
Platinum Schumann Collection
Märchenbilder (4), Op. 113
Philip Dukes
Sophia Rahman
Märchenerzählungen (4)
for Clarinet, Viola & Piano, Op. 132
The Plane-Dukes-Rahman Trio
Adagio and Allegro in A flat major, Op. 70
Philip Dukes
Sophia Rahman
Der Contrabandiste
Shura Cherkassky (piano)
Piano Quintet in E flat major, Op. 44
The Lindsays, Peter Frankl (piano)
Presto CD (ASV)