Thanks to the tireless advocacy of the pianistSimon Callaghan, the music of the Derbyshire-bornRoger Sacheverell Coke has started to emerge from theobscurity in which it has languished since thecomposer’s death in 1972. Despite showingconsiderable early promise, Coke remained anoutsider in British musical life. His three cello sonatasframe the years 1936 to 1941 a very productive periodin Coke’s life. Dedicated to Coke’s mother Dorothy, the first cellosonata is cast in four movements, the sonata exhibitsmany of the hallmarks of Coke’s music. The firstmovement is a typically ambiguous blend of romanticlyricism and grave chromaticism, with cello and pianotreated as equal partners. A slow introduction givesway to an angular theme that dominates themovement and builds to a tense contrapuntal climax,with solo passages for the pianist punctuating themusical discourse. Coke exploits extremes of registerin both instruments: high spare unison passages in thepiano, at times seeming to prefigure late Shostakovich,SRCD.384and rich, dark sonorities in the cello.
- ISMN: 9790708167389 (M708167389)
