The restriction of this disc to the viola music of fairly obscure British-American composer Rebecca Clarke may seem to come from the realm of arcana, but in fact, Clarke seems to have had a predilection for the viola. The 10 works recorded here represent about one-eighth of her total output, and the disc can serve as an introduction to a fascinating story. Clarke may have gravitated toward the viola because the Sonata for viola and piano that opens the program was her most successful work, taking second prize at a 1919 ...
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The restriction of this disc to the viola music of fairly obscure British-American composer Rebecca Clarke may seem to come from the realm of arcana, but in fact, Clarke seems to have had a predilection for the viola. The 10 works recorded here represent about one-eighth of her total output, and the disc can serve as an introduction to a fascinating story. Clarke may have gravitated toward the viola because the Sonata for viola and piano that opens the program was her most successful work, taking second prize at a 1919 competition only because patroness Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge broke a tie and proclaimed Ernest Bloch the winner. Clarke was a composer with ears open to much of the diverse music that surrounded her, but she certainly suffered because of her gender. Some claimed, as Clarke recalled in an interview cited in the informative booklet, that she, a woman, couldn't have written the sonata, that Bloch must have written it in order to enter the contest with two different works. Clarke, a student...
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Add this copy of Clarke-Chamber Works to cart. $28.31, new condition, Sold by Revaluation Books rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Exeter, DEVON, UNITED KINGDOM, published 2007 by NAXOS.
Add this copy of Rebecca Clarke: Viola Sonata; Dumka; Chinese Puzzle; to cart. $28.97, new condition, Sold by newtownvideo rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from huntingdon valley, PA, UNITED STATES, published 2007 by Naxos.