Imogen Holst, only child of Gustav, is perhaps best known for her work at Aldeburgh and latterly for her devotion to her father’s music. She herself composed throughout her life, initially studying composition at the Royal Academy of Music with Dyson and Jacobs and counterpoint with Vaughan Williams. This CD was issued to commemorate the 100th anniversary of her death and, as the sleeve notes describe, is ‘A Survey of the Chamber Music of Imogen Holst’, all world premiere recordings. It was whilst she was a student she wrote the Phantasy Quartet (1928) which won the Cobbett Prize that year. It is a one-movement work and an example of quintessential English pastoralism. The Duo for Viola and Piano was written forty years later and Holst has moved away from her early influences almost entirely. Still tonal, the work is more abstract whilst echoing the strong English folk influence. The Fall of the Leaf (1962) is the only work here to have been published. It comprises three short studies for solo cello on a 16th century tune from the Fitzwilliam Virginal Book, topped and tailed by the theme itself. Stephen Isserlis has said of the piece ‘…its quiet poetry is magical’. The rich timbre of the cellist Hewitt-Jones suits the mood perfectly. The Sonata for Violin and Cello (c1930) is my favourite work. The two instruments work as one and the expansive chord-like sounds dominate the Allegro Ritmico. The sombre cello theme of the Adagio gradually rises and incorporates the violin in what is an expansive and most unsettling movement. This gives way to the spritely Presto, Molto Leggiero. The musicians that comprise Court Lane Music give committed and passionate performances of these works and I would certainly recommend this disc to any English music enthusiast.

Reviewed by Dawn Cooke