From Bohemia to Wessex
Cello Music from the Twentieth Century
Lionel Handy, cello & Nigel Clayton, piano
Various composers
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Review excerpts
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Peter Thompson’s Sonatina for Cello and Piano, from the disc From Bohemia to Wessex, is a fine example of tonal British music written in the 1980s. It is intelligent without being grating and is infused with rich and brooding British landscape. Try playing the slow movement, Andante sostenuto (4½ mins). |
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| —Julian Farmer |
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Really rather a terrific piece that sits wonderfully on the disc. [Thompson’s Cello Sonatina] |
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| —Warren Mailley-Smith (pianist) |
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Lionel Handy shows a very wide range of cello tone in these works. […] It is cello heaven. Nigel Clayton’s playing is also terrific. |
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| —Amazon review (July 2014)
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A warmly recommended CD, both for the works being performed (two of which are not available elsewhere), and the most accomplished playing of Lionel Handy and Nigel Clayton. |
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| —John R. Mitchell, Amazon review (June 2014)
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Peter Thompson’s Sonatina for Cello and Piano is what earns the CD its place […] a real gem. |
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| —Mr J.M.D. Farmer, Amazon review (June 2014)
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Two of the three works presented here, the Sonata No 2 by Bohuslav Martinů and the Sonatina by Peter Thompson, are, without doubt, masterpieces […] performed with consummate artistry by Lionel Handy and Nigel Clayton. |
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| —Coley, Amazon review (September 2014)
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Strong melodic and rhythmic lines in Martinů’s Sonata put the companion works into perspective. Thompson’s three-movement Sonatina is lyrically captivating. Eloquent performances. ★★★★ |
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| —Jan Smaczny, BBC Music Magazine (October 2014 p111)
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[John Barton Armstrong’s Cello Sonata] is an accomplished work, and receives an excellent performance from Lionel Handy and Nigel Clayton. |
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| —Krzysztof Stasiak, MusicWeb International
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[H]ere is a far from hackneyed collection of cello sonatas, well performed and presented and leaning towards the provocative. |
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| —Krzysztof Stasiak, MusicWeb International
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[John Barton Armstrong’s] darkly eddying Cello Sonata is a massive musical statement running over half an hour in a single unbroken span. He pulls no punches. The progress of the music encompasses some dramatic dissonance but the predominant voice is subtle, melodic and ultimately moving. |
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| —Rob Barnett, MusicWeb International (August 2016)
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…we have [Martinů’s] Second Sonata presented as idiomatically fast-flowing, life-enhancing and effervescent. The playing and recording nicely catch the flood and flow of Martinů’s music – typical of his early, seemingly euphoric, years in the USA … This is very fine Martinů playing… |
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| —Rob Barnett, MusicWeb International (August 2016)
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Thompson’s Cello Sonatina is in three short movements … It is a tonal and dreamily accessible piece … It does not lack for drama: its exciting Allegro feroce finale is notable for its brusque and virile attack contrasted with glittering piano pages. The moods portrayed and established throughout are mature. The composer shows no hankering after rhetorical convention to close each of the three movements. You will leave this part of the disc wanting to hear more. |
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| —Rob Barnett, MusicWeb International (August 2016)
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The liner-note, variously by Richard Hallas and Peter Thompson, is most informative and is an example of how pleasing appearance and functional value can be combined. Well done. |
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| —Rob Barnett, MusicWeb International (August 2016)
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This far from hackneyed collection of cello sonatas is well performed and presented and is all the more welcome for leaning towards the provocative. |
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| —Rob Barnett, MusicWeb International (August 2016)
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