Anne Thursfield (mezzo-soprano)
The New London Trio: David Wise (violin); Norina Semino (violoncello); John Pauer (pianoforte)

Faure once said that his ideal of chamber music style is 'clarity of thought, sobriety and purity of form, sincerity, and disdain of big effects'. Ravel is a true disciple of Faure, under whom he studied composition. All these qualities together with a fresh and charming melodic invention and a delicate and colourful sense of harmony are to be found in Ravel's chamber works, of which the String Quartet in F and the Piano Trio in A minor are outstanding examples. The latter was composed in 1915 and is imbued with that gentle romantic feeling which Ravel appears to have repudiated in his more recent works.