Esther Salaman (mezzo-soprano)
Paul Hamburger (accompanist)
Watson Forbes (viola)
Alan Richardson (piano)
Geraldine and Mary Peppin (two pianos)
(The sonata is recorded)
The 'Huit Chants Populaires Juifs' are settings of traditional Yiddish folk-songs by Simon Laks, a Polish composer now living in France.
Peter Racine Fricker recently won first prize in the Festival of Britain Competition for young composers with his Violin Concerto; his Four Fughettas for two pianos were written in 1946. Sas Bunge, who is a concert pianist as well as a composer, was born in Holland in 1924 and studied with Hendrik Andressen; his three settings of poems by Ben Jonson in the original English are among his most recent works.
Pamela Harrison, who is the wife of Harvey Phillips the cellist, studied at the Royal College of Music under Gordon Jacob. Her Viola Sonata was written in 1946 and first performed at a Wigmore Hall Concert in the following year. It is in four movements: Moderato, Vivace leggiero, Andante, Presto.
(Deryck Cooke)
