The two Vaughan Williams works for viola and orchestra, the Suite and Flos Campi, are two of the most characterful and imaginative of all 20th century concertante works for any instrument. Both are unaccountably neglected, Flos Campi simply because it’s so unusual in both mood and in its requirement for a wordless chorus throughout, and the Suite, well, who knows? Maybe because it’s a suite and not a formal concerto. The music is delightful, Lawrence Power is an exceptionally fine soloist, and the accompaniments are excellent. The choir sings (or vocalizes) very well too, although the recording, clear and ideally balanced, is also just a touch dry and lacking in atmosphere. Still, it’s great to have these two works available on the same CD.
John McEwen’s Viola Concerto, which dates from the early years of the 20th century, falls very much into the Parry/Stanford English conservative romantic school. It’s quite substantial, lasting longer than half an hour, and like so many late-romantic concertos it has a completely dysfunctional first movement in which several attractive ideas, including a main theme in a quasi-Habanera rhythm, follow one another with scant regard for why anything happens before (or after) anything else. If we ignore this problem the music is thoroughly enjoyable, and McEwen has no issues in dealing with the formally simpler slow movement and finale, which are touching and lots of fun, respectively. Once again, it would be difficult to imagine more persuasive advocacy than the music receives here from both soloist and conductor.
