Finzi (arr. Ferguson). Interlude in A minor, Op. 21.

Howells Sonata for Oboe and Piano.

Patterson Duologue. Nicholas Daniel (ob); Julius Drake (pf).

Leman Classics CD LC44801 (50 minutes:

DDD). Recorded in association with the Finzi Trust and the Finzi Trust Friends. Previously available on Pearl SHE591.

This is a most interesting and rewarding recital, devoted to English pieces for oboe and piano that deserve to be better known. The earliest of them is the Interlude for oboe and string quartet composed by Gerald Finzi between 1932 and 1936 and performed for the first time by its dedicatee, Leon Goossens, and the Menges Quartet in the Wigmore Hall in London (where this recording was made, appropriately under the auspices of the Finzi Trust). It is a big, impassioned piece, lasting over 12 minutes, which Finzi may at one time have intended to form part of a larger work, presumably a concerto. The skilful arrangement for oboe and piano was made in 1981 by his close friend Howard Ferguson at the request of the Finzi Trust, with the object of making the work more widely known.

The real discovery is the Sonata by Herbert Howells, composed in 1943 and also dedicated to Goossens, who, for some unexplained reason, never played it in public; it has remained, neglected if not forgotten, for 40 years, and is only now being published (by Novello's). It is in four movements: a ruminative, long-breathed, Prologue; a rhapsodic, lyrical Lento; a nimble, quirky Scherzo; and an expansive Epilogue. These two fine works, both of them in very much the same tradition, are separated on the CD by Paul Patterson's brilliant, virtuosic Duologue, commissioned by the Finzi Trust in association with the Southern Arts Association, and first performed in 1984 by George Caird and Clifford Benson. It comprises a brilliant, toccatalike first movement, an eloquent Adagio, and a dashing finale.

Nicholas Daniel, who has already done so much to champion new music for his instrument by English composers, together with Julius Drake, plays all three works absolutely marvellously, and they are given a vivid recording. RG