Having been impressed by violist Matthew Lipman at the two OPUS IV concerts earlier this week I decided to check out his CD, Ascent, which consists of a number of works for viola and piano with pianist Henry Kramer (currently faculty at Université de Montréal).

There are six pieces on the disk.  The first is York Bowen’s Phantasy for Viola and Piano Op. 54 which dates from 1918.  It’s inventive and colourful and demands great virtuosity, which it gets.  I particularly like the final section which uses dance rhythms to good effect.

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