Ralph Vaughan Williams - The Grinke Legacy

Ralph Vaughan Williams - The Grinke Legacy

ALBCD061 (Albion Records, CD)

REISSUE/COMPILATION (6 September 2024)

Playing time: 72'11"
Tracks: 11
Booklet pages: 24
℗ 2024 Albion Records
© 2024 Albion Records
Main country of recording: United Kingdom
Reviewer: Gerald Fenech
Review of Ralph Vaughan Williams - The Grinke Legacy published on 11 September 2024

Frederick Grinke, violin (tracks 1-4 and 6-11)
Boyd Neel Orchestra (tracks 1-5)
Frederick Grinke, leader (track 5)
Boyd Neel, conductor (tracks 1-5)
Arthur Benjamin, piano (tracks 6-8)
Michael Mullinar, piano (tracks 9-11)

Ralph Vaughan Williams:

Concerto Accademico (Violin Concerto in D minor)
1 Allegro pesante
2 Adagio
3 Presto

4 The Lark Ascending

5 Eventide (Two Hymn-Tune Preludes)

Arthur Benjamin:

Violin Sonatina
6 Tranquilly flowing
7 Scherzo di stile antico
8 Rondo: Con moto ma non allegro

Ralph Vaughan Williams:

Violin Sonata in A minor
9 Fantasia. Allegro giusto
10 Scherzo. Allegro furioso ma non troppo
11 Tema con variazioni. Andante

This is an 'archive' recording comprising LP and 78 rpm discs newly remastered for this album by Ronald Grames. Frederick Grinke (1911-1987), soloist, chamber musician, and teacher, was a favourite of Vaughan Williams, one of a handful of violinists for whom he composed works. Grinke was a familiar presence on BBC radio and a frequent soloist on orchestral and recital stages throughout the UK as well as in Australia and New Zealand, Europe, the United States, and Canada. This album includes all four of Grinke's recordings of music by Vaughan Williams. Three of the recordings included in this release were made with the Boyd Neel ensemble, with which Grinke was closely associated. Only the 1939 Concerto Accademico has seen prior commercial digital reissue. The 1955 recording of the Vaughan Williams Violin Sonata, the work the composer wrote for him, is included, as is the Violin Sonatina by Arthur Benjamin, which appeared with it on LP. Though highly praised when they were released, neither has been commercially reissued. Despite Grinke's fame and sizable discography, including many new works, he is primarily remembered today as the highly influential and much-admired teacher of more than a generation of violinists leading the UK's orchestras and appearing in recital halls as soloists and chamber musicians. It is time to redress the balance. The pianist Michael Mullinar (1895-1973) was a pupil of both Holst and Vaughan Williams, who became a close friend and colleague of Vaughan Williams, acting as copyist, arranger and playing new works for private audiences. Despite giving a very large number of broadcasts and performances, this recording of the Violin Sonata with Grinke is the only commercial record of his playing. The album is available both as a CD and digitally, for downloads and streaming. As always, the booklet includes detailed notes and biographical information.