Three generations of twentieth-century cello sonatas.

For four years the lives of the three composers of this album overlapped and these pieces speak of human experience during and after World War II.

Bohuslav Martinů (1890-1959) wrote three major cello sonatas. In addition to Martinů’s stylistically pivotal Second Cello Sonata, one of his first American period works, finished at the end of 1941, this disc showcases two premiere CD recordings of works finished forty years later.

The epic one-movement Cello Sonata from 1981, by John Barton Armstrong (1923-2010) was broadcast by BBC Radio 3 in 1987, but the score has been recently published by Fand Music, who also publish the Cello Sonatina of the same year, by the composer of the third generation on this disc, Peter Thompson (b. 1955).

Having already recorded Martinu’s Cello Sonata no.1, and fresh from their recent all-Bax CD, the cellist, Lionel Handy, and pianist, Nigel Clayton, have also given a number of concert performances of these works, further informing their authoritative readings in this colourful programme, spanning three generations.