Clarke: Viola Sonata

Day 329

Rebecca Clarke: Viola Sonata

Phillip Dukes

Sophia Rahman

This is a piece I knew by reputation but which I had never heard before. Rebecca Clarke was another of those British women composers who made a really positive start to their composing career but then rather faded into obscurity. But again, in recent years she has, like other women of her generation, been rediscovered - there is now a society devoted to her work.

This sonata is her major work. It is a full blooded piece on a large scale with virtuoso parts for both the viola and the piano. Like the Howell piece yesterday there are many French influences. Some of the 9th chords could well have come from a sonata by Debussy - in fact I don’t think that heard cold many people would recognise it as having been written by an English composer at all. There is a confidence about the writing which seems far removed from the reticence of some of the music of her English contemporaries. 

It is not an easy listen but well worth the effort. Another composer on the list to explore.