The Pre-Raphaelite Cello in Bloomington, MN

The listener may be forgiven for wondering what a
Pre-Raphaelite Cello
might be since the so-called Pre-Raphaelites were an art movement, not a musical one, and were active in the 1840s and 1850s, many decades earlier than the composers performed here by cellist
Adrian Bradbury
and pianist
Andrew West
. However, the term is not
Bradbury
's; it was coined in a musical sense by
Percy Grainger
and also used by
Cyril Scott
, with the idea that these composers (
Roger Quilter
is another represented here and is closely related to these two) were trying to create a new style with bold, intense colors, richness of detail, and emotional intensity akin to the paintings of the Pre-Raphaelites. Moreover, the repertory is already associated with a cellist,
Beatrice Harrison
. The music here is not very well known, and it certainly has a sentimental aspect that may have led to its neglect. Yet the conceptions of these little miniatures, some of them transcribed for cello, are mostly quite original, and generally listeners will enjoy them. Sample
Scott
's
Pastoral and Reel
, not in a
Vaughan Williams
pastoral vein but modifying those folk forms in an almost experimental way. Some of the composers --
Iwan Knorr
,
Hugo Becker
-- are all but unknown, but the music isn't derivative of anybody.
's richly melodic cello is ideal for this music, as is the intimate atmosphere of the Menuhin Hall. This quite offbeat release landed on classical best-seller lists in the spring of 2024. ~ James Manheim