Daphne Gerling & Tomoko Kashiwagi: Encircling
Acis

Encircling takes its title from the way the album “encircles” a work by violist and composer Rebecca Clarke (1886-1979) with ones by three female contemporaries who also wrote pieces for viola (that Clarke's initials are at the centre of the word is an interesting and rather serendipitous coincidence). Her fellow British composer Dorothy Fox (1894-1934) is represented by a three-part sonata, while works by French composers Marcelle Soulage (1894-1970) and Hélène Fleury-Roy (1876-1957) also appear on the fifty-three-minute release. Their creations, all of them associated with the Berkshire Composition Competition sponsored by music patron Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge, are brought vividly to life by violist Daphne Gerling and pianist Tomoko Kashiwagi. Encircling both celebrates the creative work the four pioneering and largely neglected composers produced and showcases the exceptional artistry of the recital partners.

An Assistant Professor of Viola at the University of North Texas, Gerling has performed throughout the world and is recognized as a distinguished performer, scholar, and educator in her field. Like the violist, Kashiwagi is a performer and educator who has appeared on stages across the globe and is an Associate Professor of Piano and Collaborative Piano at the University of Arkansas-Fayetteville. Clarke, Fox, Soulage, and Fleury-Roy could have asked for no better and more sympathetic interpreters for their music than Gerling and Kashiwagi. Clarke's represented by Passacaglia on an Old English Tune, a poignant and lyrical expression that suits the musicians exquisitely. Gerling's warm, vocal-like-like tone finds its perfect counterpart in the writing, and Kashiwagi's regal performance beautifully complements her partner's. The dignified chordal episode at the work's centre is particularly affecting, especially when delivered with poise and patience, but so too is the climax that resolves the piece so majestically.

Fox's 1927 Viola Sonata appears here in its world premiere recording, even though it was formally published and received a BBC broadcast the year it was created. After the composer's death at the age of forty (apparently suicide), the work fell into obscurity until recent renewed interest in Fox's work occurred. As Gerling notes, French and German influences are present as well as an English melodic sensibility, but the sonata ultimately holds up solidly on its own terms. Elegant and impassioned, the opening “Molto moderato” soars with fervour and determination, the harmonious central movement “Allegro molto” sparkles with energy and affirmation, and the concluding “Allegro moderato” sings with proud and lyrical abandon when not emoting forlornly. It's during these latter moments that Fox's writing is most poignantly served by the duo's artistry.

Soulage won second prize at the 1921 “Salon des Musiciens Français” for her 1919 Viola Sonata. The composer, who was born in Peru to French parents and moved to France from Lima at the age of four, studied at the Paris Conservatoire and became friends with Nadia and Lili Boulanger; it's therefore understandable that French influences of the time would be audible in her work, the Viola Sonata included. Like Fox's, Soulage's sonata deserves a place on today's recital stages when its range of emotion and invention is so rich. Beginning with an intensely explorative “Allegro” that's elevated by lovely folk-tinged inflections, the work moves on to a cheeky, even devilish “Scherzo,” deeply sombre “Complainte,” and nimble-footed “Ronde.”

Closing the album's circle is Fantaisie by Fleury-Roy, who was the first woman admitted to the “Prix de Rome” competition in 1903 and was awarded third prize in 1904 for her cantata Medora. Written for the final performance examinations of the Paris Conservatoire, Fantaisie is naturally atmospheric and cultivates an air of mystery as it fluidly advances through a series of contrasting passages, some languorous, some plaintive, and others exuberant.

In bringing renewed attention to the four composers through these performances, Gerling and Kashiwagi have honoured the underappreciated work they did and hopefully will inspire other viola-and-piano duos to continue what they've begun with Encircling. It's hard to believe that almost a century passed before a recording of Fox's sonata materialized, and certainly the other three pieces warrant greater exposure too.

December 2024