Although he came from the generation that followed that of the great foreman of British music, Elgar, John Ireland (1879-1962) was so closely related that in fact he showed more affinity with his immediate historical predecessors than with his musical peers. . Ireland was trained by Stanford, whose fondness for Brahms he would share throughout his life, although after 1920 he showed an increasing
… interest in the newer French style of Debussy and Ravel. Ireland has never shown much interest in British folk music, the source of inspiration par excellence for peers like Vaughan Williams. He had to pay for his conservatism with less appreciation and the resulting frustration. Ireland's music, however, is of sufficient quality to still be fascinating, as shown by this selection from his chamber music. It will be opened with a solid and musical Violin Sonata No. 1 from 1908/1909. The darkly colored Piano Trio No. 2 dates from 1917. The strongest work is undoubtedly the 1923 Cello Sonata, which has a beneficial combination of lyrical charm and melancholic pathos. Even the arrangement for violin and piano by Ireland's carol 'The holy boy', his most popular work, has to compete with this piece. (JvG) must lose out to this piece. (JvG) must lose out to this piece. (JvG)more
