Howick:Rahman - Various: British Women

Featuring such well-known names as Ethel Smyth and Elizabeth Maconchy, as well as less familiar female composers, the works on this disc illuminate a crucial but under-explored aspect of musical life in late 19th- and early 20th-century Britain. Spanning a period of more than eighty years, a variety of musical styles is here revealed, rich with distinctive voices. Clare Howick has a special interest in 20th-century British violin repertoire and plays a Stradivarius violin on this recording. A former student of Alexander Kelly and Malcolm Martineau at the Royal Academy of Music, Sophia Rahman has made over twenty chamber music recordings.