Berkeley Ensemble [Sophie McQueen, Francesca Barritt (violins), Dan Shilladay (viola), Gemma Wareham (cello)] with Tom Wraith (cello, Dare), Simon Callaghan (piano – Dare, Howell Adagio and Caprice, Matthay)

Dare Phantasy Quintet (1933-4)
Howell Adagio and Caprice (1955); String Quartet in D minor (1933)
Matthay Piano Quartet in C major Op.20 (1882, rev.1905)
McEwan Nugae (1912)

EM Records EMRCD091 [58’13”]
Producer Matthew Bennett Engineer Dave Rowell

Recorded 28-30 August 2024 at St John the Evangelist, Oxford

Reviewed by Richard Whitehouse

What’s the story?

EM Records continues its in-depth exploration of neglected music with these first recordings by proceeding generations of British composers, superbly realized by the Berkeley Ensemble which has made it its mission to revive such works for the enjoyment of present-day listeners.

What’s the music like?

Remembered mainly for miniatures still featuring on Associated Board examinations, Marie Dare (1902-76) wrote several larger chamber works. The (not quite) symmetrical form of her Phantasy Quintet is adeptly handled, and if this piece does not quite maintain the expressive intensity of its initial section, the elaboration of its themes ensures a satisfying overall design. The presence of two cellos yields a burnished eloquence to the musical textures, and interest is sufficiently aroused to make a hearing of her String Quartet in G minor worth considering.

More striking are the two works by Dorothy Howell (1898-1982), the revival of whose music has centred on her orchestral output. Deftly scored for violin and piano, Adagio and Caprice moves between reticence and impulsiveness with a seamless cohesion. If the String Quartet is slightly less well integrated, it is also more questing harmonically with its opening section distilling a keen atmosphere that persists right through to a lively close. A pity Howell never wrote a full-length quartet, but the present pieces deserves their place on recital programmes.

His not uncontroversial reputation as piano pedagogue having overshadowed his legacy as a composer, Tobias Matthay (1958-1945) left a handful of chamber works of which the Piano Quartet prefigures the ‘phantasy’ concept in its single movement of interrelated sections that, between them, outline a formal design whose thematic elements are evolving right up to the resolute close. Worth hearing, but a complete recording of 31 Variations and Derivations on an Original Theme for piano is needed for a fuller reassessment of Matthay’s creative worth.

Ironic that Matthay’s Piano Quartet should have been dedicated to John Blackwood McEwan, whose subsequent condemnation of his teaching led to the former’s departure from the Royal Academy. Subtitled Seven Bagatelles and actually the fifth of his 17 string quartets, Nugae evokes various aspects of that Scottish landscape central to his thinking (notably the Solway Symphony) – its characterful alternation between brooding and animated vignettes making a cohesive sequence whose components would be equally worth hearing as separate encores.

Does it all work?

Pretty much always. There are no overlooked masterpieces here, though the works by Howell and McEwan certainly warrant regular hearings. That these are all premiere recordings makes this release a mandatory purchase for anyone interested in British music of the period and the Berkeley Ensemble, alongside Tom Wraith and Simon Callaghan, do them proud. The sound could hardly be improved on for clarity and definition, while Dan Shilladay’s annotations are informative and not unduly partisan in their making a case for the dissemination of this music.

Is it recommended?

It is indeed. Those who have the Chilingirian Quartet’s three volumes of McEwan’s quartets (Chandos) will welcome acquiring the present piece as a supplement, and one looks forward to further recordings of chamber works by Dare and Howell from these inquiring musicians.

Listen / Buy

You can hear excerpts from the album at the EM Records website, and explore purchase options at the Presto website. Click on the names to read more about the Berkeley Ensemble, Simon Callaghan and Tim Wraith, and composers Marie Dare, Dorothy Howell, Tobias Matthay and John Blackwood McEwan

Published post no.2,801 – Tuesday 17 February 2026