There are some rewarding discoveries here, not least the two sonatas for cello and piano.
Both were penned during the first half of the 1940s, though the sketches for the B minor Sonata date back to 1900. The latter is a finely sculpted, generously lyrical creation, boasting a particularly lovely slow movement. For the scherzo Bantock pressed into service his earlier Fantastic Poem of 1925, and the whole work ends in a mood of autumnal nostalgia. The impulse for the unaccompanied G minor Sonata appears to have been Kodály's magnificent example in the genre: Bantock had heard Beatrice Harrison give the British première in 1924. Cast in four compact movements, it's an uncommonly well-knit essay and a demanding workout for any aspiring virtuoso (as the giddy moto perpetuo of the finale attests). We also get two offerings for cello and harp: particularly striking is Pibroch, a wonderfully affecting 'Highland lament' .
Andrew Fuller is an accomplished artist, mellow of tone and technically secure; he enjoys sympathetic support from Michael Dussek.
Lucy Wakeford, too, contributes most beautifully.
With eminently truthful sound and balance throughout, this enterprising collection deserves a warm welcome.