The latest release from EM Records features the World Première recordings of Cyril Scott’s Viola Sonata and Sacheverell Coke’s Violin Sonata no.1 in D minor. Scott openly eschewed compositional models and his Sonata is full of colourful, idiosyncratic writing, presenting a finely-woven and detailed tapestry in the context of clearly-defined, accessible musical structures. Sacheverell Coke’s Violin Sonata dates from immediately after the Second World War and its haunting melodies, its turbulent rhythms and, especially, its elegiac final movement are lamentations for a human tragedy. These works are complemented by Granville Bantock’s Third Violin Sonata, a late composition which, in its straightforward structures, clean harmonic language and - most intriguingly - the autobiographical codes in its melodic lines, may be regarded as a statement at once valedictory and celebratory.