This unique programme of four works for cello and piano by significant twentieth-century composers is a reflection of the greater interest in writing for the cello that the inspiration of two highly gifted instrumentalists was to have during that period. For many music-lovers, the major cello virtuosos of the century were Pablo Casals and Mstislav Rostropovich, each of whom dominated the instrument in their respective halves of the century. However, one ought not to assume that all the music in our collection was invariably written with those artists in mind. With one exception, it was not.