These are late 1950s recordings made by Richard Itter in The Music Room. They 'speak' with enthusiasm and burning conviction. The restoration has evidently been done with as much affection as technical skill.

It is difficult to imagine how much of a wasteland the Bax catalogue was when these mono recordings were made; still less when they were issued. They were made only five years after Bax's death and released a further five or so years later. They were among the earliest releases of a small company that had glimmered into existence and might easily have been snuffed out. No such fate awaited Lyrita although it has had long periods of hibernation.

Wyastone Estates are committed to reissuing the entire Lyrita catalogue including the mono tapes originally issued on RCS vinyl. We have already seen the Alan Rowlands Ireland set and the Bax Loveridge discs are due out soon. Here Florence Hooton (1912-1988) presents Bax's chamber works for cello. The only omission is the Rhapsodic Ballad for solo cello which at the time of these sessions was held by the dedicatee Bernard Vocadlo. It was only in the early 1980s that first Rohan de Saram – wonderful cellist too little heard from - included the premiere recording on a Pearl LP (SHE547) and then Rapahel Wallfisch recorded it for Chandos (CHAN 8499).

There is little competition for this Hooton set even now. In substance the only other choice is the ASV CD (CD DCA 896) by Bernard Gregor-Smith and Yolande Wrigley.

Hooton and Wilfred Parry first turn to the two cello works of the teens and twenties of the last century. The first is the compact Folk-Tale which concentrates on tender almost fragile lyricism and on curvaceous easy-going folk-inflected melody. This was also recorded by Moray Welsh and Roger Vignoles on a Pearl LP (SHE571). The 1923 Cello Sonata is a big work of concerto proportions. It certainly recalls the Cello Concerto a fragmentary recording of which, in the hands of Beatrice Harrison, survives on Symposium 1150 (see review) and has of course been recorded by Raphael Wallfisch on Chandos CHAN 8494 (see review). Hooton played the Concerto with the BBC Northern conducted by John Hopkins which was broadcast and a recording survives in private hands. The Sonata is a darker work than the Folk-Tale and in its concentration and sturdy flow is more successful than the problematic Concerto. It is played with wonderful passion by Hooton and Parry. There is magic too in the poco lento second movement which sounds very much like the start of the 1913 Spring Fire Symphony. A grumpy bass underpinning suggests a jolly war-dance with perhaps a hint of Percy Grainger about its skip in the step. The Epilogue is thoughtful and commanding. Then comes the little Sonatina - again in three movements but almost exactly half as long as the Sonata. It is a gentle work with more of the feeling of a serenade or cassation about it. Folksong is central to its Andante.

The recording of the Legend-Sonata has more presence to it than the Bax cello works on CD1. It is given a mordantly aggressive edge by Hooton and Parry. It naturally has the Bax manner but the creative bite and grip of the Sonata and Folk-Tale are nowhere near as strong. Bax's orchestral Legend (tone poem) of about the same time also shows confidence but the ideas and resolution that drove or wooed the Furies in November Woods, in Fand and even in the Northern Ballads is only passingly present. There are some really nice moments here though: for example in the Lento Espressivo.

If you enjoy the Rachmaninov Cello Sonata do try these Bax works.

Ten years separate each of the Bax works on this set. Two years after Bax's death came the Gordon Jacob Divertimento for solo cello and four years after that the Elegy. The compact four-movement Divertimento - dedicated to and premiered by Hooton - has a patterned, and for me rather empty, Prelude. The spirit of Bach must inevitably hold sway over such works unless you are a Kodaly. The dignified beauty of the lengthy Improvisation more than compensates with its luscious and somehow Iberian pizzicato which returns in the final Rondino. The Minuet and Trio mixes a Bachian intensity with guitar-like sonorities. Jacob's Elegy was written for Hooton and is In Memoriam S.W.J. This work has the brooding storm-clouds intensity of Rubbra's Soliloquy. I wonder if it exists in a version with orchestra.

The sound throughout these discs is grainy and fragile especially on CD1. Hooton's involvement is undoubted but in the case of the Folk-Tale only her technical apparatus when her playing was no longer at full peak does rather show. I did not notice any awkwardness in her playing of other works.

Note the wonderfully long silences between the works. This shows real attention to detail by Lyrita and Wyastone. This is by no means a hurried or scouted over production.

I declare my interest as the writer - more compiler really - of the disc's programme note about Florence Hooton. An extended version of that note appears at the end of this review.

Unlike the viola, violin and piano the cello has been a Cinderella in the Bax output. Only ASV have attempted a single set. The triumph in this Hooton set is the impressive Cello Sonata which should surprise a few Baxians and others now they can hear this version in the best possible sound from original master sources. Admirers of Gordon Jacob and of British music in general should also find much here to enjoy. You need to be open-minded and realistic about the sound but it is heart-warming to be able to welcome them back into the light of common day.

-- Rob Barnett, MusicWeb International