Viola sonatas: Idylls & Bacchanals

David Owen Norris returns to EM Records with the violist and violinist Louise Williams in a double-disc set of works by Bax, Jacob, Leighton, Maconchy, McEwen, Milford and Rawsthorne. The title closely describes the repertoire: three pieces actually called ‘Sonata’, plus a Sonatina and a Fantasia whose four sections reflect the movements of a Sonata. Something, too, about the character of the combination of viola and piano seems to have driven the composers in question to extremes of expression – hence the subtitle.