World première recording of Ethel Barns' Fantaisie for Two Violins and Piano
Nazrin Rashidova and Rachael Kwa (violins)
Thomas Scott (piano)
Angela Burgess Recital Hall, Royal Academy of Music
8th November 2024
Published by Schott in 1912, Ethel Barns’ Fantaisie for Two Violins and Piano was commissioned by Walter Wilson Corbett, on behalf of the illustrious Worshipful Company of Musicians. The work was dedicated to her professor, Émile Sauret, with whom she gave its premiere with Percy Waller on the piano in November 1911, at the Bechstein Hall. In January 1912, the piece also featured in the first public concert of the Society of Women Musicians, of which Barns was a founding member. The 1911 edition of The Musical Times credited this composition with “the gracefulness and pleasing sentiment, characteristic of the composer’s best work.”
This world premiere video recording of this work is from a lecture recital presented on 8th November 2024 at the Royal Academy of Music, given by Dr Briony Cox Williams and Dr Nazrin Rashidova, featuring pianists Catriona Mackenzie, Thomas Scott and violinist, Rachael Kwa.