Harrison: Chamber Works

Pamela Harrison belongs to a generation of women composers whose star shone brightly in the aftermath of the second world war but who subsequently faded into obscurity as the establishment turned towards the Continental avant-garde. Here, the Gould Piano Trio, with clarinettist and project curator Robert Plane, are joined by friends and colleagues in this survey of her work. The Violin Sonatina of 1949 is the earliest work of Harrison’s to feature on this album of world premiere recordings, and this compelling programme also features the thematically linked Clarinet Quintet and Piano Trio, along with the Clarinet Sonata. The short work for clarinet and piano, Drifting Away, is inspired by the W.B. Yeats line ‘All that’s beautiful drifts away Like the waters’.