Bach 2 the Future, Vol. 2

If it wasn’t for J.S. Bach, music for solo violin would be almost non-existent. So hats off to violinist Fenella Humphreys for commissioning some of Britain’s great composing voices to write fresh new works, including here in Volume 2 Adrian Sutton’s skittish Arpeggiare Variations, Sally Beamish’s Bachian homage Intrada e Fuga and one of Sir Peter Maxwell Davies’ very last works, his pensive Sonatina for Violin Alone. Humphreys performs them all with great precision and energy, as she does Bach’s spirited, stately Sonata No. 3 and thrilling discoveries by Sibelius and Stravinsky.