Caroline Castleton, viola
Jessica McKee, piano

Rebecca Clarke: A Pioneering Performance Career
Doctor of Musical Arts recital
University of Maryland
February 11, 2023

Grainger’s Sussex Mummer’s Christmas Carol was a staple in Rebecca Clarke’s performance repertoire–a fan favorite during her tours of North America and Hawaii, according to many a newspaper review–and the first piece programmed in Clarke’s first BBC broadcast in 1925. After hearing Clarke play this piece, a writer for the San Francisco Examiner asked,

"Why do not more women devote themselves to the viola? The viola has the tones of a contralto; it suggests distinction; there is a patrician air about it which the more light-fancied violin can no more emulate than a dressy servant girl can look like a countess."

In this performance, I am reading from a facsimile of the viola part in Clarke's own handwriting, and using her bowings and fingerings.

Program notes: [ Ссылка ]

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