Here's another rewarding discovery courtesy of Lyrita, this time two substantial concertos by a composer born in London in 1901 to naturalised German parents. William Busch initially studied piano in Berlin with Wilhelm Backhaus and Egon Petri in the early 1920s, as well as composition under John Ireland, Alan Bush (his close friend and near-contemporary) and Bernard van Dieren.
Nerves scuppered a promising career on the concert platform, so from the mid-1930s onwards Busch decided to devote himself full-time to composition. He died tragically young, aged just 43, the victim of a brain haemorrhage, shortly after the birth of his daughter, Julia.
The Cello Concerto bears a dedication to Florence Hooton (who first performed it at a 1941 Prom) and proves a beautifully wrought, enviably terse yet warm-hearted score, its modal lyricism and appealingly ruminative manner strikingly prescient of Finzi's gorgeous Cello Concerto (lovers of the latter should most certainly lend an ear). Premiered in January 1939 with the composer as soloist partnered by Sir Adrian Boult and the BBC SO, the Piano Concerto wears a knottier, more harmonically adventurous demeanour which shows a shrewd awareness of continental trends audaciously out of kilter with attitudes prevailing within the British musical establishment of the period, its meaty opening Allegro and finale (a resourceful theme and 32 variations) framing a bittersweet central Allegretto tranquillo.
As one might expect from the calibre of the artists involved, the performances are all one could wish for. Eminently truthful sound and balance, too for this enterprising coupling, which is definitely worth seeking out.

The Cello Concerto… proves a beautifully wrought, enviably terse yet warm-hearted score, its modal lyricism and appealingly ruminative manner strikingly prescient of Finzi's gorgeous Cello Concerto… the Piano Concerto wears a knottier, more harmonically adventurous demeanour... its meaty opening Allegro and finale (a resourceful theme and 32 variations) framing a bittersweet central Allegretto tranquillo. As one might expect from the calibre of the artists involved, the performances are all one could wish for.