Karen Hand

The German-born, Vienna-based Hermann Grädener (1844–1929) is yet another composer whose music, esteemed in its own time, has since slipped between the floorboards of history. Yet this first recording of his two violin concertos – substantial works both, downstream from Brahms, and with a hint of Sibelius – prove him to have been one of the more important Romantics, with a strong sense of drama, a sure hand for musical architecture and a natural flair for extended melody.