Composers: William Alwyn, Doreen Carwithen
Compositions: Three Winter Poems, String Quartet No 1, String Quartet No 2, String Quartet No 3
Performers: Tippett Quartet
Catalogue Number: Somm SOMM0194

William Alwyn is more known for his 200 film scores, but he composed in many genres. Doreen Carwithen had a relatively brief composing career herself. In 1961, she relocated to Suffolk where she became his amanuensis, literary secretary and second wife, changing her name (understandably) to Mary Alwyn. Although their respective idioms are quite distinct, and despite being composed over a long period – Carwithen’s Quartets in 1945 and 1950, Alwyn’s Winter Landscapes in 1942 and Third...