Tomasi: Complete Violin Works

Henri Tomasi’s violin works are little known but they offer a compact insight into the direction of French 20th-century composition. The Violin Concerto ‘Périple d’Ulysse’ is a late work, by turns alluring, tragic and violent, conveyed through rhapsodic virtuosity and a rich sense of colour. The Capriccio is full of elegance and refinement with emotional intensity in its slow movement and brilliance in its finale. Chant hébraïque conjures up oriental motifs while the sequence of early works for violin and piano reference Tomasi’s Corsican heritage and evoke quasi-cinematic exoticism.