Kenneth Leighton’s distinctive gifts as a composer were apparent as early as the première of his Cello Concerto, when he was barely 26. It was an instrument for which he wrote with particular subtlety and often from an inner compulsion.

The Elegy, Op.5 is full of brilliance, lyricism and mystery, whilst by the time he wrote the rhapsodic and expressive Sonata for Solo Cello, Op.52, his position as one of Britain’s leading composers had long been cemented. The beautiful Alleluia Pascha Nostrum, Op.85 was first performed by the soloist on this disc, Raphael Wallfisch.

Raphael Wallfisch won the Gaspar Cassadó International Cello Competition in Florence at the age of 24. Since then he has enjoyed a world-wide career and has recorded a wide range of British cello music, including works by MacMillan, Finzi, Delius, Bax, Bliss, Britten, Moeran and Kenneth Leighton. In 2014, he succeeded John McCabe as President of the British Music Society.

Raphael Terroni was Head of Piano at the London College of Music and Media for 15 years, and examined and adjudicated at music festivals in Britain and abroad. A founder member of the British Music Society, he served two terms as the Society’s Chairman, and made several critically acclaimed recordings of music by British composers - Lennox Berkeley, Robin Milford, Howard Ferguson, Josef Holbrooke, Eric Coates and Arthur Butterworth among them.