Two neglected violin concertos, in the same key (D minor), and written within a few years of one another, but miles apart in style and sensibility. Bradford-born Frederic Cliffe (1857-1931), a successful pianist and organist, achieved instant recognition with his First Symphony in 1889 and during the next 15 years or so produced a number of major works before giving up composition. This 1896 Concerto follows in the tradition of Bruch and Brahms – generally serious in tone, with passionate declamatory passages alternating with warmly harmonised lyrical episodes. The finale, after a most beautiful introductory recitative, is in Hungarian style, a tribute, perhaps, to the Concerto’s first interpreter, Hungarian-born Tividar Nachez.

Baron Frédéric d’Erlanger (1868-1943) combined careers as composer and banker. Born in Paris, he eventually became a British citizen. His 1902 Concerto shows, especially in its deft, imaginative orchestration, that he belongs to the generation of Strauss and Ravel (the orchestral writing is especially refined in the later Poëme, originally scored for violin and piano). The treatment of the violin, too, is highly sophisticated, idiomatic virtuoso gestures giving the music a brilliant sheen. Alongside some truly original ideas there are more conventional passages but the elegantly elegiac Andante develops a dreamy quality reminiscent of Delius and the finale, with bright, shining sonorities, is notable for sudden shifts of rhythm and metre that surprise and charm. Though neither work is a masterpiece, they’re both well worth reviving, especially in such accomplished, sympathetic performances.