Franck Violin Sonata (Arthur Catterall, 1923-24)

Franck Violin Sonata in A
Arthur Catterall (violin)
William Murdoch (piano)

Recorded on November 18, 1923, and April 11, 1924, in Columbia's Petty France Studios, London, on 78-rpm matrices AX 229 through AX 234, AX 413 and AX 414. This recording had a very curious issue history. It was not issued in Great Britain, although three of the movements (the third, fourth, and first, in that order) were allocated L 1535/7, under which numbers Catterall's recording of the Brahms Op. 108 was ultimately issued. These same three movements in the same order were issued in the USA, 67136-D through 67138-D (Masterworks Set No. 23) but hastily withdrawn when the errors of incompleteness and movement order were discovered. The set was then reissued, with all four movements and in the correct order, on 67164-D through 67167-D (Masterworks Set No. 33). The matrix order shows why the incorrect ordering of the movements occurred in the first place:

AX229-3 (Apr. 11, 1924) Third movement, pt. 1
AX230-1 (Nov. 18, 1923) Third movement, pt. 2
AX231-1 (Nov. 18, 1923) Fourth movement, pt. 1
AX232-1 (Nov. 18, 1923) Fourth movement, pt. 2
AX233-1 (Nov. 18, 1923) First movement, pt. 1
AX234-3 (Apr. 11, 1924) First movement, pt. 2
AX413-1 (Apr. 11, 1924) Second movement, pt. 1
AX414-1 (Apr. 11, 1924) Second movement, pt. 2

The Franck Violin Sonata's movements are:

1. Allegretto ben moderato
2. Allegro (at 6:54)
3. Recitative-Fantasia: Ben moderato (at 15:09)
4. Allegretto poco mosso (at 22:14)