''Brain-Kell-Goossens play Schumann and Beethoven'' announces the cover of this disc, in an attempt to bring a somewhat diverse programme together under a single heading. There might also be a unifying subtitle, 'Some lesser-known recordings produced by Walter Legge', since all but one of the items bears his name. The one exception, Schumann's Romanzen, could well have been supervised by him too, since the recording sheets don't tell who was responsible.
There isn't a performance here which is less than of the highest class, yet all originally appeared on the lower-price HMV plum and Columbia dark-blue labels. Both the Beethoven items and Schumann's Fantasiestucke were recorded during the Second World War, and are typical of the many excellent chamber performances committed to disc by British artists at this period, when more famous international figures were not able to visit the UK. No nonsense about a ban on German composers, be it noted!
Dennis Brain's three items are all superlatively played. Did any horn player command his strong, bright tone-quality, or his immaculate, confident technique? I think not, but he was also of course a highly sensitive artist, whose performances here are as always on a uniquely high plane. He plays the Dukas with a particularly amazing brand of virtuosity, while in Beethoven's Horn Sonata Denis Matthews shows what a fine artist he was, too. Reginald Kell and Leon Goossens both played in Beecham's pre-war London Philharmonic, but each was also renowned as a soloist and chamber player. Kell's clear, bell-like tone and excellent musicianship are heard to good advantage in the Fantasiestucke, but in the only item where the recording is less than good, the Romanzen, Goossens's unique style and tone are slightly impaired by an uneven sound-quality. The performance of the Beethoven Clarinet Trio is strong, clear-cut, and very satisfying in its straightforward, but deeply musical style.'