VIOLINIST | MUSICOLOGIST
In July 2025 Rupert collaborated with the South African pianist Peter Cartwright in a recording of the complete music for violin and piano by Alan Rawsthorne, and this recording will be released this summer on the label EM Records. Rawsthorne developed a very personal and unmistakeable harmonic language together with a markedly constructive approach to form, which may have been influenced by his early studies in architecture. As well as the masterly Sonata of 1958, this new disc features the two early, unpublished sonatas, both written for the violinist Jessie Hinchliffe, and the delightful character piece Pierrette, which inhabits a completely different sound-world and is evidence of a versatility later revealed in Rawsthorne’s film music. Bringing early, previously unrecorded works together with those of Rawsthorne’s established repertoire makes this an important and fascinating release.
Rupert is delighted to have been invited to return to the Faroe Islands in August 2026 to participate in Summartónar. A very special highlight of his programmes for the festival will be the World Premières of two specially-commissioned works for violin and reciter: one written by the Director of Summartónar, Kristian Blak; the other by the critically-acclaimed British composer Ian Venables. Further details are posted on the Future Events page.
Rupert’s scholarly-critical editions of two works by Edward Elgar will soon be issued by the Munich publishers G. Henle Verlag. La Capricieuse and the Very Easy Melodious Exercises in the First Position both date from the early years of Elgar’s career and the editions draw on the full range of available source material, including the composer’s autograph manuscripts. More details about these publications can be accessed through this page of the Henle website.
In October, Rupert will once again be joining forces with the South African pianist Peter Cartwright to record the complete music for violin and piano by Robin Milford. Milford’s music is characterised by great emotional depth and immediacy and this recording promises a vivid new view of the work of a composer whose output is still too little-known and -performed. More details about this project will be posted here soon.
Rupert’s scholarly-critical edition of the Sonata for Piano and Violin by Sir Arthur Bliss, of which he gave the first performance and made the first recording, will shortly be published by Boosey & Hawkes. This single-movement sonata is an early work, probably written around 1912, and is one of the few of Bliss’s early compositions which he did not later destroy: it therefore offers a fascinating glimpse into his formative years as a composer.
The publishing firm Boydell & Brewer, known for its scholarly volumes encompassing disciplines as diverse as mediaeval history and early modern literature, German Studies and music, has just issued The Importance of Elgar, a collection of essays by musicians and musicologists produced under the auspices of The Elgar Society to mark its 75th anniversary. Rupert’s contribution examines the notation of Elgar’s music for violin and what it can tell us about the music’s intended execution as well as how Elgar himself viewed the instrument and the violinistic environment within which he was working. The findings set out in the article derive from work on the editions of Elgar’s music that Rupert has prepared for G. Henle Verlag.
During 2026 Rupert will be working with Victoria College Exams to develop a completely new syllabus for the College’s higher-level examinations and diplomas in violin. Victoria College has provided a system of examinations in Music, Speech and Drama since 1890 and the exams are accredited by The Learning Machine, an awarding organisation regulated in England by OFQUAL (the Office of Qualifications and Examinations Regulation); the qualifications are also internationally recognised, with official recognition on the National Qualifications Framework and the European Qualifications Framework.
Rupert’s work on the new syllabus will include a complete overhaul of the repertoire required for each examination as well as a re-appraisal and an extension of their technical requirements according to his recommendations.