Respighi’s Sonata in B minor was completed a year after The Fountains of Rome had brought him international renown. A work of considerable dimensions and scope, it combines expressive intensity with techniques grounded in early Italian music. Like Respighi, Pizzetti, Casella, Malipiero and others, Riccardo Pick-Mangiagalli belonged to the ‘generation of the 1880s’, which played such a key rôle in the resurgence of Italian instrumental music. His early Sonata, notable for its concise ideas and attractive melodies, and the three short pieces on this album, comprise the complete works for violin and piano of an undeservedly neglected composer.