Nicholas Daniel & Julius Drake , Leicester International Music Festival

One of Britain’s best-known musicians, Nicholas Daniel OBE won the BBC Young Musician competition in 1980, after which he quickly established his career, travelling all over the world, broadcasting widely, and making many critically acclaimed recordings of both new and familiar music.

This programme – with the very distinguished pianist, Julius Drake – features a wide selection of chamber music by Robert Schumann, alongside the Three Romances by Clara Schumann. At the time these pieces were written, there was a rapidly growing interest in amateur music making in the home, fuelled by a burgeoning middle class. Brahms, Schumann, and Mendelssohn all contributed significantly to the array of works published for this market, and it was quite normal practise for parts to be substituted for whatever instruments happened to be available. So, although the Three Romances, Op. 94 are the only works originally composed for the oboe, the programme is not only musically rewarding in its own right, but also in keeping with what the Schumanns would have considered normal practise.