Article about latest concert together with Pianist Lauretta Bloomer
Silence broken in the Trinitatiskapel – and with the strings of a viola and piano, that’s no punishment…
25 August 2025 • 18:20 by Jacques Malschaert
DORDRECHT – Sometimes I wonder what attracts me more: silence, or music that fills the space. This was the question I asked myself the moment I exchanged the silence of my living room for a promising musical evening in the Trinitatiskapel. My bike ride there served as a fitting buffer and a good opportunity to think it over a little longer. The immediate reason for these reflections was the title of the recital by violist and musical all-rounder Karin Dolman and pianist Lauretta Bloomer: Silence Broken. The ride was too short to really explore every facet of that question. I promised myself I’d take more time for it in the coming days… but first, the music.
Karin Dolman and Lauretta Bloomer
Faithful visitors to chamber music concerts in Dordrecht, of course, know Karin Dolman: an enthusiastic, energetic advocate for chamber music and especially the viola repertoire. Together with like-minded musicians she seeks out works that are rarely (or never) recorded. Not just out of curiosity. Her mission is to discover new repertoire, among other things to inspire new generations of musicians and listeners.
I haven’t been back living in Dordrecht, my birthplace, for very long, and I keep discovering new musicians from the region. This time it was Lauretta Bloomer, who matches Karin Dolman’s energy and enthusiasm in every respect. Lauretta has been living in Sliedrecht for about a year, where she teaches advanced piano students. After studies in London and Vienna and performances all over the world, she settled in the Netherlands, where she became a much sought-after pianist. “I love playing chamber music best, and always together.”
Unknown works
In the Trinitatiskapel, Karin Dolman and Lauretta Bloomer broke the silence with music that was both unknown and surprising to me. In many areas of life, the saying “unknown makes unloved” applies – and so it is in music. We often listen to familiar repertoire by the great composers. But just as often, when we encounter new music, we discover there is so much more that can touch and move us.
Friday evening’s program included works by four relatively unknown English composers. One of the fascinating things about my writing is that, especially after a concert, I go in search of the background of what I have heard and seen. Naturally, I go online and usually find a lot of useful information. I like to combine such a deep dive with searches through my own bookshelves, and I spend days listening again to the music performed, making detours into related repertoire. And yes, the General Music Encyclopedia I bought decades ago is still a valuable reference.
Sadly, there is no entry there for William Lloyd Webber. His son Andrew, of course, is well known, from Jesus Christ Superstar and Evita… But father William also had great talent. He wrote his sonatina for viola and piano when he was only 20 years old. A short but warm and melodic piece in the spirit of English Romanticism.
Silence was truly broken with the Sonata by Alan Rawsthorne (1905–1971). My encyclopedia is brief and points to influences from the French neo-classicists… This sonata for viola and piano dates from 1937, a youthful work – and you can hear that. The energy leaps out. For Karin and for Lauretta it was a wonderful opportunity to show every facet of their musicianship: virtuosic, energetic, deeply resonant, and also melancholy. I am especially fond of that melancholy, where music seeks stillness. The viola, like the cello, is the perfect instrument for that. In Rawsthorne’s sonata I found this quality in the third movement, the Adagio.
The third English composer of the evening, Howard Ferguson (1908–1999), didn’t compose much; he was primarily a teacher and musicologist. His Four Short Pieces were originally written for clarinet and piano. Ferguson himself prepared a version for viola and piano. Of the four pieces, it was the third, Pastoral, that stayed with me. Unfortunately, in my online searches I could not find a recording of the viola-and-piano version. But I did find the clarinet version, which was more than worth hearing. I can recommend everyone to do a little exploring – you stumble on so many treasures! The great risk, though, is that you get lost in that enchanted forest and can’t find your way out again. Not so bad, really, because during my wanderings I discovered even more beautiful combinations of viola with piano and clarinet.
Fortunately, I found my way back in time, otherwise I would have missed the fourth composer of the evening, Sir Arnold Bax (1883–1953). His sonata for viola and piano, dating from 1922, was the oldest work on the program. Bax was inspired by Celtic and Irish mythology and reveals himself as a true British late-Romantic. My music encyclopedia says that alongside Vaughan Williams, Bax was the finest English symphonist. I’m not in a position to confirm or deny that – I’m too little versed in the richness of English classical music – but the performance was certainly energetic and melodious.
Silence
My weekend was again filled with wonderful sounds, beginning Friday evening in the Trinitatiskapel, followed by a couple of days of chamber music in my own living room. Once again, I now close all music channels for a while to seek silence – silence that, even in music, is sometimes more important than the notes themselves. One cannot exist without the other.
Heard in the Trinitatiskapel, Friday 22 August:
Silence Broken, recital by Karin Dolman, viola, and Lauretta Bloomer, piano
Music by William Lloyd Webber, Alan Rawsthorne, Howard Ferguson, and Arnold Bax