In an absorbing recital at the Lion Ballroom, Leominster, concert pianist Duncan Honeybourne produced a fascinating programme of music by Mendelssohn and Sterndale-Bennett. Each item was introduced by the pianist and the audience appreciated not only the fabulous playing (on a Bechstein piano, totally suited to the music) but also the fact that after the recital ended it knew more about a composer, neglected today, but highly regarded in his lifetime.

William Sterndale-Bennett was born in Sheffield in 1816 and died in London in 1875.He was an extraordinarily gifted musician - he entered the choir of King's College, Cambridge aged seven and enrolled at the Royal Academy of Music at the age of 9. Mendelssohn heard Bennett's 1st Piano Concerto (composed at the age of 16) and invited the composer to Germany.

As a composer, Bennett wrote five symphonies and three more piano concertos often playing the solo piano part himself. None of this music is now in the standard repertoire. Bennett married in 1844 and then settled into a life of administrative duties - conductor of the Philharmonic Society, founded the Bach Society in 1856, Professor of Music at Cambridge. He was eventually knighted in 1871.

Duncan Honeybourne played the Suite de Pieces Op.24 (six pieces in total). These pieces are highly fluent, full of virtuosity, gracefulness etc for which Sterndale-Bennett was famous in his life-time. They are very little performed today and one wonders if the lack of a distinct personality (compared to Mendelssohn, Schumann and Chopin) is the reason why. The piano concertos can be found on the Lyrita label played by Malcolm Binns, and Hilary Davan-Wetton has recorded one of the symphonies for Unicorn.

The programme opened with some of Mendelssohn's shorter pieces including the little-heard Fantasy on the Irish Song "The Last Rose of Summer". The recital closed with Mendelssohn's masterpiece for the piano - the Variations Serieuses.

The next recital by Duncan Honeybourne is at the Lion Ballroom on Sunday, October 23 and features piano music from Australia and New Zealand.