We have an American philanthropist to thank for not one but two of the works featured today. Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge was the money behind 1919’s Berkshire Chamber Music Festival Competition, which promised $1,000 for the best new work for viola and piano. Famously the jury couldn’t choose between two entries – Rebecca Clarke’s Sonata and Ernest Bloch’s Suite – so Coolidge had to cast the deciding vote. She plumped for the latter but was clearly smitten with both, and later commissioned Clarke’s Rhapsody for cello and piano. The Viola Sonata is easily Clarke’s best-known work. It instantly won admirers both in the USA and the UK, and it remains a popular concert piece today.