Veneer by Stephen Upshaw

Internationally acclaimed violist Stephen Upshaw makes his debut recording with four striking works that push the viola to its expressive limits. Rich in colour, fearless in expression, and alive to the smallest details of sound, "Veneer" is both a showcase of Upshaw’s artistry and a testament to the emotional and physical range of contemporary viola music.

Errollyn Wallen’s Lavinia burns with obsessive jealousy, its jagged, four-note spike gnawed at again and again until all dignity crumbles. Aaron Holloway-Nahum’s The New Hymns layers the viola with fragments of poetry, field recordings, and spectral harmonics, creating a surreal momentum towards chaos and uneasy beauty. Tonia Ko’s Soothe a tooth turns stress and tension into sound, its sharp taps, gauzy whispers and crackling textures becoming a meditation on pain and release. Edmund Finnis’s Veneer closes the album in a shimmer of ringing harmonics and fragile resonances—music that feels as if it might vanish if you breathe too hard.

Tracklist