Frank Ezra Lévy trained as a cellist at the Juilliard School, but despite a long professional career as a performer the cello has not dominated his prolific work as a composer. The five Cello Sonatas span a period of 32 years, the last written especially for this recording. Having inherited rhythmic flexibility and modal sensitivity from his father Ernst Lévy it is no surprise to hear these works reflecting a strong belief in the gravitational pull of tonality, the search for a tonal centre intensifying the expressive character of each sonata while at the same time communicating with striking clarity of form. Also performed by Scott Ballantyne, Lévy’s impressive Second Cello Concerto can be found on Naxos 8.559234.