'I was drawn to an approach of dealing with the history of slavery within one's family, the ownership of a name and it's 'rebranding' - reflecting on the American Slave and how Black Americans deal with creating a sense of pride, familial storytelling and lineage in contemporary America. This notion of 'rebranding' extends to the 'Negro Melody' My intent with these arrangements is to acknowledge the impact of those melodies on current popular culture, and reflect that influence onto the orchestral stage - to create moments where listeners may participate vocally, with movement, or rhythmically clapping along - to maintain a sense of belonging and recognition - to create community around this music in the classical concert hall - to embrace where all contemporary American Concert music extends from, in my belief - America's mother-music: the Blues.' - Curtis Stewart

After a first album (Because, Alpha 936) devoted to Afro-American spirituals that won several awards (Opus Klassik, Edison Klassiek, GRAMMY� Award nomination), the American countertenor Reginald Mobley devotes this new recording to English repertoire with a simple combination of primarily voice, lute, and viola da gamba. Solitude opens with Henry Purcell's moving 'Tis Nature's Voice and other famous Purcell melodies, sails through John Dowland's deeply melancholy waves, and also reveals the declamatory charm of the 17th-century English composers who surrounded Samuel Pepys. We then travel to America, where contemporary composers Jonathan Woody and Douglas Balliett explore "the indomitable resilience contained in the tale of a runaway slave" as told by the brilliant African-American haiku poet Crystal Simone Smith. With Brandon Acker on lute, theorbo and baroque guitar and Douglas Balliett on viola da gamba and double bass, Reggie completes this intimate journey with songs arranged in the 19th century by the black American guitarist, composer and abolitionist Justin Holland.

With this album, Trio Fibonacci takes us on a journey through the meditative and deeply human universe of Ludovico Einaudi, a master of contemporary minimalism. His works, built around repetitive motifs and subtle harmonic variations, open up a space for contemplation and pure emotion. Many of the pieces presented here have been specially adapted by Trio Fibonacci for duo or trio, bringing new vibrancy and emotional depth to the music while remaining true to the spirit of the composer. With a total runtime of 71 minutes, Timeless Horizons guides listeners through Einaudi's most iconic pieces, including: "I Giorni" - a poignant elegy inspired by Malian folklore "Experience" - a powerful meditation on time and memory "Nuvole Bianche" - a serene and soothing classic "Una Mattina" - made famous by The Intouchables "Petricor" - evoking the scent of the earth after rain But there is much more: 13 pieces in total. The album blends Einaudi's signature repetitive motifs and subtle harmonic shifts with the Trio's expressive and fluid playing style. These arrangements offer a rare intimacy, drawing the listener into a world of silence, longing, and awakening. Trio Fibonacci made it's debut in 1998, with the press reporting that "to hear them is to enter into the world of miracles" (Le Devoir, Montreal).

This is Volume Two of four in a first-ever exhaustive set of Ravel's complete works for solo piano, a landmark collection that will embrace numerous world premieres. Here, we have familiar works prepared and recorded from personal scores annotated by pianist and teacher Vlado Perlemuter during his private study and collaboration with the composer (1927-29), alongside world-premieres of transcriptions by Lucien Garban (1877-1959).

In this volume we discover how composers in England, Scotland, the Netherlands and the Nordic countries responded to the waves of jazz and syncopated dance music that had crossed the Atlantic and captivated European audiences. The album features a wide selection of famous and less well-known composers who each succeed in combining the authentic energising rhythms of foxtrots, tangos and shimmies with their own unique styles. Gottlieb Wallisch's seventh and final volume in this acclaimed series features many unknown gems and world premiere recordings. A digital EP of bonus tracks by Bliss, Schnitzler and Hijman (GP962DR) is also available for download and streaming.

Heinrich August Marschner was a master of German Romantic music, and this third volume in the series presents excerpts from some of his later operas. These include Das Schloss am Aetna with it's dark Faustian themes, and Lukretia in which the composer generates an air of Classical antiquity. Both Sangeskonig Hiarne and Der Babu showcase Marschner's talent with descriptive ballet music, allowing us to discover a completely new side to his musical craft.

Nelson Goerner has always dreamed of recording these two masterpieces of the concerto repertoire. With Kazuki Yamada, he has found the ideal partner to approach Ravel's two piano concertos with the sensitivity and poetry for which he is universally renowned. The two works, composed at the same time and both performed for the first time in 1932, are nevertheless very different: premiered in Vienna, the Concerto for the Left Hand was commissioned by the pianist Paul Wittgenstein who had lost his right arm in 1914; premiered in Paris, the Concerto in G is renowned for it's verve and it's famous pianistic interpolations. Ravel had composed the Pavane pour une infante defunte, a famous miniature of exquisite nostalgia, some 33 years earlier. The programme is completed by the Valses nobles et sentimentales; Marguerite Long, who gave the first performance of the Concerto in G, saw these eight linked pieces as a "stylistic panorama of the waltz".

In her first solo recording for AVIE in 2019, Sarah Beth Briggs' performances of music by Robert Schumann and Johannes Brahms were described as "81 minutes of pianistic Heaven" by International Piano Magazine. In her latest offering, Small Treasures, Sarah returns to two of those composers' greatest sets of miniatures: Schumann's piano cycle Waldszenen and Brahms's 4 Klavierstu�cke, Op.119, his final statement for solo piano. Alongside these, Sarah sets Schumann's much loved Arabeske from earlier in his composing career and the delightfully fleeting Impromptu by his wife Clara, together with her 4 Pie'ces fugitives, much lauded in her lifetime. The remaining 'Treasures' transport the listener to 20th-century France, comparing works by two members of Paris's composing circle 'Les Six' - Francis Poulenc's evocative 3 Novelettes (written across a 30-year time span) and Germaine Tailleferre's Sicilienne. As an encore, Sarah - a former International Mozart Competition winner - ends with a tiny gem by Wolfgang Amadeus: his 1789 Kleine Gigue in G in which light-hearted playfulness mingles with forward-looking chromaticism, miraculously seeming to find common ground with all of the works from the subsequent two centuries included on Small Treasures.

This ceremony, which was recorded in 1975 and was performed by the first generation of Tibetan monks in exile in India with the current Dalai Lama, reproduces most faithfully the impressive vocal technique, fervour, and mystery of this very low-pitch Buddhist chant, with it's harmonics and accompaniment of horns, drums, and large cymbals. Thanks to the sound recording technique, the listener is immersed in the very heart of the event. As in all monasteries of the various schools, an important place is reserved for the memorisation and recitation of a large number of ritual texts. The liturgical practice of Gy�t� is characterised by the use of a specific mode of singing, "the voice of the tantras"; this process consists of simultaneously emitting a very low sound and, by modifying the volume of the oral cavity, distinctly bringing out one of the harmonics of this sound. In Gy�t�, the harmonic emphasised is the 10th harmonic, which is three octaves and one third above the fundamental. There are many examples of this on the various tracks selected for these CDs, particularly when the chant master gives the cue for a passage to begin.

Joseph Swensen conducts Beethoven's Ninth Symphony with an inner fire that grips all those who have attended one of his concerts; for him it is Beethoven's ultimate achievement, a celebration of humanity -not the romantic hero, but the truly ordinary individual, musically represented by the chorus. Beethoven begins his epic symphony in the darkness of primordial chaos. The first and second movements are visions of the universe before humanity. The third movement is a celestial dream. The beginning of the finale is our awakening. Beethoven wanted Ode to Joy to be a melody that all can sing. This chorus, a realisation in sound of the ideals of the 18th-century Enlightenment, is neither transcendent, divine, perfect nor impeccable. It is humanity singing of it's joy!

The Suite for Two Oboes and Two English Horns (2017), consists of four movements that take their titles from the Christian liturgy. Each movement is an abstract representation of the overall spirit and emotion of each of these prayers. The movements consist of what I find to be four of the most poignant as well as contrasting of the prayers: the Kyrie, the Dies Irae, the Lacrimosa, and ending with the Gloria. Having played the oboe and English horn throughout my formative musical years through to my completion of university, I have an inherent love for these instruments and writing for them. Oboists lack a large selection of serious repertoire for choirs of their instruments and my hope is that this piece will help fill some of that need in additional to encouraging others to write for this fascinating timbral combination. The Symphony for Flute Choir (2017) is a larger scale work for standard flute choir consisting of four movements. In composing this piece, my goal was to give the flute choir a serious piece of music with the emotional breadth that comes in writing a piece of a symphonic scale. As with most of my music, there is no programme or narrative to this piece. Rather, the movements revolve around often angular ideas, many mixed asymmetric metres, and contrasts between slow, sometimes emotionally ambivalent sections and more driving and jagged movements of ever-increasing amounts of tension.

Born of a friendship formed at London's Royal College of Music over 10 years ago and boasting a discography of seven recordings, the Busch Trio takes it's name from the legendary Adolf Busch, whose G.B. Guadagnini violin Mathieu van Bellen has the honour of playing. Van Bellen and the Epstein brothers Omri on piano and Ori on cello now launch their ambitious project of recording the complete Beethoven piano trios. The first instalment contains the Op. 1 trios (Nos. 1 and 3), the first compositions by the young Beethoven who had left his native Bonn to study with Haydn in Vienna in 1792. Although Beethoven did not write a concerto for a wind instrument, he did compose a great deal of chamber music for them, including the Trio in B flat for piano, clarinet and cello (1798), although designing it so that the clarinet part could also be performed on the violin. The playful theme of the variations in the finale earned the trio it's nickname, "Gassenhauer"; (street or folk song).

Known primarily as a prolific opera composer, Gaetano Donizetti also wrote nearly 300 songs, which were destined for intimate gatherings of friends, professionals and wealthy amateurs. Though Donizetti was seemingly blase about his songs, they contain much of interest. Their melodic beauty and structural surety are invariably captivating, whether in ballades or canzonettas, theatrical ariettas, or poignant love laments. Setting poets from Pietro Metastasio to his contemporaries allowed Donizetti full rein to explore a wide variety of subject matter with wit, sentiment, long vocal lines, and quasi-orchestral piano accompaniment. A digital-only single of Lamento per la morte di V. Bellini is also available to stream and download (9.70399).

Play, Music! Songs from Shakespeare's Plays

This album presents three large and undoubtedly genuine compositions. In addition, it presents some of Bach's doubtful and spurious works, which were already attributed to him in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. By using an original organ (Mueller, 1734, in the Waalse Kerk, Amsterdam) and a performance asesthetic based on historically informed choices of registration, touch, articulation and ornamentation - all magical details of Bach's music shine through.

Award-winning Polish composer, Pawel Lukaszewski, is one of today's most distinctive creators of contemporary sacred music. The Nocturnes for piano, based on some of his own sacred pieces, are inspired by the cosmos, with each nocturne named after a newly discovered bright star in constellations including Vela, Scorpius and the Southern Cross. Lukaszewski takes the listener on a journey through the beauty of the night sky with these intimate and atmospheric sound paintings.

Born in Zaragoza in 1999, Miguel Bonal began studying the viola da gamba at the age of seven. He continued his higher education at the Escola Superior de Musica de Catalunya, where he obtained the highest distinctions. For his first solo recital, released as part of the Alpha Classics "Baroque Stories" series dedicated to new talent, he presents a programme of reference works written for the viola da gamba as well as transcriptions: we move from the magnificent soldierly music of Tobias Hume to the refinement of Marin Marais and Abel, from the virtuosity of Schenck to the stylistic synthesis of Telemann... Miguel Bonal also allows us to hear all the mystery of Bach's Suite for Cello No. 2 in D minor played on the viola da gamba, before venturing into 19th-century music with Gabriel Faure's famous Apres un reve and Francisco Tarrega's Recuerdos de la Alhambra, further evidence of the timelessness of the viola da gamba.

This deluxe, 21st anniversary reissue of Lorraine Hunt Lieberson's legendary recording of the character Irene's arias from George Frideric Handel's Theodora - plus the composer's cantata La Lucrezia and the evergreen aria "Ombra Mai Fu" from Serse - evokes vivid memories of the mezzo-soprano's galvanizing musicianship and opens the ears of a new generation of music lovers to appreciate the timelessness of Lorraine's poignant interpretations. Specially remastered for this CD and newly available digitally in Dolby Atmos, the longevity of these performances is a testament to Lorraine's unique voice and soul. Conductor and leading Baroque specialist Harry Bicket recalls the immediate musical connection he and Lorraine shared from the time they first met in 1996 during rehearsals for Theodora at Glyndebourne. When Peter Seller's staging of the cantata was revived in 2003, it seemed obvious to go into the studio to record Lorraine's Theodora arias. A maverick musician and a riveting performer, Lorraine died in 2006 due to complications from cancer at the far-too-young age of 52. This recording, one of her last, preserves her consummate musical persona for posterity. The New Yorker's classical columnist Alex Ross characterised the album as "pull-down-the-blinds, unplug-the-telephone, can't-talk-right-now beautiful. She's singing it again; I have to go."

Elena Ruehr is one of today's most prolific and acclaimed composer of string quartets whose music has been described as "unspeakably gorgeous" by Gramophone magazine. This latest triptych of works for the genre takes inspiration from much-loved locales in the higher latitudes: the composer's Michigan home, a favourite spot on Cape Cod, and the capital city of Iceland. String Quartet No. 9, "Keweenaw" evokes the small rural town in Michigan's beautiful Upper Peninsula where Elena grew up. This quartet explores various parts of that world, from native berries, early autumn blizzards, ghost towns and the majestic Lake Superior. String Quartet No. 10, "Long Pond" captures moments throughout the days on a beautiful small lake on Cape Cod, Massachusetts, where Elena has spent much time and gathered precious memories: a brightly rising sun, a morning dog walk, sailing on the harbour, a "nor'easter" storm, a lovely yet mysterious full moon rising above and reflecting in the water. String Quartet No. 11, "Reykjavik", pays seasonal homage to Iceland's capitol city, with it's long winter nights, the sun peeking through the haze as spring approaches, greeted with celebrations of singing and dancing for the lighter days ahead. Quartet ES is a foursome of diverse and engaging individuals - Anton Miller and Ertan Torgul, violins; Rita Porfiris, viola; and Jennifer Kloetzel, cello - that come together to create cutting-edge programming, visionary projects and dynamic educational initiatives. A capacious catalogue of commissioned works includes these three by Elena Ruehr.

Armande de Polignac was one of an unprecedented number of female composers emerging at the beginning of the 20th century. With training from the likes of Gabriel Faur� and Vincent d'Indy, she was able to devote her life to music at the highest level of professionality. From the introspective early Pr�ludes via the luxuriant, Russian-infused �chapp�es to the remarkable sonic realism of Cloches, these recordings reveal Armande de Polignac as one of the greatest French female composers of her time.