Organist David Goode continues his series of recordings of the organ works of Max Reger on Signum with a new recording of his Fantasias and Fugues, recorded on the organ of Bath Abbey. The album includes his Fantasia and Fugue on BACH and the ‘Symphonic’ Fantasia and Fugue. David Goode is organist at Eton College, and is also much in demand as a teacher. In recent years he has composed a number of organ and choral works, and has received critical acclaim for his recordings.
Joseph Nolan follows his five internationally acclaimed volumes of the Complete Organ Symphonies of Charles-Marie Widor with a collection of the composer's other works for solo organ. The release includes his Trois Nouvelles Pieces, March americaine and Marche Nuptiale and Memento - a collection of transcriptions of works by J.S. Bach. This release completes a collection of 6 albums that span Widor's complete solo organ works, performed by Nolan on period Cavaille-Coll organs from the French churches of St. Sernin, Toulouse, St. Francois-de Sales, Lyon and La Madeleine, Paris.
Seasons combines Antonio Vivaldi's timeless concerto cycle The Four Seasons, performed by the Trafalgar Sinfonia and soloist Kerenza Peacock, with a new contrasting composition by British composer Oliver Davis. Inspired by the same set of poetry upon which Vivaldi based his Four Seasons, Davis's new work Anno, performed by Grace Davidson, is a composition for orchestra and solo soprano. This release follows the success of Davis's debut Signum album Flight earlier this year (SIGCD411): "... exuberant works are performed with charisma and sensitivity by Kerenza Peacock and the LSO." (BBC Music Magazine) Since graduating the RAM in 1994, Oliver Davis has composed and produced numerous concertos, albums, soundtracks and television scores working with all the major London orchestras.
The Hymns Album, Vol. 2 / Batsleer, Huddersfield Choral Society
Signum Classics
CD
$19.99May 17, 2019
Huddersfield Choral Society return to Signum with the follow-up to their massively successful Hymns Album. Founded in 1836, the Huddersfield Choral Society has developed an international reputation as one of the UK's leading choral societies, famed for their 'Huddersfield Sound,' which was first recorded in 1927. Over the years the ensemble has performed most of the major works in the choral repertoire, and has had numerous works commissioned for it, including works by Ralph Vaughan Williams and William Walton. The choir has made numerous recordings, with two of their albums making an appearance on the UK Albums Chart. The choir performs regularly with the leading orchestras in the north of England, including the Orchestra of Opera North, The Halle, the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, Manchester Camerata, and the Northen Sinfonia.
Celebrated soloists Roderick Wiliams and Christopher Glynn perform a new English translation of Franz Schubert’s Winterreise. Composed in 1827 whilst in the grip of the illness that would ultimately kill him, Schubert’s setting of Wilhelm Muller’s poetry takes on an added tragic interpretation as it follows the narrative of a spurned lover travelling through a cold and barren landscape. Christopher Glynn writes on this new recording: “We hope this Winter Journey can offer English-speaking listeners a way to experience the story’s sense alongside the music’s sound, with something of the same directness that Schubert surely intended when he sat down at the piano in 1827 and sang these songs for the first time to his friends.” This release is the first in a series of three English language programmes of Schubert’s song cycles. Future releases include The Shepherd on the Rock (Der Hirt auf dem Felsen) and The Fair Maid of the Mill (Die schöne Müllerin).
Classical Opera continue their series of the complete Mozart operas on Signum with Zaide - a new completion of Mozart's unfinished work by conductor Ian Page. Composed during his early 20's, Mozart began work on the opera in Salzburg but later left the work to compose Idomeneo, subsequently leaving no overture or third act. The opera is set in a totalitarian regime where a couple have fallen in love, incurring the jealous of the ruling sultan.
The Myrthen Ensemble has been praised for their “irresistible combination of arresting programing and vocal flair assembled around pianist Joseph Middleton.” (BBC Music Magazine) Consisting of Mary Bevan, Clara Mouritz, Allan Clayton, Marcus Farnsworth, and Joseph Middleton, the recently formed ensemble specializes in art-songs and Lieder. All of the tracks on this new release focus around the moon. Composers include Brahms, Barber, Duparc, Faure, and more.
Harvey: Deo / Picton-Turbervill, Nethsingha, Choir of St. John's College Cambridge
Signum Classics
CD
$19.99Jun 10, 2016
This new release launches The Choir of St. John’s College Cambridge’s new series of recordings. With this album, the choir explores the connection between the college and influential British composer Jonathan Harvey (1939-2012). The choir is joined for this release by organist Edward Picton-Turbervill, and conducted by director Andrew Nethsingha.
The King’s Singers: David Hurley, counter tenor; Robin Tyson, counter tenor; Paul Phoenix, tenor; Philip Lawson, baritone; Christopher Gabbitas, baritone; Stephen Connolly, bass
Combining perennial favorites with wonderful new discoveries, these immediately appealing pieces reflect the much-loved repertoire at the heart of a King’s Singers program with the skill and flair that distinguishes the group as one of the world’s most popular a cappella ensembles. Includes works by Elgar, Schumann, Schubert and Saint-Saens, as well as a new piece by popular American composer Libby Larsen. This latest venture between Signum Classics and The King’s Singers follows hot on the heels of a Live DVD and CD release of their 2008 performance for the BBC Proms in the Royal Albert Hall and the 2008 Grammy-nominated album Simple Gifts.
Libera Nos - The Cry Of The Oppressed / Rees, Contrapunctus
Signum Classics
CD
$20.99Aug 27, 2013
Coupling powerful interpretations with path-breaking scholarship, the choir Contrapunctus presents music by the best-known composers as well as unfamiliar masterpieces. Directed by Owen Rees, a specialist in music of the 16th and 17th centuries, the group presents imaginative programmes revealing previously undiscovered musical treasures and throwing new light on familiar works.
This recording explores the musical 'cries of the oppressed' from opposite ends of Europe, which include some of the most powerful works composed in England and Portugal during this period by Byrd, Tallis, de Monte and Cardoso. The highlight perhaps is the first recording of a newly reconstructed vocal work by Thomas Tallis, 'Libera nos'. This has long been thought to be an instrumental work, and has been recorded as such, but there's persuasive historical evidence for us to be confident that this is in fact a choral setting of the antiphon 'Libera nos', and it is performed here with the relevant text restored to the five vocal parts.
David Goode continues his new series of the complete organ works of Johann Sebastian Bach, played on the Metzler Söhne organ of Trinity College Chapel, Cambridge. David Goode has been Organist and Head of Keyboard at Eton College since 2005. He was a music scholar at Eton, and then organ scholar at King's College, Cambridge from 1991-1994, studying organ with David Sanger and, in Amsterdam, with Jacques van Oortmerssen. He made his Royal Festival Hall and Symphony Hall debuts in 2002, and played Bach's Art of Fugue in 2009. His past releases have received excellent reviews and have been highly praised.
