Edward MacDowell was the most highly regarded American composer of his generation, and the first to acquire a truly international reputation. Born in New York, he briefly studied piano as a teenager at the Paris Conservatoire, but quickly left to explore what he regarded as the more congenial musical environment in Germany. He studied piano and composition in Stuttgart, Wiesbaden, and then Frankfurt. After graduating in 1880, he remained in Germany for four years, before returning home, first to Boston, for eight years, and then finally to New York where he became Columbia University's first Professor of Music. The various romantic influences that shaped the style of the First Concerto include the music of Liszt, Tchaikovsky, Schumann, and Grieg, whilst the technical demands on the soloist reveal MacDowell's prowess as a pianist. MacDowell's enthusiasm for the symphonic poem is reflected here by the inclusion of Lancelot und Elaine and Lamia. The former was inspired by the Arthurian legend as told by Tennyson in his Idylls of the King. The work is extremely narrative, and employs Wagnerian Leitmotifs to depict each of the characters. Lamia, written some two years later and based on the poem by John Keats, was neither published nor performed in the composer's lifetime. MacDowell had planned another symphonic poem, based on the French mediaeval tale La Chanson de Roland, but the work was never completed, and the two fragments included here are all that remain. Woodland Sketches, a set of ten piano miniatures, were inspired by the idyllic environment of the MacDowells' farm, in New Hampshire. The first of these - 'To a Wild Rose' - is by far the composer's most famous piece, and made MacDowell a household name in both America and Europe.

Busoni: Violin Sonatas

Goedicke, Rachmaninoff, Schonberger & Weinberg: Resonance

Description to follow

Sibelius studied the violin in his youth, and actively entertained the prospect of a career as a professional violinist for much of his student life. After graduating from the Helsinki Music Institute, in 1890, he went to Vienna to continue his studies, and while there he even auditioned (unsuccessfully) for a place in the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra. So, it comes as no surprise that the instrument plays an important place in his compositional output. What might be surprising is that he wrote only one concerto – this might perhaps be due to the difficult conception of the work. The first performance received mixed reviews, and led to extensive revision of the score. It was only when Jascha Heifetz in the 1930s started to perform the concerto regularly that it gained its place in the standard repertoire. Although there was no second concerto, Sibelius’s numerous other works for violin and orchestra are no mere miniatures, as the recordings on this album amply demonstrate. The acclaimed international virtuoso James Ehnes is accompanied here by the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Edward Gardner.

Mozart: Piano Concertos, Vol. 10

Sutton: Violin Concerto; Five Theatre Miniatures; A Fist Full of Fives; War Horse Suite; Short Story

For their second album on Chandos, Freddie Crowley and his Corvus Consort - joined by the harpist Louise Thomson - turn their attention to a rich vein of choral music written for women's voices and harp. Gustav Holst was a champion of women's voices and taught in several girls' schools, most famously at St Paul's Girls' School, Hammersmith, where he worked for almost thirty years. His contribution to this genre is represented by three works: Two Eastern Pictures, Dirge and Hymeneal, and more substantially his Choral Hymns from the Rig Veda. These works provide a frame for the bulk of the programme - mostly written by British women. Works by Imogen Holst and Elizabeth Poston lead us towards the more recent generations - Judith Weir, Gemma McGregor, and on to Olivia Sparkhall, and Hilary Campbell. The Indian composer Shruthi Rajasekar was invited to compose for this programme in response to the Third Group of Gustav Holst's Choral Hymns. Both Ushas - Goddess of Dawn and Priestess not only add exciting new repertoire for these unusual forces, but explore directly Holst's engagement with ancient Hindu texts.

Following the success of last year's release of Rodgers & Hammerstein's Oklahoma!, John Wilson and Sinfonia of London turn their attention to Rodgers & Hammerstein's Carousel. As in the case of the previous release in the series, this world premiere recording of the complete score features every note of music played at the first Broadway performance, here in the full thirty-five-piece orchestration made by Don Walker for the original production. The outstanding cast, led by Nathaniel Hackmann (Billy Bigelow), Mikaela Bennett (Julie Jordan), Sierra Boggess (Carrie Pipperidge), and Julian Ovenden (Enoch Snow), also features Francesca Chiejina (Nettie Fowler) and David Seadon-Young (Jigger Craigin). The extensive chorus material is sung by the 'Carousel' Ensemble - twenty-four young singers all currently working on stage across London's West End. John Wilson comments: 'Carousel is Rodgers & Hammerstein's greatest achievement. In it, Rodgers manages to create a score with operatic aspirations and dimensions. Everything in the score serves a dramatic purpose. Even in it's texture you can hear orchestral effects that are there to underline the drama's emotions, whether that's unease or joy or whatever. The drama is amplified by what's happening in the music.' Recorded in Surround Sound and Dolby Atmos, Rodgers & Hammerstein's Carousel will be available on Hybrid SACD and in spatial audio.

The composer, pianist, and conductor Gerard Schurmann (1924 - 2020) was born in Kertosono, Java, which was then part of the Dutch East Indies. The family lived within earshot of the resident gamelan orchestras at the Sultan's Palace, and hearing the pentatonic scales and intricate rhythms of this traditional Indonesian music made a lasting impression on the young Gerard. During the 1950s and 1960s, Schurmann was best known for his film scores, particularly The Long Arm (1956; CHAN 10979) and Horrors of the Black Museum (1959; CHAN 10979). Man in the Sky is a Concert Overture derived from Schurmann's score for the eponymous film. The Piano Concerto was written for the great British pianist John Ogdon, who gave the premiere in November 1973. The work is laid out in two movements, the first rapid and virtuosic, the second broader and more contemplative. Romancing the Strings is a set of six short variations on an original theme which Schurmann wrote originally for a Disney feature that was eventually broadcast as Dr Syn - Alias the Scarecrow (CHAN 10979). The programme concludes with Gaudiana, a set of Symphonic Studies for orchestra inspired by the work of the Catalan architect Antoni Gaudi, which was first performed by the Orquestra Simf�nica de Barcelona i Nacional de Catalunya under Rumon Gamba in December 2005.

Ruth Gipps made her musical talents apparent from an early age, and they were encouraged by her very supportive mother. She entered the Royal College of Music in 1937, aged 16, studying oboe and piano, in addition to composition (with Ralph Vaughan Williams and Gordon Jacob). Whilst at college, she performed Brahms's Second Piano Concerto, and her tone poem Knight in Armour (CHAN 20078) was presented by Sir Henry Wood at the Last Night of the Proms in 1942. As the war continued, Gipps left London to become principal oboe with the City of Birmingham Orchestra, where she also performed as pianist and had several of her works programmed. Returning to London after the war, Gipps found fewer opportunities as a performer, and less interest in her orchestral scores. She concentrated on composing more chamber music, alongside a successful teaching career. This album of her chamber music for oboe (and cor anglais) features works composed from 1938 to 1990, representing Gipps's entire compositional life. In demand as a soloist all over Europe, Juliana Koch was appointed Professor of Oboe at the Royal College of Music, London, in 2018 and is Principal Oboe of the London Symphony Orchestra.

One of Britain's best-known musicians, Nicholas Daniel OBE won the BBC Young Musician competition in 1980, after which he quickly established his career, travelling all over the world, broadcasting widely, and making his debut at the BBC Proms. He has premiered hundreds of works for the oboe and made many critically acclaimed recordings of both new and familiar music. As a soloist he has appeared with the world's leading orchestras, performing a huge range of repertoire and premiering works written specially for him by many of the world's greatest composers. He is a founder member of the Britten Sinfonia, Haffner Wind Ensemble, Orsino Ensemble, and Britten Oboe Quartet. This programme features a wide selection of chamber music by Robert Schumann, alongside the Three Romances by Clara Schumann. At the time these pieces were written, there was a rapidly growing interest in amateur music making in the home, fuelled by a burgeoning middle class. Brahms, Schumann, and Mendelssohn all contributed significantly to the array of works published for this market, and it was quite normal practise for parts to be substituted for whatever instruments happened to be available. So, although the Three Romances, Op. 94 are the only works here originally composed for the oboe, the programme is not only musically rewarding in it's own right, but also in keeping with what the Schumanns would have considered normal practise.

The Arcadia Quartet’s acclaimed survey of Weinberg’s String Quartets continues with this fourth volume containing Quartets Nos 6, 13, and 15. Quartet No. 6 was composed in 1946, the composer dedicating it to his friend Georgiy Sviridov, whom he had met in Shostakovich’s circle. The Quartet is a summit of his early achievements, and its musical language is strikingly advanced in relation to traditional Soviet works in the genre. It was banned by the authorities, and as a result, Weinberg wrote no more quartets until after the death of his mentor Shostakovich. String Quartet No. 13 was composed in 1977 and dedicated to the Borodin Quartet. It comprises a single movement lasting some fourteen or fifteen minutes, making it the shortest of all Weinberg’s quartets. String Quartet No. 15, from 1979, is in many respects the most radically conceived of all Weinberg’s quartets – certainly its nine-movement design suggests so. In expressive terms, too, it is one of the most elusive. The movements carry no titles or expressive directions, and, as in the case of his previous two quartets, Weinberg confines himself to metronome indications, avoiding all specification of character.

REVIEWS:

The Arcadia Quartet's underlying technical finesse and emotional commitment duly reinforce this music’s stature.

— Gramophone

Whatever the music’s texture and temperature, the Arcadia group plunge in without fear, doubly armed with their sturdy technique and total commitment to Weinberg’s cause.

— The Times (U.K.)

Sir Arthur Bliss contributed two staples of the brass band repertoire - Kenilworth and The Belmont Variations, whose enduring success inspired arrangers to turn to his other compositions, for example Eric Ball and Four Dances from the ballet Checkmate or Phillip Littlemore's suite from the film score for Things to Come. Three new arrangements have been made especially for this album: Robert Childs' suite from the ballet Adam Zero, and Michael Halstenson's arrangements of Music from the Royal Palaces and Welcome the Queen. Collectively this program reflects the essence of Bliss's compositional style: the inherent drama of his scores for film, ballet, and television and his flair for the ceremonial, especially in the context of his position as Master of the Queen's Music.

Black Dyke Band, tracing it's continuous history back to 1855, is the most recorded band in the world, having produced a discography of more than 350 recordings to date. It is also the most successful contesting band in the world, having won the European Championships thirteen times, the British Open thirty times and the National Championships of Great Britain twenty-four times. In 2023, they appointed conductor John Wilson as their Honorary President.

REVIEW:

The ensemble balance is superb, the internal voicing clear and detailed, the execution punchy, delicate, breezily confident and heartfelt by turn. This is a wonderful album in every way, highly recommended.

— Gramophone

The program is well put together and demonstrates the essence of Bliss’s style.

— British Music Society Journal

The Catalan Roberto Gerhard studied piano with Granados, and was the only Spanish composer to study with Arnold Schoenberg. It was, however, over twenty years before he committed himself to writing twelve-tone music. In the interim, his output brought a new focus and precision (owing more to Stravinsky and Bartok) to the Spanish style. All the works on this album were composed in that period. Dating from the early 1940s, his ballet Alegrias was originally conceived for two pianos, but soon evolved into the four-movement suite heard here. The flamenco-inspired movements are linked in pairs, and show Gerhard's brilliance and humour in equal measure. During this same period Gerhard decided to mark the centenary of his first teacher, Felipe Pedrell (who had also taught Albeniz, Granados, and de Falla), with a three-movement symphony, Homenaje a Pedrell (CHAN 9693). Gerhard failed to secure a performance of the work, but in 1954 was invited to re-work the final movement for a BBC Symphony Orchestra concert, which became Pedrelliana. Gerhard's ballet on episodes from Cervantes's Don Quixote evolved for almost a decade, from a work for chamber orchestra, for a touring company (abandoned because of the war), via a version for radio and an expanded orchestral suite, to the work recorded here, in it's full and final orchestration for performances at the Royal Opera House in 1950, choreographed by Ninette de Valois. Robert Helpmann danced the title role and Margot Fonteyn Dulcinea.

John Wilson's fourth volume devoted to music by Eric Coates opens with Music Everywhere, a rousing march that was commissioned by Britain's first independent TV and radio service, Rediffusion, for use as it's signature tune. The concert waltz Footlights is a life-affirming evocation of the glamour of the inter-war West End, created just weeks before the start of the Second World War. In wartime, as it turned out, the demand for refreshing, morale-boosting music would be higher than ever. Coates's 'Souvenir' I Sing to You was premiered on 14 March 1940 - the week in which wartime meat rationing was introduced in the UK. Composed for his young son Austin, The Three Bears Phantasy transports the Goldilocks fairytale firmly into the 1920s. From Meadow to Mayfair reflects Coates's own journey from rural Nottinghamshire to life in London. Under the Stars, composed in 1928, marks the first inclusion by Coates of an alto saxophone in his orchestration. The Four Centuries Suite is one of Coates's most substantial compositions - not only in length, but also in the size of the orchestra. It's four movements evoke the musical styles of the seventeenth, eighteenth, nineteenth, and twentieth centuries. Dedicated to his wife, Phyllis, the work is also a celebration of the couple's lifelong love of dancing.

The Neave Trio's program Rooted features a range of works based on folk music. Smetana's distinctive nationalistic style was largely based on the inclusion of bohemian rhythmic and melodic elements, and he was acclaimed in his native Bohemia as the father of Czech music. His Trio in G minor was composed in 1855 as a response to the death of his four-year old daughter and shows the influence of Liszt. Josef Suk was a favorite pupil of Dvorak's, and his early Piano Trio, whilst shorter in length and less intense than Smetana's, is embedded in that Czech tradition. Also deeply influenced by Dvorak, Samuel Coleridge-Taylor was inspired by his African heritage, as well, and his Twenty-Four Negro Melodies for Piano was a prime example of his research. He subsequently arranged five of these pieces into the suite for piano trio that we hear on this album. The program concludes with Frank Martin's Trio from 1925, which is based on traditional Irish melodies.

REVIEWS:

These four chamber works explore music of a definitive national identity. The members of the ensemble brandish their considerable skills in the service of otherwise neglected composers and scores, with astonishing brilliance in their recorded sound.

— Audiophile Audition

The program's characteristically eclectic mix of works nurtures the Trio's well-upholstered warmth, attention to detail, and compelling rapport.

— BBC Music Magazine

The nineteenth-century French opera overture was for many years looked down on by certain music critics (and musicians) - largely as the genre turned its back on the historical adherence to strict musical form (fugue, sonata form, etc.). Percy Scholes, in the 1955 Oxford Companion to Music, had the following to say: 'a cheap but not always ineffective type of opera overture is that of the pot-pourri or medley - little more than a string of tunes from the work to follow.' These overtures were incredibly popular in their time, and the revival of this repertoire is long overdue.

Daniel Auber composed more than fifty operas, some for the Paris Opera and some for the Opera Comique. His Grand Opera La Muette de Portici famously sparked the Belgian revolution in 1830, which led to the country's independence in 1839. Les Cloches de Corneville was by far the most successful of Planquette's twenty-four operas, receiving some 400 consecutive performances. Alexandre Lecocq's La Fille de Madame Angot was premiered in Brussels in 1872 and is set in post-revolutionary Paris. The Overture is followed here by numbers put together by Gordon Jacob, in his re-orchestration of material taken mainly from the opera, for Leonide Massine's ballet Mam'zelle Angot, which closely follows the action of the opera.

Born in Sussex in 1877, Roger Quilter was a fellow-student of Percy Grainger, Cyril Scott, and H. Balfour Gardiner at the Hoch Conservatory, in Frankfurt, where he studied for almost five years under the guidance of the German professor of composition Iwan Knorr. He is best known for his contribution to English art song, having composed around 150 songs, many of which remain regular recital favourites. For this album, the tenor James Gilchrist and pianist Anna Tilbrook explore his output from early works such as 'Now sleeps the crimson petal' through to late examples such as 'The Ash Grove'. All of the songs are settings of English texts, with the exception of the Four Songs of Mirza Schaffy, which set German texts by Friedrich von Bodenstedt. The musicians have arranged their selection of twenty-seven songs into thematic groups - Shakespeare songs, songs about flowers, folksongs, songs of love etc. - which makes for a fascinating and rewarding programme.

Sinfonia of London's second album of works of Kenneth Fuchs features four world premiere recordings. Two of the works feature soloists: the Bass Trombone Concerto loosely follows sonata form whilst utilising the full range of the instrument, and revelling in it's lyrical side. Eventide, for alto saxophone and orchestra, is a re-working of an earlier concerto that Fuchs wrote for cor anglais. Described by the composer as a set of 'fantasy variations based upon the simple triadic intervals typical of spirituals', the alto saxophone version was composed for this album's soloist, Tim McAllister. Point of Tranquility was originally composed for wind band, but Fuchs then prepared this orchestral version at the request of JoAnn Falletta for her Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra. The piece is inspired by Fuchs's reaction to the eponymous painting by Morris Louis. The orchestral suite Light Year is also inspired by a series of paintings, these ones by Helen Frankenthaler. Cast in six movements, the extremely evocative work captures the breath-taking scale and mysterious nature of the universe. Light Year was composed for and dedicated to John Wilson and Sinfonia of London.

The renowned horn player Martin Owen is joined by the violinist Francesca Dego and pianist Alessandro Taverna in this varied and compelling programme. Mozart's Horn Quintet, KV 407 is one of the earliest examples of the horn in chamber music - although this partnership was embraced by Beethoven, Schubert, Brahms, and Schumann among many others. The Quintet is unusually scored for horn, violin, two violas, and cello, but the majority of the melodic interplay in the work occurs between the horn and the violin, so replacing the lower strings with piano works very well. Brahms's Horn Trio was the first major work for this instrumentation, and remains one of the finest in the repertoire. The horn is often seen as symbolic of the forest - an important entity in German culture - and Brahms commented that his inspiration for the piece came to him whilst out walking though woodland. Ligeti's Hommage � Brahms was very much inspired by Brahms's Trio, although influences of Bartok and Hungarian folk music also play their part. In the final piece, Schumann's 'Duet' from Phantasiestucke, the horn simply replaces the original cello part in this ultra-romantic miniature.

Laura van der Heijden joins the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra and conductor Ryan Wigglesworth for this album of British cello concertos. Frank Bridge's Oration, composed in 1929 - 30 was intended as an outcry against the inhumanity of warfare, and a tribute to the victims of the First World War. It's arch form single continuous movement exhibits the intense chromaticism typical of Bridge's output from this era. Commissioned by the Ukrainian-born cellist Gregor Piatigorsky, Walton's Cello Concerto suffered a number of difficulties with regard to first performances (Piatigorsky suffered a mental breakdown; Walton missed the UK premiere because of a nasty road accident) but it has nevertheless become a staple of the repertoire. It was with this concerto that Laura van der Heijden won the BBC Young Musician of the Year competition, in 2012. The young British composer Cheryl Frances-Hoad studied at the Yehudi Menuhin School and then the University of Cambridge and King's College London, and rapidly established herself as one of the most talented and prolific composers of her generation. Earth, Sea, Air was written for van der Heijden, who gave the work's premiere in Glasgow in 2023, a week before making this recording with the same forces.

As with the previous volumes in this series, Trio Gaspard has conceived a programme of contrasting trios that works as a standalone recital. The musicians have again included a contemporary work commissioned as part of the project – in this instance the world première recording of Kit Armstrong’s Revêtements. The earliest trio on the album – No. 12 – takes its form from the dance suite, with an opening allemande and concluding minuet framing a minor-key polonaise. Trio No. 19 which opens the programme features two contrasting movements in the same tonality – a spirited Vivace offset by a graceful minuet. The long and complex first movement of Trio No. 25 is followed by two shorter ones. Whilst the outer movements of Trio No. 43 sit firmly in C major, the A major central movement (with an extended central minor key section) displays yet another form of contrast. Trio Gaspard is regularly invited to major international concert halls across Europe and further afield. Highlights of the 2023 / 24 season will include a residency at Wigmore Hall, a performance of Beethoven’s ‘Triple’ Concerto with Uppsala Chamber Orchestra, and recitals in Firenze, Lucerne, Bern, Helsinki, Gateshead, and Heidelberg.

Michael Tippett’s oratorio A Child of Our Time was composed between 1939 and 1942 as a direct response to the events leading up to (and including) the notorious Kristallnacht, in November 1938, in National Socialist Germany. Tippet first intended to write an opera, but quickly determined that this would inevitably be too literal, and that the (rather neglected) oratorio form lent greater scope for reflective and meditative interjections to the narrative.

Hoping to persuade his friend and mentor T.S. Elliot to write the libretto, he sent the poet such an intricately detailed plan that Elliot responded by suggesting that Tippett, having thought so carefully about it, prepare the text himself – which he duly did. (He then went on to write his own libretti for all his future large vocal works). Set for choir, orchestra, and four soloists, the work adopts a structure that owes a debt to Handel’s Messiah, which Tippett had studied intensively in the 1930s. In addition, Tippett wanted to incorporate choral interludes much as Bach had done in his passions. Rejecting Lutheran chorals and Jewish hymns, he finally settled on African-American spirituals of which he placed five within the work.

Sir Andrew Davis conducts the BBC Symphony Orchestra and Chorus, with an exceptional quartet of soloists. The album was recorded in Surround Sound in Croydon’s Fairfield Halls following live performances in London’s Royal Festival Hall.

REVIEW:

Bass Ashley Riches shines particularly as the narrator, bringing a terrific clarity and command to the role. The BBC Symphony Orchestra give a fine performance, but the real star of the show is the BBC Symphony Chorus.

— BBC Music Magazine

Although he had initially declined the commission, Delius was persuaded to write the incidental music for Hassan by the actor and director Basil Dean in July 1920, for performances he was planning for His Majesty’s Theatre, London, the following year. Much of the music was drafted within a few weeks, and the score would eventually prove one of the greatest successes of Delius’s career. Dean’s plans for the project encountered significant obstacles and delays, however, and he had to commission additional music from Delius to cover the production’s complex scene changes. The London première eventually took place on 20 September 1923 and was a critical sensation.

Flecker’s play is a sinuous double-narrative that intertwines the twin stories of the lovelorn but worldly-wise Hassan, confectioner at the court of the cruel and vindictive Caliph Haroun al Rashid (called Haroun ar Rashid in Flecker’s play), and the young lovers Pervaneh and Rafi, caught up in the aftermath of a failed uprising and condemned to a terrifying and brutally protracted death. In tone and setting, Flecker’s text drew on nineteenth-century English translations of One Thousand and One Nights as well as other heavily fictionalized accounts and travel literature. Very much a product of the racial and class-based attitudes of its time, the play revels in imaginary scenes of a despotic Eastern court and its gruesomely barbaric practices.