Images is the debut solo album from Spanish pianist Elena Font, featuring music by Claude Debussy, Maurice Ravel and Manuel de Falla. Recorded in Paris, the programme is centred around beauty and atmosphere, and is inspired by journeys across Europe, Asia and the Americas, transforming memories of place into performances rich in colour, emotion and imagination.

Portraits for Guitar brings together bold contemporary voices and rich cultural traditions from the Afro-Cuban, Caribbean and European sound worlds. Performed by Ahmed Dickinson Cardenas and Helen Sanderson, this unique album weaves together rhythm, vivid colour, contrast and a deep sense of travel and place into an irresistibly compelling and engaging narrative.

This album brings together sacred choral works by composers united by a shared philosophical and theological outlook, offering a sequence that explores stillness, meaning, and the deeper resonance of text through music. Drawn together by a love of music, of philosophy, and of the Christian tradition, their approach is shaped in part by the teaching of Leon MacLaren, a self-taught polymath whose search in pursuit of life's deeper questions informed a distinctive understanding of sound, listening, and creativity.

Spanning a century of musical thought, this compelling recital explores a rich dialogue between tradition and innovation and revealing how composers reimagine the past to create new artistic worlds. In music deeply rooted in the national identities of Bulgaria and Italy, the sequence begins with a work reminiscent of a 19th century tone poem, travels through 'New Music' of the late 20th century, and contemporary avantgarde works.

This CD is a natural successor to the first volume of quartets by Rose recorded by the Tippett Quartet on Convivium Records in 2024. There is a close relationship between the two works on the previous disc and the two quartets here released in that all four make use of Baroque or Classical forms but all adapted into new guises thus preserving the logical integrity of those forms without rendering them hackneyed or lacking in interest.

Imperial College Chamber Choir and conductor Patrick Allies present This Place, a beautifully-curated programme of choral works exploring themes of home, belonging, spiritual refuge, love, respite and peace. While the theme relates principally to the repertoire, it also acknowledges the chamber choir's own position within Imperial College London, and the musical home that it's members find in the choir.

This collection of string music by Hugh Shrapnel is a powerful, humane response to poetry, history and social unrest. From the poetry-inspired lyricism of The Hazel Nut, through the turbulent, searching drama of Nascence, to the powerful narrative of Easter Rising, these works explore struggle, awakening and the possibility of peace.

Performed by Tanya Houghton, Jennifer Sturgeon, Jenny Bourke and Lynda Barrett, Sweet Chance is a lyrical journey for harp, flute and voice, inspired by artistic relationships forged through travel and chance encounters. From Parisian inspiration to a Belfast home, this recital programme ranges from Britten's Interlude to songs newly arranged with harp accompaniment, and Alwyn's virtuosic flute and harp duet, Naiades.

Celebrating the rich musical heritage of University College, Durham, this album brings together works by Edward Bairstow and Francis Jackson alongside a new commission by Ben Rowarth, and the first complete recording of Amy Beach's Four Canticles. In music of faith, remembrance and renewal, it honours alumnus David Knowles, and reflects the devotion and creativity that continue to shape Durham's choral tradition.

This thoughtfully sequenced recording explores sacred music written in the sixteenth and twenty-first centuries. It includes a famous madrigal, a starting point for a mass setting by Philippe de Monte, positioned alongside well-crafted, but previously unrecorded music from the same period. They are complemented by striking contemporary pieces by female composers, including Cheryl Frances-Hoad, Cecilia McDowall, Melissa Dunphy, Rosa Elliott and Kerry Andrew.

Almanack (2017) is a collection of 76 varied pieces suitable for performance on keyboard instruments. Although piano is perhaps the most obvious (and ubiquitous) choice, many are also suitable for organ, harpsichord, clavichord, or other possibilities, even including harp or keyboard percussion. This album is a selection of 37 pieces drawn from the book, performed on the piano. The inspirations and connections behind this volume of keyboard pieces are diverse, ranging from the hymnody of the American Shakers to the experimental mostly European Wandelweiser collective. Other conceptual influences include the largely non-rhetorical, post-Cardew pieces of 1970s English experimental keyboard music, especially the remarkable work of Howard Skempton. Other pieces draw on elements of early keyboard music from the pre-baroque era. All of the pieces in this collection offer a variety of possible interpretations, and many involve flexible performance options. These recorded performances should not be seen in any way as prescriptive or binding for those who have the score and are playing the pieces for themselves.

Astro Cats is a virtuosic and colourful piano cycle in which each movement is inspired by a different breed of cat (domestic, wild, and even one imaginary). Given that the world often seems divided between dog and cat lovers, following the release of Carbon's work Astro Dogs, many people suggested the idea of a cat cycle. The composer has had both dogs and cats over the years, and as with the previous work, the pairing of each breed with a zodiac sign meant that the composer took inspiration from close friends and family who shared the sign. The moods of the pieces vary widely, and John Carbon has taken strong inspiration from the kinetic behaviour of cats, with their pouncing, crouching, sprinting, as well as elements of the hunt and their mysterious, crafty nature. The result is a rich musical exploration of the feline world, projected through the full possibilities of the piano.

Both a celebration of life and a deeply spiritual reflection, The Breath of Life is Matthew Coleridge's radiant follow-up to his acclaimed Requiem. "I wanted to write something full of life and positivity," Coleridge explains, "something that would scream joy, vitality, and rhythm - quite the opposite of a Requiem." Though inspired by sacred traditions, The Breath of Life is a vibrant cantata for choir and orchestra that explores human wonder, nature, and the divine across a tapestry of texts from psalms and hymns to the writings of mystics and scientists.

Marking Oriel College's 700th anniversary, this unique collection explores the diverse musical traditions connected with Oriel College. Drawing on sources from medieval Marian devotion to the Oxford Movement, and from the work of distinguished fellows to contemporary commissions for the chapel choir, it explores the influence and inspiration of the college's scholars, poets, and musicians over seven centuries, charting an evolving relationship between the college and it's cultural life.

This album brings together a remarkable collection of secular choral works by the eminent American composer Dan Locklair, celebrated for his gift of weaving words with rich, expansive, harmonious, and lyrical music. Drawing on texts by poets as diverse as Robert Frost, Walt Whitman, W.B. Yeats, Phillis Wheatley, Christine Teale Howes, John Gillespie Magee, Jr., and Rabindranath Tagore, these pieces explore themes of love and loss, nature and freedom, moments of intimate reflection, and events of world-shaking resonance, always with a voice that is deeply rooted in American culture. Spanning more than three decades, the works range from intimate unaccompanied choral partsongs to expansive cantatas, all commissioned by a range of ensembles, youth choirs, and choral societies.

The New Winter Songbook is a collection of twenty-one songs by a diverse range of composers, featuring contemporary musical settings and lyrical responses to the winter season. Whilst more traditional winter themes do recur within the songs - those of cold, loss, stillness, grief and darkness - those of belief, faith, and hope, offer an emotional counterbalance. Each individual composer approaches and explores these themes from their own perspective, lending their voice to a musical tapestry, expressing what it means to reflect upon and celebrate the season of winter today.

A sense of expectancy, along with images of stillness in nature, are recurrent in depictions of the story of Christmas. This collection of contemporary carols, alongside well-known favourites, seeks to draw the listener deeper into the remarkable story of the Christ Child.

This first recording of the Eule Organ of Magdalen College, Oxford (opened in January 2023) features a wide range of music performed by Alexander Pott. From Wagner to Delius, the repertoire showcases the instrument's German Romantic heritage as well as it's suitability for English 20th-Century transcription, thanks to it's distinctive voice, colour, breadth and sensitivity.

From Haydn in the early 1770s to Ligeti in the late 1960s and beyond, the string quartet has been recognised by composers, performers and audiences alike as the bedrock of the chamber music genre. The format had it's origins in private settings for amateur players who revelled in it's intimate, conversational and witty aesthetic. It progressed into a medium of public concerts for Beethoven's essays in expressive profundity and further contemporary approaches have seen it adapted into almost infinite possibilities. These two works by Lawrence Rose take inspiration from some past musical traditions which he has adapted into new and different guises.

This collection of music inspired by English folksongs by Clive Osgood continues a centuries-old tradition of music handed down through the generations, each one beautifully reimagined in a fresh and modern realisation. Holding a vital part in our cultural heritage, these English folksongs are rooted in the nation's maritime history, and also explore the melodies that have been adopted by the church and become timeless favourites as part of the rich repertoire of sacred hymnody.

This project was conceived to provide the choir with new contemporary music which would be singable, appropriate to various seasons of the church year, and, above all, be highly usable as part of the choir's daily offerings of music in Christ Church Cathedral. Funding was generously provided by the Friends of Christ Church Cathedral, and it was elected to adopt a hybrid approach to commissioning.

From the sixteenth century to the present day, fantasias have developed from improvisatory and virtuosic works for lute, to extended and elaborate works for ensembles, solo keyboard instruments and full orchestra. The dazzling array of works featured in this album showcases how composers have delighted in allowing their creativity and imagination to take precedence over conventional styles and forms.

Under the direction of David Bray, luminatus vocal ensemble performs a beautiful selection of Renaissance choral music, together with contemporary works by female composers. In common with their previous album, O Beata Virgo Maria, the choir shines a light on new and previously unrecorded repertoire, performed with clarity, precision and sensitivity.

This collection by Hugh Shrapnel brings together works written between 2005 and 2022 for wind and piano. The varied influences give rise to music that ranges from pensive and slow, to rhythmically taut and harmonically astringent, all showing Hugh's characteristically expressive style.

Everyone involved in Jervaulx Singers has a passion for vocal music in all it's forms. The varied repertoire of Les chansons des roses encompasses all that this choir is about - giving singers the freedom to sincerely express themselves through choral music, song and opera. This repertoire, all connected to earth and nature, reminds us to cherish the world around us. Charlie Gower-Smith, Director, Jervaulx Singers

The original 1971 Merry-Go-Down LP on Unicorn Records was the brainchild of the late Fred Tomlinson, former chairman of the Peter Warlock Society, to showcase Peter Warlock's extraordinary range of musical and literary knowledge and achievements. The Peter Warlock Society and Convivium Records consider the content and performances of the pioneering LP to be of such a high standard as to require re-release, and have facilitated it's reproduction on this delightful CD. Michael Graves, Chairman, Peter Warlock Society

These pieces, based largely on the compositional frameworks of great 18th-century chamber music including the string quartet and piano trio, have also been inspired by my love of more recent musical ideas and styles. My ideal is a fusion of old and new, where the music is both grounded in a definable structure and given the melodic, rhythmic and harmonic freedom to appeal to a broad spectrum of performers and listeners - I enjoy the challenge of fusing ideas and styles together into something that is both approachable and accessible. It's not about creating something entirely new, but about finding and sharing a voice that has become so much a part of me, and of my musical journey. Clive Osgood

I composed I saw Eternity one evening in 2010, after reading Henry Vaughan's poem of the same name earlier that day. Since then, I have written four further works which reference musical themes of this piece. These are all brought together with Bright Apollo on this album, alongside some of my other choral music, to depict a journey from darkness to light. The Phoenix Consort have warm and resonant lower voices, whilst the upper voices soar majestically in higher notes. This is exactly the sound I had envisaged when writing this music. Alexander Campkin