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

The present release features a compelling new oratorio by American composer, Carson Cooman, with libretto by Euan Tait. "Our world and our lives are transformational and in constant transformation, and this work is the music of those transformations. The earth we live on does not stay still but evolves and changes; our lives are changed through our own personal struggles, through meetings with those whose difference from us becomes a teacher, with sudden catalytic events, and from the daily, determined creativity of love working and spreading outwards from our humanity." (Carson Cooman)

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.

Margaret Rizza writes: "For this collection, I have chosen 13 texts and set them to music. These prayers, hymns and antiphons speak to me in different ways about the mystical world of which we are all a part." Margaret Rizza studied at the Royal College of Music, London and at the National School of Opera, London and continued her training in Siena and Rome, Italy. She sang professionally for 25 years, under the name of Margaret Lensky. She has sung at many of the leading concert and operatic venues and under such conductors as Benjamin Britten, Igor Stravinsky and Leonard Bernstein. She also gave premieres of works by John Tavener, Thea Musgrave and Richard Rodney Bennett. From 1977 to 1994, she went on to teach singing at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, London. During her years at Guildhall she worked on many outreach projects taking groups of students to share their music with people in prisons, hospitals, hospices, inner city schools, MS centres, schools for the blind and working with people with physical and learning difficulties. She was also involved with Live Music Now, a wonderful organization founded by Yehudi Menuhin who wrote "I can only think of music as something inherent in every human being - a birthright. Music co-ordinates mind, body and spirit."

If any composer from the last hundred years can be said to have redefined the piano sonata, that composer is John White. A unique figure in British music, his vast compositional output documents a long involvement with the worlds of dance, theatre, experimentalism and electronica as well as with that of the concert hall. (Dave Smith, Senior Lecturer in Music, University of Hertfordshire.) "I write a lot for piano for two main reasons: being a pianist allows me to be in touch with a rich and exciting repertoire, which gives me a great variety of role models in terms of vocabulary and gesture with which to formulate and 'clothe' the ideas which come to me and seem to need expression. Being an idealistic rather than a "career" composer, I find the piano a handy vehicle for the uttering ('outering') of compositional thought, in that the inspiration goes directly into a performable medium without the salesmanship required for getting ensemble pieces played." (John White, in conversation with Sarah Walker. The New English Keyboard School: A Second 'Golden Age' Leonardo Music Journal Vol. 11 2001)

The choral masses of American composer Arnold Rosner draw together elements of his style to present a very distinctive result. The Renaissance polyphony cantus firmus mass tradition comes together with the big-boned fervor of 20th century neo-romanticism to produce something that is uniformly powerful in impact. "Arnold Rosner's choral masses are remarkably individualistic creations: a fusion of the Renaissance polyphonic style with the fervor of neo-romanticism. Blossom Street and Hilary Campbell have done a superb job in bringing these complex works to life. From enormous pillar-like climaxes to hushed, inward ecstasy, these emotional and powerful works leap from the page in these engaging performances." (Carson Cooman, American Composer)

Classical Music

Michael Graves, the Chairman of the Peter Warlock Society, writes: "Warlock's songs are among the most exquisite, inventive and original to emerge in Britain in the early part of the twentieth century. Generally under-represented in today's song repertoire, they are particularly so for the soprano voice. This very welcome collection of Warlock's songs, many of them rarely performed or recorded, showcases the breadth of his extraordinarily diverse oeuvre. Soprano Luci Briginshaw and pianist Eleanor Meynell here offer insightful, sensitive and highly accomplished performances."

Composer of the comic Franklin chamber opera Benjamin, John Carbon (born 1951) has created a large catalogue of vocal and instrumental work that has been widely performed and recorded by internationally recognized artists. His dramatic concertos have been praised for their "dazzling kinetic virtuosity" (Fanfare Magazine) and their "many moments of genuine beauty." (American Record Guide) "John Carbon's vivid and engaging style is on full display in this collection of orchestral and chamber works. Carbon has long had a particularly affinity for the dramatic and expressive possibilities of concertos, and four of his significant works in that genre, played here by superb soloists, comprise the bulk of the album. The powerful symphony Inner Voices" and the pictorial chamber suite "Ghost Town Sketches" round out this collection." (Carson Cooman)

Explore this unique collection of classical and popular favorites, performed by BBC2 Young Chorister Finalists, Will & Kate James with pianist Malcolm Archer. Includes special commissioned arrangements of "Angels" and "Over the Rainbow" by George Arthur. For more than 3 decades the BBC2 Young Chorister of the Year competition has been scanning the United Kingdom for the finest young vocalists. Previous winners have gone on to star in West End musicals, sign recording contracts, and appear on various television and radio programs.

Priest, architect and composer Henry Aldrich was a key figure in the musical life of seventeenth-century Oxford. A recording of his choral music, with it's wide range of influences from Byrd to Purcell, is presented here by one of the choirs of the college of which he was Dean: Christ Church, Oxford. "This striking survey of music by Henry Aldrich reveals him to be a significant figure in 17th century English musical life, with a characterful compositional voice. The Cathedral Singers of Christ Church, Oxford, bring this neglected music back to life in great style, with energy and commitment." (Dr Stephen Darlington MBE)

Classical Music

John Carbon's piano music draws on his lifelong love of the instrument and his rich, multifaceted compositional interests. Madeleines recalls youthful travels in France. Three Impromptus alludes to the traditional genre as explored by Schubert and Chopin. Astro Dogs is a delightful canine zodiac: matching breeds with star signs for an enjoyable musical experience. Pianist Steven Graff has collaborated with the composer for many years, and he delivers definitive performances of these expressive pieces. Since his concerto debut with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, with whom he has appeared nine times, the American pianist Steven Graff has been the recipient of numerous distinguished awards and glowing critical praise. Mr. Graff was born in Chicago where he began his musical training. A string of scholarships led to studies at The Juilliard School where he received Bachelor's and Master's Degrees as a Petschek scholarship awardee, and a Doctorate of Musical Arts from The Graduate School of CUNY.

Through the story of one exceptional, wheelchair-bound, young Kurdish refugee from Aleppo, Nujeen Mustafa, I feel I can begin to understand some of the terror, the distress and helplessness experienced by those driven from their homes by the horror of war. As composer I felt it important for the music not to obscure the text in any way, but to allow the words to tell the story, from despair, through hope and ultimately (and surprisingly) joy. (Cecilia McDowall, composer) Born in London, 1951, Cecilia McDowall has won many awards and been eight times short-listed for the British Composer Awards. In 2014 she won the British Composer Award for Choral Music. Much of McDowall's choral music is performed worldwide, as well as her orchestral music.