A key figure in the British musical renaissance, Ethel Smyth was critically acclaimed for her music and writing during her lifetime. Smyth’s Sonata in C minor for cello and piano was written in 1880. The idiomatic handling of the instruments, the impressive command of form and the fluency of the melodic lines make this early work the equal, at least, of her later chamber pieces. The creative conviction of the composer Elizabeth Maconchy expressed here so eloquently, reflects her clarity of thought and strength of purpose. Her Divertimento for cello and piano was written for cellist William Pleeth and pianist Margaret Good, who gave the first broadcast performance on the BBC in 1943. The compositions of Elisabeth Lutyens are characterized by textural economy and organizational rigor. She wrote her Nine Bagatelles in 1942. The language of the work is indicative of a composer deeply connected to the music of her own era. Although Rebecca Clarke wrote most of her music in the early twentieth century, it was not until the final decades of that century that her stature was secured. Rhapsody for cello and piano is her longest and most intricate score.

The name Elisabeth Lutyens is synonymous with music that is overtly serial, uncompromisingly modernist, and of daring and fearless individuality. Yet there is much to explore behind the naturally combative and provocative façade of this extraordinary composer, whose music is at various times sensual, thoughtful and delicate, as well as dark, turbulent and even violent. With a program of works all composed in the last decade of her life, and containing world premiere recordings, the first volume of pianist Martin Jones’s survey of Lutyens’s piano works includes five works at times startling in their stark beauty, and bursting with both vivid imagery and lyrical fluidity.

REVIEW:

Was there ever as unrepentant a lifelong modernist - or one so dedicated to the sensuous, poetic, emotive potential of atonal music - as Elisabeth Lutyens, the composer who coined the term "cowpat school", inveighed against "folky-wolky modal melodies" and chided her students for "boring tonal references" if she unearthed an accidental major or minor triad in their compositions? Boulez, maybe, but few others.

The works here on Vol. 1 are all relatively late, the earliest being Plenum I (signifying a silent space filled up with sound, emptied out, and refilled) of 1972. Notated without barlines and with some economically used extended techniques, the piece is representative of Lutyens greater freedom of notation in later years, though strictly organized with note-rows and in her favourite palindromic form. Notated silence is increasingly important in later works, especially the spare, though amply expressive, La Natura dell’Acqua, her last work for piano. Detached phrases and gestures - many delicate and bejewelled, some aggressive and strident - combine in an abstract but expressive way that the composer likened to the late, non-figurative paintings of Turner. An even better example of this is the marvelously descriptive The Great Seas, an 18-minute tone poem hailed by Michael Finnissy (who premiered it) for its "sensuality … delicacy and fluidity" but also "violence, darkness and pain", which predominantly gives the impression of vast, calm expanses illuminated by constantly changing lighting conditions, but intermittently and graphically hints at the extreme violence of deep currents and suddenly flaring storms. The Preludes are a perfect summation of Lutyens' piano writing; bearing evocative titles (three of them from Keats), they are highly expressive and descriptive, the shade of Debussy detectable in the background. Although the composer preferred French clarity, lucidity, and elegance to what she saw as heavyweight German Expressionism, two of these pieces - "Strange Thunders …" and "The Shifting of Mighty Winds …" are notable for their muscular, aggressive energy. The earlier Impromptus are the most unabashedly, dissonantly atonal works here; succinct and compressed, they sound like passionate, extrovert derivatives of Webernian economy.

A captivating anthology of British clarinet compositions curated and performed by versatile musician Ronald Woodley and pianist Andrew West. This collection explores British musical modernism, featuring both new and underappreciated pieces from the twentieth century by composers Elisabeth Lutyens, Angela Elizabeth Slater, Morris Pert, Christopher Fox, and Edward Cowie. Woodley's deep-rooted fascination for the basset horn, inspired by Lutyens, drove him to rediscover the world of British musical modernism, revealing its complexities and dynamics.

Notable compositions in the anthology include Elisabeth Lutyens'"This Green Tide" for the basset horn, Angela Elizabeth Slater's"Around the Darkening Sun" for bass clarinet and piano, Morris Pert's"Luminos" for basset horn and piano, Christopher Fox's"This has happened before" featuring multitracked bass clarinets, and Edward Cowie's"Heather Jean Nocturnes" inspired by visual art. This collection is a valuable addition for clarinet enthusiasts and music lovers, shedding light on the lesser-known gems of British music and showcasing the power of artistic collaboration across mediums, offering a glimpse into the evolution of British music.

Ronald Woodley has a distinguished academic background, holding the title of Emeritus Professor of Music at the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire. His career spans the roles of clarinettist, chamber pianist, and musicologist. Trained at the Royal Northern College of Music, he completed a doctorate in musicology at Keble College, Oxford. Woodley has been the dedicatee of numerous works by esteemed composers and has recorded a wide range of music, including bass clarinet compositions and twentieth-century British song. As a respected musicologist, he specializes in late medieval music theory, particularly the fifteenth-century musician Johannes Tinctoris, and has conducted research on various composers and early recordings. In his chamber pianist role, he has collaborated with renowned tenor James Geer and pianist Andrew West.

Andrew West, an accomplished pianist with a deep connection to contemporary music, has premiered works by renowned composers like Birtwistle, Henze, Goehr, and Wigglesworth in collaboration with prominent vocalists such as Mark Padmore and Roderick Williams. He also enjoys a long-standing partnership with flautist Emily Beynon, embarking on a five-CD project that explores flute and piano repertoire dating back to the Second World War. Andrew's extensive discography includes recordings with various artists, including Strauss, Les Six, and Schubert. He serves as Chairman and Artistic Director of the Kirckman Concert Society and holds positions at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama and the Royal Academy of Music, where he was recently named a Fellow.

Conductor Shea Lolin and composer/producer Christopher Hussey have returned to Prague to record with the Czech Philharmonic Wind Ensemble, carefully curating an album of premiere recordings spotlighting the woodwind orchestra, capturing its kaleidoscopic colours and symphonic potential in order to deepen and broaden appreciation of the medium’s power. A large chamber ensemble of flutes, oboes, clarinets, bassoons and saxophones in various sizes, the woodwind orchestra has a highly adaptable and magical tonal palette—it can be, in turn, boldly vibrant and delicately beautiful, thrillingly powerful and hauntingly tender, earnestly solemn and joyously comical.

The recorded repertoire reflects a spectrum of musical styles that exist in 21st-century concert music, ranging from the familiar and instantly singable to the more avant-garde, but always possessing an accessible and inviting musical narrative. Chromosphere is a landmark album, comprising exciting new and re-imagined pieces by leading composers in the genre and demonstrating the unique soundworld of the woodwind orchestra. Shea Lolin is a dynamic and versatile freelance musician living in London. His principal studies were in clarinet performance, composition and conducting at the Colchester Institute, and he has since developed an inimitable portfolio career as a conductor, performer and teacher.

In this, the final volume of his landmark survey of the piano works of Elisabeth Lutyens, pianist Martin Jones presents further world premiere recordings from this undeservedly neglected composer. Featuring works from across the span of Lutyen’s career, the earliest works to be included on this album are the short pieces Overture, Berceuse, Barcarolle and Dance Souvenance from 1944. The unpublished Holiday Diary from 1949, Helix from 1967, and Three Books of Bagatelles from 1979 complete the set.

Continuing his landmark survey of the piano works of Elisabeth Lutyens, pianist Martin Jones delves deeper into the music of this undeservedly neglected composer. This second volume features further world premiere recordings including pieces from her early maturity such as The Check Book, a compelling collection of twelve miniatures for children; Piano e Forte that recalls Lutyens’s lifelong enthusiasm for the music of Debussy and explores the possibilities of the instrument in a way she had never attempted before; and Maybe–Encore Op. 159, which was Lutyens’s final work for piano composed in 1982. Also included is an early unpublished sonata movement (Allegro molto) possibly written as early as the 1930s.