Featuring the first recording of BRITTEN's Les Illuminations, Op. 18 sung in English, from a brand new translation by Timothy Ades. Also includes the original French version. Coupled with Samuel BARBER's dramatic masterpiece Knoxville: Summer of 1915, Op. 24, written just a few years after Les Illuminations. Among the most personal and powerful music ever written for the human voice, Britten and Barber's masterpiece settings of texts by Rimbaud and Agee continue to resonate intensely. Taken together, they form bookends to the cataclysms of the 20th century, with it's two life-shattering world wars. The colours, verbal and harmonic, of such human drama are a dazzling mix, running the gamut of life in dramatic flux. Mild mannered it is not, though parts are hauntingly beautiful.

An album of new orchestral works by Peter Fribbins. 'Gommecourt', a four-movement symphony with obbligato piano, traces the dramatic story of his grandfather, Tom Fribbins, at the Battle of the Somme in 1916. It is paired with the passionate, and at times wild, 'Cello Concerto', and the beautiful melodic lines of his 'Folk Songs' for viola and chamber orchestra.

For over two decades, Matthew Schellhorn has championed the creativity of living composers through commissions and premi�res, bringing new music to a wider audience. This album draws together a selection of eclectic and captivating piano works united through shared interpretative insights and deep artistic connections.

This album is inspired by the fantastic physicality and variety of dance forms in which composers from Granados to Shostakovich excelled. There are some hidden gems as well as pieces that will be familiar to all - and they have the novelty, as transcriptions, of all having been 'stolen' from the original. These arrangements are creative, fun and often virtuosic. -Includes Shostakovich's 'Three Fantastic Dances' released in the composer's 50th death anniversary year -Includes Ravel 'Piece en forme de habanera' released in the composer's 150th birth anniversary year

We begin with one of Shostakovich's earliest chamber works, the Cello Sonata, originally premiered by cellist Viktor Kubatsky with the composer at the piano. Kubatsky later transcribed the cello part for the viola with Shostakovich's approval. His version, along with subsequent transcriptions by Evgeny Strakov and Annette Bartholdy, adapted certain passages to suit the viola. For this recording, I chose to remain as faithful as possible to the original cello version, raising some passages by an octave to accommodate the viola's range. This is followed by Shostakovich's Impromptu, a brief but captivating piece discovered in 2017. The album concludes with Shostakovich's Viola Sonata, which stands as one of the cornerstones of the viola repertoire. Not only is it his final composition, but it's also one of his most profound. In this work, Shostakovich seems to bid a poignant farewell, weaving in quotations from his earlier pieces and even paying tribute to Beethoven in the final movement.

Bach's English Suites are a set of six keyboard suites, each featuring a prelude and a series of stylised dance movements. While named 'English, the suites are more closely related to the French Baroque style, featuring intricate counterpoint, technically demanding passages, and a grander scale compared to Bach's French Suites. Papastefanou's Baroque style and technique is first-class in her brand new recording of these technically high demanding Suites. A natural Bach player who plays with panache, high skill, individuality with an attractive style and touch, Papastefanou's has produced another high quality recording of Bach, in this her 6th album for FHR.

This abum contains the premiere recording of 6 Sonatas, Op. 63, originally published in 1737 (edition published by Atelier Philidor in 2021). The compositions are exquisite and expressive and have not been heard since the mid- 18th century since the engraved score has only recently been discovered. They are quintessentially French in their general musical style, making extensive use of prescribed ornamentation. The pardessus de viole enjoyed a considerable vogue in France towards the middle of the 18th century. For too long the pardessus de viole, which has an almost indentical range to the violin, has been commonly regarded - even without being heard - as a kind of toy instrument. Now we know otherwise after experiencing how similar, except for it's different register, the pardessus instrument is to all the other members of it's family, including the familiar bass viol. The recent discovery of Boismortier's Op. 63 for two 6-string pardessus de viole is an exciting and important find and FHR are very happy to publish the first recording.

A collection of solo piano music conjuring soundscapes of changing timbres and tonal hues conveying the beauty of Baltic culture. The Latvian Lucija Garuta (1902-1977) and the Estonian Ester Magi (1922-2021) are two of the most important pianist composers of their generation. Exploring their similarities and differences is an album of virtuosic pianism that encapsulates the essence of Baltic song, a deep connection to nature and the mysterious world of Baltic folklore.

Born in Chile, Claudio Arrau (1903-1991) was one of the greatest pianists of the 20th century, an artist who was totally serious about his role in life, a man completely dedicated to the music of the great composers who shared his insights and understanding of their work with his public. Where other famous pianists play the piano for excitement, power or display, Arrau plays to probe, to divine, to interpret. Says Arrau, 'An interpreter must give his blood to the work interpreted.' Arrau is definitely not onesided or without spiritual grandeur. Having won particular fame as a great Beethoven interpreter, he is no less celebrated for his Mozart, Schubert, Chopin, Liszt, Schumann, Brahms and Debussy. Among the famed peers of his generation, it is a range without equal. Located on the campus of Ambassador College in Pasadena, California, the 1262 seat Ambassador Auditorium was a major West Coast concert hall between 1974 and 1995 presenting around 2500 concerts, and attracted the greatest instrumentalists and orchestras. role in the musical life of our ensemble. It's musical complexity and the depth of expression which Mozart achieves through only three voices are seemingly miraculous: it is one of those pieces which constantly rewards rehearsal. One simply never gets tired of playing it! When the opportunity to record this masterpiece arose, we were faced with the challenge of what to play alongside it. Our dear friend Rob Fokkens had written two short movements for string trio which seemed to fit beautifully with Mozart's music: Rob's translucent harmonic and rhythmic style offers unique expressive possibilities. The chance to commission the great Julian Joseph was not to be missed, and his work, Bring it!, wonderfully demonstrates his brilliance and lyricism, and the subtly of his harmonic language. We sincerely hope you enjoy listening to the music on this album as much as we loved preparing it! to Islamic Iberia or the Al-Andalusian era of Spain between the 8th-15th centuries. Yet the fi rst men? on of Flamenco by name is not un? l 1774, where it appears in an epistolary novel, Cartas Marruecas, by the playwright and soldier, Jose de Cadalso y Vazquez. In collabora? on with soparno Victoria Couper, kanun player, Konstan? nos Glynos, and oud/Flamenco guitarist, Ignacio Lusardi Monteverde, this album seeks to explore this ques? on by tracing the infl uences on Flamenco through Arabic music alongside Sephardic song and the Spanish composers of the late-16th to 18th centuries. What happened in these intervening centuries?

After 25 years, this Bela Bartok album is seeing the light of day! The Global Music Network originally recorded this album in 2000 but unfortunately went out of business before the recording could be released. I am delighted that First Hand Records now presents these recordings for all Bartok fans... I am convinced that that the revised version of the Bartok Viola Concerto is a more effective and stronger work than the original version of the concerto and no doubt closer to Bartok's intent. The Duos are also delightful to play and hear in these excellent arrangements of Peter Bartok. (Paul Neubauer)

Mozart's Divertimento in E flat, K563 plays a central role in the musical life of our ensemble. It's musical complexity and the depth of expression which Mozart achieves through only three voices are seemingly miraculous: it is one of those pieces which constantly rewards rehearsal. One simply never gets tired of playing it! When the opportunity to record this masterpiece arose, we were faced with the challenge of what to play alongside it. Our dear friend Rob Fokkens had written two short movements for string trio which seemed to fit beautifully with Mozart's music: Rob's translucent harmonic and rhythmic style offers unique expressive possibilities. The chance to commission the great Julian Joseph was not to be missed, and his work, Bring it!, wonderfully demonstrates his brilliance and lyricism, and the subtly of his harmonic language. We sincerely hope you enjoy listening to the music on this album as much as we loved preparing it!

The music recorded on Arc I [FHR127] expresses foreboding from the brink of disaster. The music on Arc II [FHR128] was written by composers dealing with tragedy. At last, Arc III is a set of pieces born from the bright points of life. Peace, hope, love, ambition, optimism and the divine - the inspirations are myriad. These compositions spring from the million shades of happiness. Orion Weiss has performed internationally as a soloist, recitalist and chamber musician. This is his sixth album of solo piano music, his third for First Hand Records. Full biography available at orionweiss. Com

The album offers a distinct and recognisable sound of American music and it's rich history, encapsulating both Lee's journey as an American, as well as the journeys of the composers in the United States. A native of Seoul, Korea, Lee emigrated to the U.S. at the age of seven. As a foreign-born citizen of America, she was compelled to select the repertoire on American Sketches to express her pride of the country she now calls her own.

This recording sets Ravel's String Quartet in F major, a work that is known and much loved alongside three lesser-known quartets by the French composers Louis Durey (1888-1979), Germaine Tailleferre (1892-1983) and Darius Milhaud (1892-1974), three of the composers from Les Nouveaux Jeunes who later became Les Six. The friends met and lived in Montparnasse, Paris and composed their quartets around 16 years after Ravel completed his. Ravel's innovative and progressive style as demonstrated in his quartet marked the beginnings of a transitionary period in quartet writing and one that was continued by Durey, Tailleferre and Milhaud with these young composers heralding modernism and signalling a break with the past and the search for new forms of expression. By placing these works alongside one another, this albums gives a fresh and interesting context for the listener and hopefully fosters an interest in the music of this fascinating period of history.

To Anglican church musicians around the world, Herbert Murrill is well-known for his wonderful�Magnficat�and�Nunc Dimittis in E major. But there is a treasure trove of other music waiting to be rediscovered, including his many songs which are featured here in first recordings.