An abundance of brilliant French harpists at the dawn of the last century led to composers in that country being galvanized to write for the harp as a solo instrument. Works by Debussy, Fauré, Ravel and Pierné are still the staple repertoire of harpists, but there exists much more music unjustly neglected and, until now, almost forgotten. Fresque Marine brings this music once more into the light, using the intimate and rich tones of an original French Erard concert harp, such as the composers would have heard in their aural imagination. The recital features music by such well-known harpist composers as Renié and Tournier, but also celebrates less well-known composers, particularly pieces by female composers, all brought forth in a kaleidoscope of subtle colors.

Christopher White and Melanie Reinhard have been performing the Beethoven Violin Sonatas together for over thirty years, from when they first met in Toronto at the Royal Conservatory of Music. They have become a staple of their recitals in combination with other repertoire. Although the ten sonatas are mostly early works and not his most significant (compared to the string quartets for example) they are a charming and varied set of compositions. It is a shame that often one only hears the select (and famous) few such as the Spring or Kreutzer sonatas because some of the lesser-known sonatas (for instance Op. 12 No. 2 in A major or the glorious slow movement in the sixth sonata) deserve a much wider audience.

This debut solo recording by respected lutenist and lute maker Martin Shepherd, played on an instrument of his own making, brings together a range of little-known German and Italian music from the first half of the 16th century. It showcases different responses to the desire to bring both sacred and secular polyphony into a more intimate context, from simple intabulations of vocal works to entirely new pieces based on themes from or inspired by them: fantasia as a process as much as a genre.

Abbey Brass presents a varied program exploring a range of rarely heard British music for brass ensembles of various sizes. These range from the usual quintet of two trumpets, French horn, trombone and tuba, to the very unusual thirteen-piece ensemble called for in George Lloyd's Symphony No. 10, subtitled November Journeys. This expansive and virtuosic work is presented here in it's first recording for some 30 years. Abbey Brass was formed in 1983 by trombonists John Powell (of the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra) and James Fulkerson (t he eminent American composer and soloist). Then, as now, it combined players based in the West Country with others based in London and ot her musical "hubs" (the original line-up usually included performers from the BBC Symphony Orchestra, London Symphony Orchestra and Royal Ballet Orchestra) in a variety of ensemble sizes and instrumentations, to perform concerts and lecture recitals, at weddings and in conjunction with choral societies, the length and breadth of Great Britain and in France.

A CEREMONY OF PSALMS

Lynden Cranham's earliest memories of Bach were overwhelming, sitting in the huge and resonant space of Westminster Cathedral listening to an organ recital. She subsequently became fascinated (as a listener and a player) by the Bach Cello Suites. It was especially poignant for Lynden, as part of the orchestra during John Eliot Gardiner’s Bach Cantata Pilgrimage, not only to play near the font where Bach had been baptized, in the Georgenkirche in Eisenach, but also to play in Köthen, where he probably composed the Cello Suites. The idea of recording the Suites had been at the back of her mind for most of her career, and when playing part of one of them in a chamber-music concert a few years ago she realized that she'd found an ideal venue for doing such a recording: the beautiful small church of St Peter and St Mary in Fishbourne, West Sussex, complete with its warm, intimate acoustic.

As one concert after another was cancelled it gradually became clear to the recording engineer, the producer and Lynden that, dire as this situation was, it provided the perfect opportunity to begin recording the Suites. So, braving the cold (and maintaining strict social distancing), Suites 1 and 2 were recorded in the church in December 2020. Soon after that, in April 2021, Suite No. 5 was recorded in its original scordatura version; this needed to be recorded alone, as in that way Lynden was able to keep the cello with the A string tuned down to G. Those three Suites make an interesting contrast – the first two relatively conventional in sonority, the fifth introducing something entirely different.

There has not been a more important or influential body of cello music written before or since the 6 Bach Cello Suites. Now treated almost reverentially by cellists, for two hundred years they were virtually unknown until a young Catalan cellist, Pablo Casals, discovered them in a little shop and breathed life back into these masterpieces. For some the music is deeply spiritual, for others the pieces are closely connected with nature… or perhaps it is the ingenuity of their structure and symmetry that inspires people to be moved by the Cello Suites. Whatever the reasons, people always come back to Bach. Through, seemingly the most simple means, Bach speaks to the soul and the intellect at once. Like the best fairy tales or myths, his music is layered and can be enjoyed and understood at different levels at different times of our lives. He is everywhere and a deeply rooted part of our lives, from performances in the greatest concert halls to contemporary films, used as music of political statement, as exciting imaginative music to be explored by the greatest jazz musicians, for mothers to soothe their babies, for people to celebrate weddings or deep consolation at funerals. The profound imagination behind the cathartic simplicity of Bach’s Cello Suites makes his music a companion for life for the listener and a mystery to be constantly re-examined and explored by the performer.