Lennox Berkeley: The Complete Piano Works

This recording presents performances of some of the best piano music available for beginners. Christopher Northam’s recital covers three centuries, from Byrd to Debussy, and is designed to introduce learners of any age to piano music that will be both satisfying and accessible to their developing talents. It is also certain to please a wider musical audience, not least because many of the pieces are difficult to find on other recordings. The selection mixes well-known pieces (Bach’s Minuet in G, Beethoven’s Für Elise) with unjustly neglected gems.

You might wonder why a CD of light music should be titled “lollipops”. As a group, the Lochrian Ensemble have always ended their concerts with a few encore pieces from their lighter repertoire. This has become one of their trademark qualities and their audiences always seem to enjoy a little Joplin or a Gershwin tune after a more serious classical programme. A lollipop, in the musical sense, was a term first used by Sir Thomas Beecham in connection with music played at his concerts. For him, a lollipop was an encore in complete contrast to the dramatic, rousing endings to his programmes. He introduced the lollipop, generally a ‘syrupy, soapy, soothing piece’, to ‘reduce the audience’s emotional temperature’. Everyone would then leave the concert hall calm and happy. When they first decided to make a CD, they thought putting together a series of their favourite lollipops might make an attractive recording. Each piece featured on this CD has been used as an encore by them. Not all, however, are of the soothing nature favoured by Sir Thomas. Some, such as Fiddle-Faddle, are fast and furious because, contrary to Sir Thomas, they feel that it does little harm to the audience to leave a concert on an emotional high.

The Cathedral organ is a three-manual pipe organ built by Rieger Orgelbau of Austria for the opening of the Cathedral in June 1973. The specification was drawn up by Joseph von Glatter-Götz, then managing director of Rieger, in conjunction with John Rowntree of the Society of Saint Gregory Organ Advisory Group. It has 1,830 pipes. Stephen Bryant has been Organist of Clifton Cathedral since September 2000, a post he combines with his full-time teaching position. He has undertaken various recordings, broadcasts and tours with the cathedral choir, including broadcasting live on BBC1 as well as various broadcasts on BBC Radio 4. He is in demand as an organist, having already performed throughout the UK, Europe and America. He was a prizewinner at the Oundle International Summer School and a finalist in the Royal College of Organists' Performer of the Year competition in 2002.

Clifton Cathedral Choir, a mixed adult choir of 40 singers, sings Solemn Mass every week on Sunday and for Holy Days at Clifton Roman Catholic Cathedral in Bristol. It is known throughout the country for its wide repertoire from the 14th century to the present day specialising in Renaissance and contemporary music. It is one of the few choirs to have broadcast on BBC Radios 1, 2, 3 and 4 as well as on BBC1 and ITV and it is regularly in demand to lead Sunday Morning Worship on BBC Radio 4 and to provide soundtracks for television and films. The choir has made five recordings, gives regular concerts around the South West and London and has toured Thailand, India, France, Switzerland, Italy, Hungary and the Czech Republic. The choir is conducted by David Ogden, the Director of Music for the Cathedral and the Diocese of Clifton. David is also Regional Director of the Royal School of Church Music for the South West and Midlands and is in much demand to direct choirs and lead choral workshops around the country.