The development of an original classical repertoire for the accordion began with Mogens Ellegaard in his native Denmark and his student, the Scot Owen Murray, in the UK. In 1976 Ellegaard gave the first broadcast performance of Gordon Jacob's pastoral, elegant concerto, which treats the accordion almost as a chamber organ. A generation and more later, two concertos written for Owen Murray open out the possibilities of the accordion much more adventurously, exploiting it's extraordinary range of colour, it's striking range of expression and it's mercurial ability to weave through orchestral textures.

Jonathan Dove (b. 1959) and Dame Judith Weir (b. 1954) may diverge in musical style, yet their organ compositions converge through evocative storytelling. On this album, their works for organ intertwine, revealing a shared fascination with the organ's pictorial prowess, particularly in the depiction of watery motifs. From Weir's turbulent Scottish river in Ettrick Banks, and her rugged yet ghostly depiction of traditional Eastern European folk instruments in The Wild Reeds, to Dove's jubilant celebrations of organ pipes in The Dancing Pipes, and the almost over-whelming force of his Niagara, each piece unfolds like a rich tapestry of sound. Organist Thomas Corns breathes life into these compositions, where theological reflections mingle with vibrant sonic imagery, and the organ becomes a palette for storytelling.

The Sacconi Quartet join forces again with celebrated composer Jonathan Dove for the latest instalment of their many fruitful collaborations and journeys. The String Quartet no 2 On the Streets and in the sky was written during the recent pandemic and was commissioned for the Sacconi Quartet to celebrate their 20th anniversary. Between Friends, is a world premiere recording, and a memorial to Graeme Mitchison (1944-2018), a multi-disciplined scientist, intrepid adventurer, cyclist, paraglider, mountaineer and a possessor of two pianos on which he and Dove would play together for over forty years. Who Wrote the Book of Love? Is an extended song cycle written for baritone Philippe Sly who performs the work here. Vanishing Gold is a compact five-minute piece written for the 40th anniversary of the Endellion Quartet, who then retired. Dove's previous release with the Sacconi Quartet on Signum "In Damascus" was awarded Gramophone Recording of the Month and Presto's Editor's Choice in 2017. ? The beauty of the piece, for tenor and string quartet, is it's restraint. It doesn't sensationalise, get maudlin, moralise or politicise. The words are direct and the music respects that. The performance does, too: focused playing from the Sacconi Quartet and lucid, unswerving narrative from tenor Mark Padmore - The Guardian

The idea of writing a cello concerto for Raphael Wallfisch was first mooted more than ten years ago at the Banff Arts Centre, Canada, where Jonathan Dove was composer-in-residence. The two men spoke of Dove’s interest in writing a piece for cello and orchestra, and after further meetings in London, the work began to take shape. Given the composer’s extensive experience of writing for the voice, it was decided that the score would be written for baritone singer and solo cello with orchestra with texts taken from poems by various writers. The subject matter was suggested by the Wallfisch family history. Raphael’s father fled, together with his mother and brother, to Palestine from Breslau in 1937, and his mother, Anita Lasker-Wallfisch, is a concentration camp survivor. She has written of the persecution of her Jewish family during the Second World War and her own incarceration in Auschwitz and Belsen, where her skill as a cellist saved her life.2 Knowing of these events, Jonathan Dove was inspired to base the work’s theme on the universal experience of refugees being exiled from their homeland.

Jonathan Dove writes of the piece, ‘In Exile moves through a day in the life of an involuntary exile: waking alone in a foreign land; remembering the moment of banishment, the moment of departure, the voyage; remembering the homeland. The Exile feels the pain of being so far away in his country’s time of need, unable to help his own people. He remembers all the names he has been called in this strange land. He thinks of all he has lost, and longs for home. In Raphael Wallfisch’s words: ‘the cello represents the soul and spirit of the Exile, the baritone is that person and sings the dramatic and often challenging texts. Jonathan’s lyrical style lends itself so naturally to the cello. He exploits every register from the lowest to the highest notes. The cello comments on the sung texts”. [Paul Conway] Night Song, a short piece for cello and piano is derived from the final section of ‘In Exile’. In the calm closing moments of the work the baritone sings of his loss in the words of the poet Douglas Hyde : My grief on the sea, / How the waves of it roll - / For they heave between me / And the love of my soul. Night Song was written partly at the request of the Rachel Baker Memorial Charity – who commissioned the orchestral work – and partly in response to the strong reaction of the first audiences who connected with this uncomplicated musical expression.

On Dazzling Light Christopher Lowrey and his vocal ensemble Altera explore light in all it's forms. There is a remarkable body of choral music that evokes light's many facets: the light of morning and evening, sacred light, light as a symbol of Christ, light as the conqueror of darkness and even (thanks to the James Webb telescope) the light of distant galaxies. This programme includes works primarily from the 20th and 21st centuries, with music by John Rutter, Jonathan Dove, Matthew Martin, Toby Young, Charles Wood, Ko Matsushita, Sir William Harris, Eric Whitacre, Thomas Tallis, Michael Garrepy and David Hill. There is also an evening prayer by English composer Joanna Marsh, a work by South African composer Motshwane Pege, the winner of Altera's third composition competition, and John Cameron's arrangement of Edward Elgar's Nimrod from the Enigma Variations; this work, entitled Lux aeterna, is perfectly suited to Altera's strengths.