Liz Johnson is a British composer with a very special gift and distinctive style, definitely in the avant-garde mold yet not totally alien to ‘traditional-music’ lovers. ‘Intricate Web’ is not only the title of one of the quartets here (there are four numbered String Quartets and two other works for the quartet) but also accurately describes her compositional technique which is complex and detailed, requiring top class performers. It may also describe the way in which the pieces here have been assembled, splitting cello solos and vocal pieces between the quartets to create a web of fascinating sounds and textures. The Fitzwilliam String Quartet is undoubtedly one of today’s most celebrated ensembles with a fine reputation in the world of new music. Cellist Heather Tuach plays solo in the breathtaking Cello Suite. Soprano Loré Lixenberg deals with the immense difficulty of the writing in the Jo Shapcott Settings and Ronald Woodley provides a magical performance on several clarinets. In all, a superb introduction to a major composer deserving wide recognition.

The first recordings of exquisite works for oboe with piano or chamber ensemble, performed by leading lights of the British contemporary music scene. Challenging but extremely approachable, Roxburgh's music is well worth getting to know.

The composers on Isn’t This A Time? : American Music for Clarinet range from the iconic John Cage to specialists working with new clarinet techniques such as Eric Mandat, via the great William O. Smith (also known as jazz legend Bill Smith). There is a lot of variety here, within the context of a generally provocative and avant-garde collection. Ian Mitchell is one of Europe’s foremost clarinetists, performing, recording and broadcasting regularly, and specializing in contemporary works. Director of the ensemble Gemini, he has received over 40 dedications and given many major world premieres.

Two substantial and finely constructed quartets by British composers. "These are quartets of substance from two British composers Dedicated playing from the Bochmann Quartet, with suitably close, focused sound." - Richard Whitehouse (Gramophone)

In 1998 leading contemporary British composer Christopher Fox began work on a new commission, a piece that was to be 'evening-long, and not a concert'. The result was the quasi-dramatic 'installation piece' Everything You Need to Know - a body of musical material which can be deployed in many different ways. Fox realized that the work needed a guide - a parallel version of the same ideas in a different form, rather like the 'catalogue raison+-' at an art exhibition. Thus was born a series of pieces for solo voice, as recorded here for the first time under the supervision of the composer and with his appearance as narrator. The sections are based on a series of multilingual texts from various sources including Virgil, Dante, tourist guides and essays. The 'catalogue' is about ideas, remembrance and the possibility of improbable connections. In itself as a sound work it is absolutely and positively unique.

Schoenberg's seminal vocal work "Das Buch der hängenden Gärten" often just referred to as Op. 15, was composed in 1908-1909 - years in which he had taken dissonance to new limits, and turned completely to atonality. This cycle is often regarded as the first major modernist vocal work. It is a setting of poems by Stefan George which tell of a love affair taking place in an exotic oriental garden - full of emotional pictures, never naturalistic ones - forboding, sensual imagery, repressed longings and intense passion. "A Girl" is a cycle of 22 settings by Seóirse Bodley of poems by Brendan Kennelly and was commissioned by Radio Telefis Eireanna ndf irst performed in 1978. It tells of a pregnant girl unable to cope with the humiliation she suffers in a conservative and repressive society. Highly varied, teh songs bring to the fore numbers of different emotions. The composer, at age 83, is amongst the most senior and foremost of Irish composers with 5 full symphonies and dozens of other works. Aylish Kerrigan is one of the foremost interpreters of contemporary Irish vocal music, and of Brecht, and her one-woman Broadway-style shows won acclaim when given in New York, Paris, Berlin and Dublin. Her accompanist Dearbhla Collins has performed worldwide especially in German lieder, contemporary art song and theatre music.

This album of contemporary works for solo voice with occasional electronics is a snapshot of all that is best in the world of new vocal music. The six works by four composers are all different in every possible way, except that they are written for the solo voice. In each of these pieces, the exquisite soprano Elizabeth Hilliard demonstrates amazing virtuosity, vocal dexterity and amazing control over techniques such as microtones and lengthy glissandi.

One of the foremost British ensembles, the Kreutzer specializes in new music and has already made many recordings for Metier and other labels. This superb film is not only the record of brilliant performances of major modern quartets and fine entertainment, it is also a valuable and rewarding tool for observing how the players of an ensemble communicate and interact, especially in works like that of Lutoslawski which allow performers a degree of choice. Above all it is a demonstration that music very often should be seen as well as heard. This disc is universal-play (Region 0) and double sided PAL/NTSC so will play in any country.

Composer Jane Wells says that much of her music is inspired by projects with specific communities for special occasions - hence the title of the CD. Ultramarine and Wherever Next started out as music with dance. Wells's music is "of many moods" because of this, and has a life not just in itself but in the circumstances and events from which it was conceived.

While continuing to write for conventional instruments, Ric Graebner increasingly has turned his attention to electronic forms, as well demonstrated by this CD of pieces, all of which are also designed to be part of a combined audio-visual experience. Unlike many such experiments, the result is a set of pieces of 'real' music - very listenable. When we play this in our music cafe, customers cannot believe it's 'computer music'

A very varied selection of fine chamber/orchestral music by one of Britain's most accomplished composers. "Eight works by a composer whose craftsmanship is as fastidious as his imagination is spirited." - Paul Driver (The Sunday Times)

All the works on this disc, according to the composer Justin Connolly, are explorations of images of darkness. They include "Nocturnal" a set of sea-pictures, and "Scardanelli Dreams", which "charts the motion of a great spirit, not dimmed, but which illuminates the darkness in which it finds itself."

- This album continues Metier's work in recording contemporary British music by composers working in traditional harmonies and a lyrical style. - Nicholas Marshall (b. 1942) has a flair for catching the essence of poetry as shown by the several song cycles on this disc that also features his Concerto for Recorder and String Quartet. - Featuring the celebrated tenor James Gilchrist, the album also turns the spotlight on John Turner, the UK's foremost recorder player for whom Mr. Marshall has written much music, and the four members of the Manchester Chamber Ensemble, led by Richard Howarth.

George Nicholson says that he is always alert to the challenge of working with the grain of every instrument he writes for, exploring and exploiting it's potential to the full. As a result his music makes virtuoso demands on the players. His style is eclectic drawing on many genres (including jazz scat-singing in "For Miles") making it full of interest.

Linda Merrick describers Josephs as a "consummate, motivated and sincere musician" who inspires performers. The Sonatas are Brahmsian in their use of lyrical melodies and rhythmic variety: these, and the Quintet, are major contemporary works in Josephs' individual but extremely approachable and mainly tonal harmonic language.