Works for solo flute by some of the most respected British composers of the present day - performed with consummate skill on a variety of instruments by the virtuoso flautist Nancy Ruffer, who has been at the forefront of contemporary flute interpretation, giving numerous first performances - including the UK premiere of Ferneyhough's Superscriptio at the Queen Elizabeth Hall - and commissioning new works from composers such as Chris Dench, Michael Finnissy and others.

Modern music for clarinet by composers with very different voices. Simply exceptional music performed by an exceptional musician.

A beautiful and evocative combination, the flute and harp combine especially well in these modern romantic pieces by leading British composers of the mid twentieth century. Emily Beynon (flute) and Catherine Beynon (harp), both now leading and highly-regarded musicians, provide an exquisite performance in their debut CD which has been one of Metier's most popular recordings.

David Gorton is a very highly respected British composer whose music is firmly modernist - very difficult to play, but which is also very approachable and accessible. Here Neil Heyde provides a stunning performance of the Cello Sonata and a second version, given a very different interpretation in a live recital. We have the two tiny but intense Caprices for solo violin, a fine work for Piano Trio and the String Quartet Trajectories, a modern model for that genre. All are first recordings, produced and supervised by the composer.

Judith Bailey is a Cornish composer, whose music can be stark with deep emotional content; yet overall it is modern music with an inner joy and soul, always thoughtful and stimulating, which is extremely approachable and not in any way extreme. This is the first commercial recording of her work which should establish her reputation as a composer of exceptional talent.

Originally made in 2003 for Dunelm Records in limited edition, this album features rare cooperation between Turkey and Greece in the form of composer/pianists Panayiotis Demopoulos and Mahir Cetiz. Chamber and instrumental works with gently exotic sounds – indeed works which should be much more widely known, these were all first recordings. The composers perform together with the Anairesis Ensemble, which included several members who have gone on to very successful careers. Of the composers, Cetiz now works at Columbia University, USA while Demopoulos has held a number of prestigious positons in the UK and now back in Greece. A fine album of approachable yet unusually sonorous pieces.

The three composers featured on this CD are in themselves leading lights of the contemporary music scene in the UK, and their works (of which these are first recordings) very fine examples of the modern string quartet, all extremely accessible.

Michael Alec Rose is a leading light in the contemporary music world with compositions in many genres. He has received thirty composition awards to date, and is also an author of books and essays. He currently teaches at Vanderbilt University in Nashville. This album contains music for violin-viola duo and for solo violin, which is both gently modernist and also post-impressionist – music inspired by places (for example Dartmoor in England) and by paintings. The soloists are both highly regarded both in their native England and internationally. Skærved is well represented in many recordings as soloist and as leader of Longbow Ensemble and the Kreutzer Quartet and has made over 60 albums for Divine Art/Metier as well as Toccata, NMC, Naxos and other labels. He has given concerts in over 30 countries, has had over 400 works dedicated to him and is also an accomplished painter and writer. Violist Diana Mathews is sought after as soloist, chamber and orchestral player and is very active in the new music world.

Wright describes his music as structurally concise with an eclectic flush of , and his language as lyrically tonal with strong rhythmic drive colored by occasional “atonal flavorings”. Recently premièred works include the Violin Concerto “And then there was silence...” (composed in memory of his late wife), recorded with the Royal Scottish National Orchestra under Martin Yates. The featured work on this release returns to the well worn myth of Pandora but with a change of emphasis, the one last gift remaining in the jar, that of Hope.

An exquisite programme of modern chamber music which succeds in being both thoroughly modern and individual whilst also maintaining traditional tonailty and lyrical qualities. All of these works are recorded here for the first time and are without exception minor masterpieces of the genre. This is the second in Metier's new lyrical chamber music series.

Beautifully evocative music by Geoffrey Poole: A two-piano work played by the composer with Joanna Porter, a piece for oboe and piano, presented by Jinny Shaw (oboe) and Anne-Marie Hastings (piano); Septembral itself, a major and intricate chamber work, played by Gemini, and the wonderful yet little-known Third String Quartet, played by the UK's most famous quartet, the Lindsays.

This is a very important recording, as it is the first time the original piano quartet version of the Eroica Symphony has been recorded. (it should not be confused with the arrangement by Ferdinand Ries published 50 years later). This anonymous arrangement was made at Beethoven's insistence (though he had requested a string quintet) and published in 1807, three years after the orchestral premiere. The writing is far superior to that of Ries in the later version, and this work stands as a fine and magisterial piano quartet in it's own right.

James Clapperton is a highly regarded pianist and composer, born in Scotland. Highly influenced at first by Ferneyhough, Finnissy and Xenakis his music has developed in a softer, more approachable and individual style which is at once "modern" and "romantic" in that it paints musical pictures and depicts programs of personal and historic subjects. Ideal for those wanting to delve into modern repertoire without the extremes of modernism.

Gerhard Stebler is perhaps best known for his avant-garde stage works and chamber music. However he has also composed a fairly substantial body of work for the traditional piano, treated in his unmistakable and unique way. The music employs extreme virtuosity, a large dynamic range and use of unusual techniques, all taken in his stride by pianist Paulo Alvarez.

This live recording features works by some of the foremost names in contemporary Italian music. With the Firebird Ensemble are Roger Heaton (clarinet), Christopher Redgate (oboe and cor anglais) and Alison Wells (soprano).