Marcus Blunt, who turns 70 years old this year, is a well established British composer with an international voice – his harmonic language is distinctive and varied; arising from the Romantic tradition but full of complex contrapuntal chromaticism -and also touched by the mystic in subtle ways, perhaps more apparent in his solo piano music. These works are firmly in the modern mainstream and deserve a wide audience; from the convoluted lines of the Concerto, the restrained small orchestration of the Symphony to the picturesque nature of the Bassoon Concertino, Blunt’s works retain an intense interest for the listener. Murray McLachlan, one of the UK’s most celebrated pianists, has long championed Blunt’s work. Lesley Wilson is one of Britain’s most seasoned bassoonists and the award-winning Manchester Camerata has recently risen to the highest ranking among British chamber orchestra.

Michael Finnissy is among the leading composers of our generation, and this CD forms part of the Metier Finnissy cycle, still ongoing. Finnissy wrote "This Church" in 2001-3 to celebrate the 900th anniversary of St. Mary de Haura, New Shoreham, on the Sussex coast of England. This church and the evolving community around it is typical of countless others across Britain. It's story exemplifies the history of Christianity from Norman times to the present.

David Dubery (b. 1948) has enjoyed a busy career as solo pianist, accompanist, composer, vocal coach, musical director and teacher of piano and voice. + His compositions are approachable, lyrical and generally tonal style; like many other post-modern composers his music would find masses of listeners if they knew about it, and aren’t put off by the 'contemporary' tag. + Although not 'traditional' in style, his work is nevertheless thoroughly modern in its own audience friendly way.

Music for piano, tape and electronics by Katharine Norman. The composer believes that the solo piano and the digital soundscape share an ability to convey an unflinching intensity, an intimacy that draws the listener "inside" the timbres of sounds, and the nuances of experience.

In the days when serious composers wrote good music for children to play, sing or just to appreciate, many minor classics were penned. Mussorgsky's "The Nursery" is such and the British songs here, settings of masterpieces of prose by AA Milne and Kipling among others, are also of the highest standard, one or two having become ingrained in the memories of a generation.

These works demonstrate yet another peak in the creativity of Christopher Fox; disarmingly simple, they demonstrate his uncanny ability to create music from the most unlikely inspirations such as the superb poetry of Ian Duhig; travels through a cityscape, or the calculations of planetary orbits; also these pieces make use of tunings other than the 'normal' equal temperament we are familiar with thus creating an other-worldly (yet firmly rooted in daily life) soundstage.

Christopher Redgate is undoubtedly one of the world's finest exponents of the most advanced avant-garde music for the oboe. This sequel to 'New Music for a New Oboe' again features two new instruments developed by Redgate in order to explore more advanced techniques - the Howarth-Redgate Oboe and the Lupophon (a bass oboe), in works by five English composers. Utilising multiphonics and other techniques, Redgate produces a unique sound world, whether with piano (Hayden's 'surface/tension', string quartet (The Colours of Dark Light) electronic wizardry (Unlocking the Grid), or overdubbing (Clepsydra). In most cases here especially the pieces by Hayden, Archbold and Ker, the composers worked in collaboration with Redgate to design works that were playable on the new instruments, though impossible on traditional oboes. The areas explored here include the extreme high range, various microtonal divisions and multiphonics - a repertoire of sounds and techniques for which the new instrument was designed with the intention, not only of meeting today's demands, but also of building further potential into the instrument.

David Lumsdaine's work is mostly rooted in Australia where he was born though he now lives in the UK. This unique and intriguing set includes pieces for a variety of instruments (not all are vocal) a number of which relate to the Australian landscape and the sounds of it's unique wildlife - which are also captured in live 'outback' recordings demonstrating the voices of the birds and creatures which inspired some of the works. The music itself is most approachable and well written. Definitely an important addition to the modern music repertoire.

Composer Philip Grange wrote the music on this CD for the combination of flute, clarinet, percussion, piano, violin and cello, the line-up of Peter Maxwell Davies' group the Fires of London, which commissioned Cimmerian Nocturne in 1978 and Variations several years later. Grange uses literary works as sources of inspiration including novels by Joseph Conrad and William Golding (whose Darkness Visible gives the title to this disc). a Gramophone Magazine 'Critcs' Choice' CD 2006.

This film presents the marvellous music by Ed Hughes for silent films (both new and old). His scores for the early classics for chamber ensemble (Alice in Wonderland and Voyage to the Moon) and piano (The Nose) are matched by his orchestral masterpiece for the new cityscape feature ‘Brighton: Symphony of a City’, by producer/director Lizzie Thynne. Rounded off by another piano score, written for the RAF Archive film about the building of Lancaster bombers, but a work which stands on its own just as well. The film also includes a bonus, a film about the Lancaster bomber and its work in World War II. Ed Hughes is a master of large scale works and these movie scores are a little more traditionally styled than his chamber and operatic work but which ever genre is chosen, his reputation as a highly inventive and skilled composer grows steadily.

Perhaps the ultimate in Metier's search for unusual repertoire, this CD of solo trombone music from contemporary Japanese composers is truly the ideal purchase for the record collector who has it all and indeed for anyone wanting to explore modern music from the East.

This new release is the conclusion of a project exploring ways of transforming and developing the piano concerto. Pianist Kate Halsall developed these works centered around two pianos with varied electro-acoustical and chamber accompaniment. The pieces incorporate rock and jazz instruments, extended techniques, film, and pitched silences. The composers featured here are all part of the English new-music scene, and are developing reputations for innovation.

Powers is a composer who knows his own language; a pupil of the legendary Nadia Boulanger, his works have been consistently praised. He is a composer with something to say. This CD presents five major works, in reverse chronological order: A journey back in time in the composer's music.

A lovely little one-act opera based on scenes from Thomas Hardy novels, the title role was written for Jane Manning who sings here. Musically it is a companion piece to Purcell's Dido and Aeneas with fragments of Purcell's music quoted in the epilogue and alluded to throughout.

Paul Whitty works with both amplified and electronic music with ensemble and with acoustic instruments. Recently he has been engaged in a series of interventions in pre-existing scores - undertaking an almost archaeological examination of the materials found there. Thirty-nine pages filters and re-organizes each page of the Henle Edition of Cesar Franck's Sonata for Violin and Piano in a Major. Fragments of the Franck can be heard emerging - a single note, a chord, a phrase - from the often stark and simple textures of the surrounding material. This recording is superbly performed by artists who have built fine reputations in the world of new music.