Kirnberger Symphoes: World Premiere Recordings "His early acquaintance with the great school of Sebastian Bach, as well as his perspicacity, which enabled him to discover at an early stage the depth and incalculable richness in the works of this great master, unfathomable to so many others, and which had endeared him to this school, an institution which also demanded high precision and refinement in it's practice, something far more difficult to achieve than the glittering lustre of more recently founded schools, as well as for the harmonic part of the art, which it's master fathomed and exhausted as no one before him had ever done, all the more passionately and exclusively, since nature seemed to have denied him the delicate feeling for melodic beauty." - AMZ III, December 1800, p. 506

Shostakovich was known for his fun-loving attitude during his early years as a composer. The colourful incidental music for The Shot - reconstructed by Mark Fitz-Gerald from the original piano scores - vividly evokes the raucous life of experimental youth theatre in Leningrad during the late 1920s. This carefree world had changed dramatically by 1934 when Shostakovich completed his music for The Human Comedy - a work that creates a charming atmosphere of Parisian escapism. Discarded movements from his first opera The Nose form an entire orchestral suite. The programme concludes with Mark Fitz-Gerald's reconstruction of the March of the Anarchists, transcribed by ear from the film The Vyborg Side.

The prolific Finnish composer Kalevi Aho periodically undertakes large-scale compositions that showcase the full breadth of his artistic abilities. The Symphony No. 17 exemplifies this tendency, representing his most ambitious orchestral work to date. The symphony requires a substantial orchestra, incorporating less common instruments such as the lupophone, a variation of the baritone oboe, and the contraforte, an acoustically enhanced contrabassoon. The first movement, "From the Deep", which can also be performed as an independent symphonic poem, establishes a somber and profound atmosphere. The second movement, "Scherzo macabre", suggests a macabre dance of death. The finale, "Distant Songs", features musical shifts that evoke distant times, dances, and songs, before ultimately returning to the present. Following it's triumphant premi�re in 2019, the symphony was immediately hailed as a magnum opus within Kalevi Aho's oeuvre.

Daniel-Franc�ois-Esprit Auber represents the essence of Romantic opera-comique with vivacious and elegant works that enjoyed huge popularity for decades. He collaborated with a fellow luminary, Ferdinand Herold, for Vend�me en Espagne, a work rich in Spanish dances and colour. With a vivid display of Auber's gift for melody and orchestration, the overture to La Fiancee proved so successful and popular that Liszt arranged it as a fantasia three times. L'Enfant prodigue contains his longest overture, a powerful statement reflecting the tragic aspects of this Biblical parable.

To mark the 100th anniversary of the death of the Irish-born composer Charles Wood (1866 - 1926), SOMM Recordings is honoured to release his String Quartet No. 2 'Highgate' and String Quartet No. 4 'Harrogate' along with his Variations On an Irish Folk Tune. This follows SOMM's 2024 release of Wood's sixth and last String Quartet in a performance by the London Chamber Ensemble Quartet [SOMMCD 0692], which received a stunning review in The Observer, BBC Music Magazine, MusicWeb International, Klassik. Com and The Strad, and was a Gramophone recommended recording. Featured again on this album, the London Chamber Ensemble was formed in 2019 and is led by violinist Madeleine Mitchell. The ensemble has been praised for it's "high quality chamber music-making" (Musical Opinion) and it's "passionate and persuasive advocacy [and] gripping interpretations" (Gramophone. ) Charles Wood was born into a family of singers and musicians in Armagh, Ireland. He sang in the cathedral choir, became a student organist, and gained experience as a string player, particularly as a violist. By the time he was sixteen, Wood had begun to write chamber music. When, in 1883, he became one of fifty inaugural class members of the Royal College of Music-to study composition under Sir Charles Villiers Stanford and Sir Hubert Parry-he had composed at least one movement of a string quartet. By April 1885, he had completed his String Quartet No. 1. Two years after acquiring his degrees in 1890, Wood composed a second string quartet, which he nicknamed the 'Highgate,' (It seems that he drew the name from visits to see his brother, William, who was the music master at Highgate Grammar School. ) While a little reminiscent of Brahms, the string quartet does point to Wood's emerging individuality. The unusual third movement, for instance, makes use of a seven-bar ground bass coupled with an austere theme for his own instrument, the viola. In 1898, Wood married compatriot Charlotte Georgina Wills-Sandford. �When she was taking the waters in the famous Yorkshire spa town of Harrogate in August 1912, he completed his Fourth Quartet-hence the nickname. Wood's personal voice is evident in this quartet partly through his use of Irish folk melodies and dance tunes as thematic material; as in the captivating reel-like rondo theme of his finale, which is based on one of the Irish Melodies�by the Irish writer Thomas Moore. A frequent source for many of Wood's Irish arrangements was Old Irish Folk Music and Songs�(1909). His scintillating Variations on an Irish Folk Tune, dating from 25 August 1916, were based on Melody No. 749 of the 842�melodies in the collection.

Anna Clyne, described as a 'composer of uncommon gifts and unusual methods' by The New York Times, is one of the most in-demand composers today, working with orchestras, choreographers, filmmakers and visual artists around the world. Clyne's unique voice combines tradition with postmodern techniques, giving her listeners a sense of musical adventure that is grounded in the past. From the beautiful elegy Within Her Arms to the defiant power of Restless Oceans, Anna Clyne's music strikes a positive and resilient tone.

Since relaunching Sinfonia of London in 2018, John Wilson's hand-picked orchestra has attracted the highest critical acclaim from both national and international press, performed at the BBC Proms every year since 2021 (their live d�but), and made their international d�but at the Concertgebouw, Amsterdam in 2025. Regularly touring in the UK, they have also released 25 albums (this is the 26th), covering a wide range of repertoire, including works by Korngold, Respighi, Ravel, Strauss, Rachmaninoff, Britten, Walton, Bliss, and Rodgers & Hammerstein. The album opens with Dukas' The Sorcerer's Apprentice, followed by Debussy's Clair de lune (orchestrated by John Wilson). Chabrier's Joyeuse Marche and Ravel's Une Barque sur l'oc�an (orchestrated by their composers) are followed by Saint-Sa�ns' symphonic poem Danse macabre. The programme ends with all of the movements from Bizet's two Carmen Suites, but in John Wilson's preferred order!

Arcadian Dreams: the title conjures pastoral perfection, an idyllic vision rooted in Greek mythology. Equally, it references the Arcadian Academy established in Rome in 1690, a vibrant hub of intellectual and artistic creativity whose influence quickly spread across Europe. Arcadian Dreams assembles an exquisite group of composers-both esteemed and inspired-including the French luminaries Thomas-Louis Bourgeois, Louis Antoine Lefebvre, and Jean-Philippe Rameau; the Neapolitan maestro Domenico Scarlatti, who lived his last 35 years in Spain; and the German-born George Frideric Handel, whose early Italian career left an indelible mark on his masterpieces. The enchanting realm of Arcadian Dreams abounds with gods and goddesses, shepherds and nymphs, and bucolic dreamscapes, creating an aural tapestry of pictorial, secular cantatas intertwined with entrancing instrumental numbers. The fearless young soprano Hannah de Priest, making her recording debut, vividly captures the essence of these beguiling works, alongside the entrepreneurial early music ensemble Les Délices, whose members bring long-forgotten music alive for contemporary audiences. "[De Priest] sings with radiant tonal beauty ... always with compelling expressiveness. Her coloratura is both fluent and effortlessly produced... her colleagues in Les Délices ... help create vocal chamber music of the highest order. Together, their embrace of a variety of colors and subtle flexibility of phrasing add immeasurably to the quality of this recital... A most welcome release.” --Early Music America (Ken Meltzer) "I’m thrilled that more audiences will learn what we already know in Chicago: Hannah De Priest is a star... on an upward trajectory as a leading interpreter of 17th and 18th century repertoire, [she] caps a breakout season... with her debut solo album. Referencing both Greek mythology and the Arcadian Academy in 17th century Rome, Arcadian Dreams features secular Baroque cantatas by Rameau, Handel, Thomas Louis Bourgeois, and Louis Lefebvre with Les Délices, an early music ensemble founded by baroque oboist Debra Nagy. De Priest’s rise as a Baroque specialist is linked with Les Délices and their breakout debut at the 2023 Boston Early Music Festival... The album also includes Albinoni’s Oboe Sonata in C major and a keyboard sonata by Domenico Scarlatti, showcasing Nagy and harpsichordist Mark Edwards." --WFMT Classical (Oliver Camacho)

Delos is thrilled to embark on a new journey with the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra and it's Music Director Stephane Deneve. What better statement of intent for their first album on the label than releasing the world premiere recording of three works by native St. Louisan and Pulitzer Prize- and Grammy�-winning composer Kevin Puts? Dedicated to the SLSO and Stephane, Concerto for Orchestra was written in response to the horrific school shooting that occurred in Uvalde in 2022. Silent Night Elegy is drawn from Kevin's acclaimed opera, which adapts Joyeux Noel, the award-winning film that tells the story of the spontaneous ceasefires along the Western Front on the first Christmas Eve of World War I. Inspired by Guillaume de Machaut, Virelai was commissioned for the opening concert of Stephane's tenure as Music Director of the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra. This album celebrates the SLSO's dynamic partnership with Stephane and demonstrates the orchestra's commitment to artistic excellence and inclusive musical experiences.

Antonio Salieri was influential as an opera composer and later in life as a teacher to the likes of Beethoven, Schubert and Liszt - quite unlike the sinister and entirely fictional portrayal he received in the film Amadeus. Both of his keyboard concertos were composed during his early years in Vienna and reflect influences from Haydn and the galant style of Johann Christian Bach. The Harpsichord Concerto in B flat major is broader and more elaborate but lighter in mood when compared with the stormy first movement of the Harpsichord Concerto in C major. Heard here in it's world premiere recording, the Keyboard Sonata in C major presents as a suite of short independent pieces, while the short March in D major has only recently been discovered in a Berlin archive.

Volume 66 in the Liszt Complete Piano Music series focuses on transcriptions from operas by Mozart and Donizetti. The Reminiscences on Mozart's Don Giovanni, with it's technical demands and innovations, stands at the pinnacle of Liszt's transcription procedure.

A new choral album of radiant melody and profound reflection Composer James Woodhall presents�Full of Grace, a deeply expressive new choral album that moves between the intimate and the exultant. Drawing inspiration from sacred texts, ancient prayers, and moments of divine revelation, this collection weaves together contemporary choral writing with timeless spiritual themes. The album opens with the title track,�Full of Grace, a lyrical meditation on the Angel Gabriel's greeting to Mary and the incarnation. With warm harmonies and a memorable, flowing melody, the piece captures both the stillness and the awe of that encounter, while it's vibrant central section echoes the heavenly proclamation to the shepherds. At the heart of the album lies�The Damascus Sequence�- an 11-movement cantata chronicling Saul's dramatic conversion from persecutor to preacher, drawn closely from Acts 9. This narrative arc, from darkness to vision, turmoil to peace, is vividly painted in choral textures, duets, and solos. Tracks such as�Murderous Threats,�I am Jesus, and�Saul Sees and is Saved�reflect Woodhall's gift for text-setting and storytelling through music, bringing ancient scripture to life with a keen sense of pacing and atmosphere. Later in the album, Woodhall returns to the Nativity in�The Shepherds' Carol, a haunting and intimate new text that juxtaposes pastoral imagery with celestial wonder. His setting of�Ave Verum Corpus�and�Ave Maria�offers fresh interpretations of these enduring texts, while the final track,�Light from Light, closes the album with a vision of hope and illumination - a reflection on divine presence in the world. Rooted in the choral tradition yet unmistakably contemporary,�Full of Grace�is a compelling addition to the sacred repertoire. It's accessible yet distinctive language will resonate with listeners who appreciate the choral music of James MacMillan, John Tavener, and Morten Lauridsen. For broadcasters, curators, and critics,�Full of Grace�offers music that is both spiritually resonant and musically rewarding - ideal for sacred seasons, reflective programming, and those seeking new choral music that speaks with clarity and depth.

These late works by Brahms are like a testament. But what is this secretive man revealing to us here? Or rather, what is he still trying to hide? Hiding it until the very end, arousing in us an irresistible desire to guess what it is? Perhaps that is where the beauty of these scores lies. - Piotr Anderzewski. A short album, a selection of jewels from Brahms' Late Piano works (Op. 116 to 119, with Op. 119 No.4 being the last piano piece Brahms ever wrote) presented in a carefully chosen order. Op. 116 to 118 represent the composer's late piano works, written during the final decade of his life. Here we find a more mature, intimate and subtle Brahms, far removed from the roaring Romanticism of his earlier works.

The German composer Johanna Senfter was a student of Max Reger, who recognized her musical talent and encouraged her to pursue advanced studies in his composition class in Leipzig, which she completed with distinction in 1909. In 1910, she was awarded the Arthur Nikisch Prize for the best student composition of the year. Born into a well-to-do industrial family, she was financially independent and able to devote herself entirely to her creative work throughout her life. In addition to numerous chamber music pieces, she left behind nine symphonies. From the youthful Sturm und Drang of her first symphony (1914) to the thoughtfully moving ninth (1949), composed after two world wars, the development of her musical language can be discovered here with this world premiere recording.

This CD recording with flutist Anne Pustlauk is an experiment: For about 15 years, she has been researching flute performance practices in the early and late 19th centuries, which differ greatly from our performance practices today. It is not only the historical instruments that make the difference; the playing style of that time is also extremely rare today. Together with L'arpa festante under Korneel Bernolet, Anne Pustlauk searches for new forms of expression without copying a specific playing style of that time. The artists demonstrate this impressively with the famous Flute Concerto, Op. 283, by Carl Reinicke and Peter Benoit's Symphonic Poem, Op. 43A, from 1865. The program also includes Ferdinand Langer's Flute Concerto in G minor, which he composed for his friend and colleague at the Mannheim Court Theater, Franz Neuhofer (a student of the famous flute maker Theobald Boehm), who held the position of principal flutist in the orchestra there.

Franz Danzi has gone down in music history and into the repertoire of countless ensembles as a prolific and ingenious composer of appealing wind quintets. The fact that this genre represents only a fraction of his highly diverse catalogue of works is often overlooked, for Danzi was among those luminaries of the "transitional era" who did not satisfy the general preference for clich�s. Heir to the Mannheim tradition on the one hand, visionary of the dawning Romantic era on the other; admirer of Mozart and kindred spirit of Weber; obedient court musician and quiet rebel-this combination makes for some anachronistic surprises: how else could anyone have written these classical, delicate Rococo trios, while in Vienna a certain Beethoven was pushing the boundaries of what was possible? Danzi could, and how!

Steve Elcock - UK-born (in 1957) but long since based in France - was recently hailed by a fellow composer in the American magazine Fanfare as 'the greatest living symphonist'. All eleven of those he has composed to date are, in various ways, concerned with the large-scale accumulation and dissipation of tension, rather in the manner of the later Nielsen symphonies - the half-hour span of his Fourth Symphony also reconciling tonality and atonality in it's wild and energetic arch. Elcock is fond of bringing popular elements into his music, and elements of folk-dance duly animate his Viola Concerto. These major works are book-ended here by two big-hearted orchestral showpieces that could become audience favourites in the fullness of time

This 19th volume of Haydn's complete symphonies coincides with the 40th anniversary of Il Giardino Armonico, the ensemble created and conducted by Giovanni Antonini, artistic director of the Haydn 2032 series. Il Giardino has made it's mark on the baroque world with it's revolutionary approach to Vivaldi, but Haydn has long been part of the Italian group's history, and Symphony No. 44, featured in this volume, was the first work by Haydn performed by the ensemble and Antonini. The title of this symphony, known as the "Funeral Symphony", inspired the inclusion in this programme of Scheidt's Paduana Dolorosa, published in 1621 at the beginning of the bloody Thirty Years' War, and Arvo Part's Da pacem Domine, dedicated to the memory of the victims of the 2004 Madrid train bombings: 'It's contemplative fixity and the sad Paduana dolorosa take on an almost cathartic function which, in my opinion, shows a perfect integration between music that is so stylistically and chronologically distant,' says Antonini, who also conducts Symphonies Nos. 108 (1762) and 52 (1771).

Led by it's Director Matthew Martin, The Choir of Gonville & Caius College, Cambridge, joins forces with the Academy of Ancient Music in Michael Haydn's rarely heard masterpieces: the Requiem and Missa Sancti Hieronymi. The four soloists are all ex-choral scholars of Caius Choir, showcasing the distinguished musical tradition of this student group. Unjustly neglected, Joseph Haydn's younger brother was a talented composer in his own right. Written after the death of his infant daughter and his patron, the deeply emotional Requiem is a masterpiece that combines complex colourful textures and forms with imaginative orchestration and vocal writing. Mozart was a great admirer and it is thought that Haydn's Requiem formed the prototype for his own better known masterpiece. In contrast, the later Missa Sancti Hieronymi is lighter and more optimistic. Unusually scored for oboes, bassoons, trombones and continuo (with no upper strings), it exudes transparency and joyful energy. This recording will undoubtedly put these neglected works back into mainstream repertoire.

From the tenderness of Faur�'s songs to the famous Sonata by Franck, via Honnor�, B�sser and Enescu, the viola here champions the French School in it's widest sense: full of lyricism, sophistication and intensity, here is a program to match the abilities of Timothy Ridout and his partner at the piano, Jonathan Ware.

Two composers. Two bassoonists. Two premieres. One big musical feast. The bassoon as a solo instrument does not appear all that often in the concerto literature, but a concerto for two bassoons is truly rare, being something that could arise only in the environment of an ensemble that possessed two soloists on that instrument. One such double concerto has been played for many years under the name of the important Czech composer Jan Krtitel Vanhal. But what if it had really been composed by someone else? The question has been raised by Ondrej sindelar, a player of the classical bassoon, who has found the same concerto bearing the name of Anton Zimmermann in one of Prague's archives. The two works differ from each other only in the slow movement. Theft? Plagiarism? A copyist's error? Collegial assistance? We are left with the unsolved mysteries of authorship and of whether the two masters may have met. Vanhal's travels took him from Hradec Kralove to Vienna, Italy, Hungary, and Croatia. Having established himself professionally in Hradec Kralove, Zimmermann went on to a successful career in Pressburg (Bratislava) in the service of Archbishop Jozef Batthyany. What is important, however, is that Ondrej sindelar has now joined his former teacher, the bassoon wizard Sergio Azzolini, to record Zimmermann's version of the double concerto in it's world premiere, supplemented by a solo concerto by Zimmermann (another premiere) and one of Vanhal's three preserved concertos. Noteworthy music that is previously undiscovered in the hands of wonderful soloists and orchestra - that's a real musical feast.

Antonio Vivaldi (1678-1741) was an Italian Baroque composer, virtuoso violinist, and priest, best known for his dynamic instrumental concertos and innovative orchestral writing. Born in Venice, Vivaldi was trained in both music and theology, eventually becoming a violin teacher and composer at the Ospedale della Piet�, an orphanage for girls with an exceptional music program. His tenure there produced many of his finest instrumental works and helped shape the distinctive Venetian Baroque style. Vivaldi's concertos revolutionized instrumental music by exploring the expressive and technical possibilities of each instrument. His violin concertos expanded the concerto form, using clear contrasts between soloist and orchestra and developing the ritornello structure that would influence composers such as J.S. Bach. His flute concertos, composed later in his career, demonstrate his sensitivity to the instrument's lyrical qualities and agility. These concertos were among the earliest significant contributions to the flute repertoire and reflect the growing popularity of the transverse flute in the early 18th century. Vivaldi also wrote around 40 bassoon concertos, an unprecedented number for the time. These works reveal his deep understanding of the instrument's expressive range, from playful and energetic to dark and solemn. They remain central to the bassoon's solo literature today. This new recording presents the first recording of concertos which missed certain movements, and which are completed by reconstructing from existing musical materials, by Alessandro Ciccolini, achieving cohesive and stylistically faithful reconstructions. Ciccolini has already works extensively reconstructing Vivaldi operas, for publication by Barenreiter and Boosey & Hawkes, and performed by Alan Curtis for DG. Played by Tommaso Rossi (flute solo), Alessandro Ciccolini (violin solo & conductor), Giovanni Battista Graziadio (bassoon solo) and the Compagnia de Violini.

The largest amount of organ music that has survived from earlier members of Johann Sebastian Bach's family was penned by Johann Michael Bach (1648-1694), a cousin of J.S. Bach's father and also the father of Maria Barbara, J.S. Bach's first wife. It is a collection of chorale preludes spread out over the liturgical year, although it is not possible to state that the collection is as ambitious and complete as that of Johann Sebastian's own (incomplete) Orgelb�chlein. The majority of these chorales can be found in the Neumeister Collection; this also contains a number of Johann Sebastian's early works that bear clear links to compositions by his first father-in-law.

Giya Kancheli, one of Georgia's most eminent composers, became increasingly famous after the advent of glasnost in the Soviet Union, when his works, not least his seven symphonies, were heard internationally. Around the year 2000 Kancheli shifted away from the opulence of these pieces and moved towards a more restrained, introspective vein, which is exemplified by the three works on this album. Elements of folk and traditional music can be glimpsed in the abstract Ex contrario, while Middelheim is striking for it's overlapping succession of episodes. Tsutisopeli was Kancheli's final score.

A Tree Is a Song presents first recordings of a collection of recent secular choral works by Cecilia McDowall, performed by The Rodolfus Choir under Ralph Allwood and Elinor Cooper. Written between 2012 and 2024, the programme sets texts by poets including Heather Lane, Se�n Street, Kate Wakeling, Sheila Bryer, Virginia Woolf, and Shakespeare. Several works feature obbligato cello played by Leo Popplewell. The pieces respond to a wide range of subjects, from nature and community to remembrance and the COVID-19 pandemic. Recorded in London in 2024, the album documents McDowall's distinctive approach to text setting, choral texture, and contemporary vocal writing.