This captivating album was originally conceived by horn players Stephen Stirling and Tony Halstead (the latter a superb pianist), who had located Dennis Brain's personal collection of music (now owned and curated by lawyer and horn player Mark Andrews.) During his all too short life, Dennis Brain accumulated a unique and fascinating collection of horn concertos, music for horn and piano, chamber music and scores. Many of these had been sent to him by the composers, whilst other music was acquired himself. The music in this recording contains English, French and German repertoire for horn and piano (plus a violinist in one item) that is largely and unjustifiably unknown, and in most cases previously unrecorded, giving a delightful and superbly performed 78 minutes' worth of listening.

We are very pleased to announce a new recording from MPR of music for string orchestra entitled 'Palace Premieres', with the Countess of Wessex's String Orchestra. The playlist consists of hitherto unrecorded music performed during Royal Investitures (where honors are bestowed by Her Majesty the Queen or by one of her close family) and includes works such as Suite: In Rural England by Thomas Dunhill, Shepherd's Delight by Alec Rowley, Pastoral Scene by Frederic Curzon, Fragment for Strings by Bertram Walton O'Donnell, Nocturne by WH Speer, In Georgian Days by Roger Quilter, Rivers of Devon Suite by Ernest Markham Lee and a number of beautiful light music arrangements for strings of folk songs. We have also included as a 'bonus' a suite of Seven Pieces by Giles Farnaby, arranged by Bantock. We recorded the latter only to discover that in fact it has already been recorded but only once to our knowledge and we decided that as it is such good material we just had to include it. The Countess of Wessex's String Orchestra is very sensitively directed by Major David Hammond, a truly fine musician. The orchestra consists of the best string players in the Army who are very fine and highly trained musicians. The quality of playing is really excellent and the performances committed. The album was recorded in the sumptuous acoustic of the Guards Chapel in London and the recording engineer is the legendary Tony Faulkner. Mike Purton was producer and editor and we recommend this recording to anyone who loves British music of a certain period (see above). Lee's 'Rivers of Devon' Suite is very Elgarian, Speer's little 'Nocturne' brings to mind Wagner’s 'Siegfried Idyll' and you can see from many of the titles that spirit of Rural Englandis frequently invoked. This recording has been made in collaboration with the Corps of Army Music Trust.

Leonard Salzedo (1921 - 2000) was born in London, studied at the Royal College of Music and lived in the south east of England all his life. A talented violinist, he was a member of the London Philharmonic and then the Royal Philharmonic Orchestras but later turned his hand to conducting. A prolific composer all his life, Salzedo wrote for a multitude of genres, from unaccompanied works to symphonies, large film scores and ballet. Salzedo was particularly proud of his String Quartets (of which there are 10). Unsurprisingly, his String Quartets are very listenable and indeed fascinating, revealing Salzedo's Sephardic Jewish ancestry and indeed a distinct influence of Sibelius, whose music he adored. These quartets are a must for any listener who enjoys string quartets and indeed English music with a distinctive and engaging voice. All works on this album are world premiere recordings and are performed with great character by the excellent Archaeus Quartet, great advocates of Salzedo's music.

Released in the 100th Anniversary year of Sir Hubert Hastings Parry's death, this is the first ever recording of his complete music for string quartet. Although the mighty Quartet no. 3 has been published and recorded once, Quartets 1&2 have languished unperformed and certainly unrecorded for many years. The early quartets are very much influenced by Mendelssohn and are quite delightful; the charming Scherzo in C, which Parry did not complete one hundred percent, is fully realized in an edition by Professor Jeremy Dibble (who also provided a performing version of Quartet no. 2), without whose invaluable help this recording would not have taken place. This double album was recorded in November 2017 in the Church of St. Mary the Virgin, Salehurst, East Sussex and the recording engineer was once again the superb Tony Faulkner. This recording is an absolute must for lovers of English music but also for those who enjoy early 'Romantic' chamber music and is a fascinating document of how Parry's voice as a composer developed over the years. Utterly amazing that these pieces have been overlooked, it's now time for them to be brought out into the sunshine!

MPR presents the world premiere recordings of chamber music by the forgotten English genius Percy Hilder Miles. This first volume showcases his Sonata in C for Pianoforte and Violoncello, Sonata No. 2 in G major for Pianoforte and Violin, and the Piano Trio in B minor. (MPR)