Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music

A beautiful collection of songs, Only a Singing Bird features Michael Head's best-known works, The Ships of Arcady and The Little Road to Bethlehem, as well as his beautifully-imagined, nostalgic song-cycle, Snowbirds. NYCoS National Girls Choir is joined by it's patron and world renowned mezzo soprano, Karen Cargill for this incredible new recording.

Early music consort Contrapunctus returns on Signum for their second release in the series centered on music of the Baldwin Partbooks. John Baldwin was a member of the choir of St. George's chapel, Windsor, and his transcriptions during the 1570's and 80's create one of the greatest surviving collections of Marian polyphony, composed during the reigns of Henry VIII and Mary Tudor. This volume explores texts celebrating Mary as Mother of God, and on the Virgin and her child. Contrapunctus, led by Owen Rees, couple powerful interpretations with pioneering scholarship. Currently Vocal Consort in Residence at Oxford University, the ensemble's first two recordings, Libera nos and In the Midst of Life, were both shortlisted for the Gramophone Early Music Award.

Classical Music

On a new disc to celebrate the 2012 Diamond Jubilee, the King's Singers present a selection of works from the past 500 years written in honor of the great Monarchs of Britain. Starting with works for (and in some cases by) Henry VIII, the program covers the Elizabethan 'Triumphs of Oriana' by composers such as Gibbons, Mundy and Dowland; a very Victorian selection of dedicatory works by Elgar, Parry and Parratt; choral arrangements from the opera 'Glorianna' by Benjamin Britten; and a new piece by Paul Drayton that comically pens 'A Rough Guide to the Royal Succession'. (Drayton is perhaps best known to fans of the King's Singers as the composer of their much-loved encore work Masterpiece.)

The Rodolfus Choir mark both Benjamin Britten's centenary year and the 30th anniversary of the choir's first concert with this new program of works by both composers. The disc includes the premiere recording of Paul Mealor's Praise that was commissioned especially for the Rodolfus Choir.

Simon Desbruslais returns to recording on Signum with an album that continues to expand the repertoire of the trumpet even further, with four new commissions for Trumpet, Piano and String Orchestra. Toby Young’s The Art of Dancing is described by the composer as being ‘a modern homage to the baroque dance suite’, drawing inspiration from modern dance music styles including Acid House, Garage and Drum & Bass. Geoffrey Gordon’s Saint Blue is inspired by the visionary artist Wassily Kandinsky, creating a double concerto with a remarkable jazz-inspired cadenza between the trumpet, piano and double bass. Deborah Pritchard’s Seven Halts on the Somme responds to the series of oil paintings by artist Hughie O’Donoghue that mark seven stopping points for British troops during the Battle of the Somme – one of the most bloody conflicts of the First World War. Finally, Nimrod Borensteins’ Concerto for Piano, Trumpet and String Orchestra juxtaposes rhythms to create a multiplicity of different atmospheres in this highly effective and powerful work. For these premiere recordings Simon Desbruslais performs with pianist Clare Hammond, accompanied by the English String Orchestra under Kenneth Woods

A lasting love affair with the clarinet amongst composers from the dawn until the dusk of the Romantic era (i.e. from Schubert to Strauss) is the key takeaway of this Signum release. In recognition, a trio of leading British soloists - clarinetist Julian Bliss, soprano Ailish Tynan and pianist Christopher Glynn - perform a sumptuous selection of the era's chamber music by Brahms, Chopin, Schubert, Schumann and Richard Strauss. The program is centered around Schubert's iconic The Shepherd on the Rock, virtually the final complete work that Schubert composed before his tragic death in 1828, age 31.

Classical Music

On their premiere recording, the Old Royal Naval College Trinity Laban Chapel Choir, directed by celebrated choral conductor Ralph Allwood, perform the works of British Choral Award winner Roderick Williams. Based in Greenwich, East London the choir is comprised of both students from the conservatoire (including several choral scholars) as well as outstanding volunteer singers. It is unique amongst cathedral, church and collegiate choirs in the UK in that it has ready access to the wide range of musical resources at the Conservatoire, collaborating frequently in a wide variety of genres as well as performing for services at the beautiful 18th Century Chapel of St Peter & St Paul. As well as being renowned as a singer Roderick Williams is also well-respected as a composer, and his works have been premiered at the Wigmore and Barbican Halls, the Purcell Room and live on national radio.

Lewis Wright is an award-winning British vibraphonist, composer and drummer based in London. As a vibraphonist, he was nominated for Rising Star in the 2016 Downbeat International Critics Poll, was awarded Ensemble of the Year in the 2016 Parliamentary Jazz Awards with Empirical, and was awarded the Worshipful Company of Musicians prize in 2011. He has performed at venues such as the Sydney Opera House, the Royal Albert Hall and has been a featured soloist with Wynton Marsalis and the Jazz at Lincoln Centre Orchestra. For his debut recording he is joined by British piano virtuoso Kit Downes for an album of his own works: "There is limited material for vibraphone and piano (especially for improvising musicians), which has the potential to be so rhythmically interesting and polyphonically grand. I set out to compose pieces that showcase the instruments and are built around the language of the musicians. The right pianist, who can speak in this particular dialect of improvisation and has similar taste in the moment, was an obvious choice. Kit and I have known each other and played together since childhood and we share many influences, musical and otherwise." (Lewis Wright, 2018)

Classical Music