The Glière Harp Concerto has always been a favorite among harp enthusiasts, though being written in the 1930’s the work’s stylistic features are redolent of both the Viennese classical style united with Russian romantic nationalism. This disc highlights the extraordinary talent of the young Official Harpist to H.R.H. the Prince of Wales, Claire Jones.

Claire has performed for members of the Royal Family on more then 70 occasions and has recently performed a brand new Royal Commission by Patrick Hawes at Highgrove House with the Philharmonia Orchestra.

She is joined by renowned flautist William Bennet OBE, and the English Chamber Orchestra to complete the release with Mozart’s Concerto for flute, harp and orchestra and Debussy’s Danses pour Harpe Chromatique.

James Rhodes has no formal academic musical education or dedicated mentoring. The title of the debut album “Razor Blades Little Pills and Big Pianos”, hints at the suffering that dogged Rhodes’s childhood and early adult life. Classical music became his solace and key to his survival. It was Bach, Beethoven and Chopin, not Faith Hope and Charity, that offered comfort. In 1993, mental health issues stopped him taking up a scholarship to the Guildhall. Suffering further setbacks due to health issues it was not until 2008, when Rhodes met his present manager, Denis Blais, that he was encouraged to record his first album. This enabled him to bare his soul and put many of the ghosts of the past to rest. With Blais, Rhodes also created a distinctive and unique approach to how the classical piano repertoire should be presented. Uncomfortable with the austere and traditional ‘white tie and tails’ recital they decided it was time for the performer to communicate directly with the audience. Rhodes was going to introduce his own programme notes and share what it takes to perform these works of art using fascinating anecdotes about the composers and his own life experience. Delivered in his unique trademark stand-up style he creates an immersive experience that has won him and classical music a dedicated new following. His new album, presented here, shows the same no-holds-barred approach to these time-honored classics.

The Philharmonia Orchestra is widely recognised as the UK's finest orchestra with an impressive recording legacy, this being their ninth release with Signum Records. This disc combines the Philharmonia's renowned sound with the leadership of Maestro Davis, whose recording and performing career spans through all the great orchestras of the world.

Drawn from across the composer's lengthy career, this collection of Part-Songs and Choral Works explores the great variety and range within Elgar's work for choir and voices. Along with more well-known works such as Love and Deep in my Soul there are early pieces such as O Salutaris hostia (composed for small amateur choirs) that give hints of his later mature style, through to the 1928 piece I sing the Birth - a work that shows Elgar's ability to adapt to more contemporary styles of 20th-century choral composition. The Rodolfus Choir have established themselves as one of the leading youth choirs in Britain, made up of singers aged from 16 to 25 who have been chosen from past and present members of the Eton Choral Courses for prospective choral scholars. Many members of the Choir are choral scholars, some are at music college, and most hope to make a career in music. The Rodolfus Choir and Ralph Allwood are well-known for imaginative programming, and for presenting new music. The Rodolfus Choir's recent CD recordings with Signum include music as diverse as Howells, Monteverdi, Grier, Tallis and the German Romantics. 'One can only marvel at the group's remarkable collective skill and cohesion' fanfare magazine

Drawn from exceptional musicians from across the continent, the orchestra is part of the Chineke! Foundation - a non-profit organization that provides career opportunities to young Black and Minority Ethnic classical musicians in the UK and Europe. Their motto is ''Championing Change and Celebrating Diversity in Classical Music.'' The orchestra is the brainchild of Chi-chi Nwanoku MBE, Fram, who describes the project's aim as being ''...to create a space where BME musicians can walk on stage and know that they belong, in every sense of the word. If eve one BME child feels that their color is getting in the way of their musical ambitions, then I hope to inspire them, give them a platform, and show them that music, of whatever kind, is for all people.'' In this first release in a new series, Chineke! orchestra perform two beguiling works - Sibelius's Finlandia and Dvorak's much-loved Symphony No. 9 ''From the New World''. Both pieces encompass different aspects of BME influences in Western Classical music: Sibelius's Finlandia embodied a national sentiment in both the composer's homeland of Finalnd as well as for other small nations seeking to free themselves from subjugation from other countries, and although underplayed by critics at the time, Dvorak's work rings with melodies influenced by the folk music and spirituals sung to him by his African-American student and assistant, Harry Burleigh, and with rhythms and pentatonic sections inspired by the music of the Sioux Indians, all wrapped up in the format of a Western Classical symphony.

Although the music of Dufay is no stranger to CD--groups such as Pomerium, the Binchois Consort, Gothic Voices, and Orlando Consort all have devoted discs to his masses and motets--this offering by The Clerk's Group, featuring selections from an important Italian manuscript known as Bologna Q15, provides a fascinating overview of both early and later works from this illustrious 15th century French composer. The hour-long program focuses on motets and mass movements that reveal a progression in Dufay's compositional style, from the rather square motet Vasilissa, ergo gaude (the composer's "earliest datable work") to the complex rhythms and free ornamentation of O gemma, lux et speculum and the sophisticated structure and highly developed melodic/harmonic relationships of the Credo (manuscript No. 108).

If you're an early music fan, you'll be right at home with this mostly male ensemble's finely focused, reedy sound (there's one woman among the group's six members, veteran alto Lucy Ballard), and there's no letting down of energy or concentration throughout the longest phrases within individual motets or across the more extended mass movements. The closely recorded voices and overall bright sonic quality wears a bit after 15 or 20 minutes, but you can't fault the singing, which brings a vibrant, assured presence to these ancient works; and if you're looking for fine, clearly sung, stylistically conscientious performances, you really can't go wrong here.

--David Vernier, ClassicsToday.com

An impressive display of heartfelt grief.

When Princess Diana died in 1997 foreign observers were astonished at the public expression of grief. They hadn't expected that from the British, with their famous stiff upper lip. It was considered a sign of the times that people were not ashamed to show their emotions. But apparently there was a precedent in history. In 1612 Prince Henry, the eldest son of King James I, died at the age of just 18. "Certainly the flood of written memorials - epistolary, poetic and musical - which followed his unexpected death and which outnumbered those penned for Queen Elizabeth nine years previously, and the vast crowd of mourners which attended the prince's body on its final journey to Westminster Abbey, attest to the hope which the people had invested in this young man", Gabriel Crouch writes in his liner-notes.

This disc presents a selection of pieces which for the occasion. It is a small selection, since more than 100 poems and more than 40 compositions were written in connection with Henry's death. In addition to pieces which are specifically related to Prince Henry, as his name appears in the dedication or in the text itself, a number are sung which could be linked to this event. Most prominent among these are compositions on the text of the lament of King David for his son Absalom. Gabriel Crouch acknowledges that "the evidence linking it to Henry's death, though compelling, is only circumstantial".

The analogy is inspired by the fact that there was clear disharmony between James and Henry, and there were even rumours about Henry being poisoned by agents working for his father. The identification of Henry and Absalom is not very plausible, though. According to the Bible Absalom was a rebel who plotted against David, the Lord's Anointed, and also his character isn't pictured very favourably. It is very unlikely that the composers whose pieces are an expression of admiration for Prince Henry would compare him to Absalom. The identification of James and David - because of the above-mentioned rumours - isn't plausible either: David specifically ordered his army not to kill Absalom, and it was his general Joab who ignored his order.

The programme also contains pieces on the text of David's lament for his friend Jonathan. There were rumours that James preferred the company of young men over his wife, and Crouch mentions that "some commentators (...) assert that the two young men [David and Jonathan] were lovers", "so perhaps the use of this story of loss and grief from earlier in David's life could be seen as another opportunistic barb to throw at the unpopular king". But to which commentators Crouch does refer? Modern writers have expressed this view, but I am pretty sure this interpretation was absent in the early 17th century. Moreover, where is Henry in this explanation? Wasn't this music written in honour of him? Why would pieces expressing grief about his death be used to throw barbs at his father?

There is really no reason to look for explanations like that. These texts have been frequently used by composers in the renaissance and baroque to express grief. The simple reason is that they are highly expressive and moving, and that in those times everyone knew these texts by heart and also their biblical context. That made them very appropriate to express the grief at Prince Henry's death.

That justifies the inclusion of the various settings of David's lament over Absalom by Robert Ramsey, Thomas Weelkes, Richard Dering and Thomas Tomkins, whether they were specifically written at the occasion of Henry's death or not. All of them are strongly expressive. Whereas Weelkes and Tomkins belong to the standard repertoire of English polyphony, Robert Ramsey is far less known. He was organist and master of the choristers at Trinity College in Cambridge from 1615 until his death in 1644. In his compositions as well as in some others on this disc the influence of the Italian style of the early 17th century is noticeable. And that is reflected in the performance, which includes dynamic gradation, for instance at the words "and wept" and at "o my son" (When David heard). The pieces by Dering are also not that well-known, and in particular his motet, Contristatus est David, the only piece on a Latin text in the programme. The word "flevit" (wept) is set to strong dissonances.

Robert Ramsey also composed a piece on the text of the lament of David over Jonathan, How are the Mighty Fall'n. He and Thomas Weelkes, in O Jonathan, Woe is me, concentrate on David's lament, whereas Thomas Tomkins' Then David Mourned contains just one line from the Biblical text: "Then David mourned with this lamentation over Saul, and over Jonathan his son".

The other pieces were specifically written on the occasion of Prince Henry's death. John Coprario even devoted a cycle of seven Songs of Mourning to this event. Every stanza is dedicated to those who grieved over Henry's death. Four of them are performed: O Grief, "to the most sacred King James", So Parted You, "to the most princely and virtuous Elizabeth" (sister of Henry), When Pale Famine, "to the most disconsolate Great Britain", and O Poor distracted World, "to the World". They are for solo voice and lute, and they are sung with great sensitivity by four members of Gallicantus: Amy Moore, Mark Chambers, Matthew Long and Gabriel Crouch respectively. There are other pieces for solo voices: Robert Ramsey's What tears, dear Prince? is sung by Christopher Watson, Melpomene, Bewail by Clare Wilkinson and Mark Chambers. This piece ends with the words: "Farewell, the Muses' King". The word "farewell" is repeated a number of times, and the closing of this madrigal is highly expressive.

The other works are all polyphonic. The items by Thomas Ford, William Cranford and John Ward belong together. The former two are incomplete, and could only be recorded thanks to reconstructions by Francis Steele. One has to be grateful for that, because these two pieces - as well as Ward's - are very moving tributes to Henry. Cranford's Weep, weep Britons contains the line: "He whose triumphing name was loudly echoed by the trump of fame". It is set in a very evocative way, with fanfare motifs and repetitions suggesting an echo. Italian influences are traceable here as well. The last piece to be mentioned is again by Robert Ramsey, Sleep Fleshly Birth, which confirms the quality of his music. I would definitely like to hear more from him.

Gallicantus's first disc was devoted to music by Robert White, which greatly impressed me. This disc is of the same high standard. Gallicantus produces a beautiful sound, clear and well-balanced. They sing here with great sensitivity, and the expression of this mournful repertoire is fully explored. The Italian influences are also clearly notable. I have already indicated that the lute songs are beautifully sung. The singers are sparing in the addition of ornaments, and considering the character of the songs that is definitely right.

This disc is an impressive display of heartfelt grief. My advice: purchase this disc, let the music move you, and take the liner-notes with a grain of salt. The booklet includes the complete lyrics. The track-list doesn't give the dates of birth and death of the composers, which is a serious omission.

-- Johan van Veen, MusicWeb International

British composer Oliver Davis’s works have been described as being ‘’ (The Times) and having ‘pulsating rhythmic energy’ (Classic FM), and has been heard the world over through his frequent collaborations with ballet companies, from Edwaard Liang’s 13th Heaven which premiered in Singapore to Secrets, choreographed by Erico Montes and premiered by The Royal Ballet. In this new recording Liberty, Davis explores works for violin, soprano, strings and orchestra, working with a host of world-leading performers including violinist Kerenza Peacock, soprano Grace Davidson and cellist Katherine Jenkinson, all alongside the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra under the baton of Paul Bateman. Previous albums from Davis have been critically praised, entering in the top 10 in the UK specialist classical charts and becoming disc of the week on Classic FM and the Mail on Sunday and featuring in several ‘Best albums of the year’ listings.

Includes christmas carol(s) by various composers. Ensemble: BBC Singers. Conductor: Stephen Cleobury. Soloist: Robert Quinney.

Founded in 1973 by Trevor Pinnock, the English Concert has been a leading light in the performance of Baroque and Classical music for for over 40 years. Under their present Artistic Director Harry Bicket and with distinguished guest artists they continue to perform with the passion, sophistication and technical mastery established at their creation. Such is the commitment and passion that their players bring to every performance. Drawn not only from home-grown talent, The English Concert can boast a truly international cast of musicians. Soloists in their own right, and backed-up by scholarly knowledge of style and genre, the close-knit relationship between their musicians makes for a truly special blend of sound. This new recording features the talents of these soloists in performances of Concertii by Telemann, Marcello, Dall’Abaco, Tartini and Porpora.

Christmas Carols from Village Green to Church Choir could serve as an introduction to where Christmas carols came from and what kind of cultural background they represent. Conductor Andrew Gant has put together a program ranging from very simple versions of carols to arrangements from the 19th and 20th centuries (the church choir end of the continuum). Nothing departs far from the pieces' basic tonal structure, but there's a good deal of variety; nothing is repeated pedantically, and the program flows naturally. The young voices of the small (adult, mixed-gender) choir Vox Turturis... sound clean and natural. A recommended holiday item for anyone curious as to just what Christmas carols are.

– All Music Guide (James Manheim)

Includes ballad(s) by various composers. Ensemble: The Clerks' Group. Conductor: Edward Wickham.

The two works on this release are highly contrasting- Johannes Brahms’s Clarinet Quintet and David Bruce’s Gumboots. David Bruce describes his inspiration for Gumboots: “…it was born out of the brutal labour conditions in South Africa under Apartheid, in which black miners were chained together and wore Gumboots while they worked in the flooded gold mines… slapping the boots and chains was used by the workers as a form of communication which was otherwise banned… this later developed into a form of dance.” Clarinetist Julian Bliss performs here alongside the Carducci Quartet.

BRITTEN War Requiem • Paul McCreesh, cond; Susan Gritton (sop); John Mark Ainsley (ten); Christopher Maltman (bar); Gabrieli Young Singers’ Scheme; Trebles of the Ch of New College Oxford; Wroclaw P Ch; Gabrieli Consort & Players • SIGNUM 340 (2 CDs: 84: 05)


Time was when Paul McCreesh was considered a specialist—and a brilliant one—in the Baroque and Classical periods, primarily in operas and liturgical choral works. In the last two years, however, he has released four extraordinary recordings, three of which might seem, at least to the record collector, to be outside his domain: the Berlioz Grande Messe des Morts , Mendelssohn’s Elijah , and a collection of British choral works on loss and consolation, A Song of Farewell , featuring the Herbert Howells Requiem. (The only exception is a newly refined conjectural reconstruction of the 1595 coronation service for Doge Marino Grimani in Venice.) Now, for the Benjamin Britten centennial, he has produced a new studio recording of the incomparable War Requiem . Each of these large scale undertaking is an outgrowth of McCreesh’s association with the International Festival of Oratorio and Cantata Music in Wroclaw, Poland (Wratislavia Cantans) and each employs not only a much augmented Gabrieli Consort and Players, but also the very fine Wroclaw Philharmonic Choir. Those familiar with McCreesh’s earlier masterful shaping of the large musical canvasses of Berlioz and Mendelssohn with his hundreds of performers will know exactly what to expect here.


And in fact, from the hushed suspense of the opening of the Requiem aeternam , to the more gentle than usual beginning to an extraordinarily powerful Dies irae , on to a more accurate than typical Sed signifier sanctus Michael , and an explosive Hosanna in excelsis , McCreesh and his 175-voice adult choir combine huge dynamic range with precision and flawless balance, perfect intonation, and great depth and variety of tone. The equally fine youth choir is made up of trebles from the Choir of New College Oxford, as well as choirs from McCreesh’s educational project, the Gabrieli Young Singers’ Scheme: Chethams Chamber Choir, North East Youth Chorale, Taplow Youth Choir, and Ulster Youth Chamber Choir. From its first appearance in a perfectly judged halo of resonance, the distanced body of treble voices is touchingly angelic.


The full orchestral forces make an awesome commotion in all the right places, the brass especially impressive in the various apocalypses and dramatic explosions; the one with organ near the end of the Libera me gave me chills. However, the chamber music, with an ensemble of superb soloists, lingers just as long in memory, aided as they are by McCreesh’s willingness to suspend forward momentum, to focus more than customary attention on details in the settings of Owen’s poems. I do not know a recording that gives greater support to the soloists than this.


These soloists know how to use the opportunities afforded them. McCreesh opts for an all-British trio, rather than continuing the symbolic use of English, German, and Russian soloists. More than many tenor soloists, John Mark Ainsley manages to break the hold of the Peter Pears tradition in the solos, while still being true to the substance of the work. He sings “One ever hangs” with breathtaking beauty of tone, and finds great poignancy and palpable fury in “Move him into the sun.” Baritone Christopher Maltman does the same in “Bugles sang,” sounding little like Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau but matching him in text pointing and intelligence of phrasing, here and in a chillingly scornful “Be slowly lifted up.” Together, they are arresting in “So Abram rose,” aided by McCreesh’s perceptive pacing, as they had been in the earlier sardonic “Out there, we’ve walked.” Susan Gritton is not as piercingly imperious as Galina Vishnevskaya in the Sanctus or Libera me , but the beauty of her voice in the Benedictus and the concluding In paradisum is more than ample compensation. The two male soloists outdo themselves in the concluding scena, “It seemed that out of battle I escaped,” and if “Let us sleep now” does not reduce you to tears, nothing in music can.


My two small complaints seem almost churlish in the face of such perfection: first, the books in which this and all of McCreesh’s Signum/Winged Lion releases are issued are quite beautifully done—texts, intelligent notes, and striking illustrations—but the endsheet sleeves invite scratches and, as in my case, surface scuffs. There must certainly be a better way. The second is the decision to provide only six tracks for the entire work, one at each of the major divisions of the Mass. Maybe only critics making comparisons care, but it would have been simple to add more.


But enough, the essential question is, does this new recording supplant Britten’s own with the soloists for whom he wrote the work? Britten was a master conductor of his own music, so almost inevitably the answer is, well … no. And yet, so powerful is McCreesh’s performance, so insightful the interpretive choices, so fine the soloists, and so clear and dynamic the recording, it would be hard indeed to have to choose between this and the original. Adding to the dilemma, Decca has just remastered the 1963 Britten recording from the master tapes—described as increasingly fragile—for its comprehensive anniversary issue and has made yet another incremental improvement in the transfer of the always fine Culshaw production. I recommend having both in the collection—this is, after all, no different than having multiple Beethoven symphony sets—and for the truly devoted, add Noseda’s hyper-dramatic performance on LSO Live and Rilling’s on Hänssler. There are other fine performances of this masterpiece, but these four—and definitely this new one—now define summa cum laude.

FANFARE: Ronald E. Grames

Recorded live at the Royal Festival Hall's Southbank Centre, the Philharmonia Orchestra are led by Christoph von Dohnányi in these captivating live recordings of Brahms' Four Symphonies. This is a box set for SIGCD132 Brahms Symphony No. 2 and Symphony No. 4 and SIGCD250 Brahms Symphony No. 1 and Symphony No. 3. '.... these live performances are about subtle shading and unexaggerated, probing thoughtfulness, bringing out the classical rather than the romantic side of Brahms.' Classic FM magazine '.... a very sensitive interpreter ... the slow movement [of the first symphony] is very lyrical with some effective instrumental dovetailing and plenty of light and shade, and the finale generates an impressive sense of joyous release.' Gramophone magazine The Philharmonia Orchestra is widely recognised as the UK's finest orchestra with an impressive recording legacy. Christoph von Dohnanyi has been principle conductor of the Philharmonia since 1997 and was appointed Honorary Conductor for life in 2008.