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.

SOMM Recordings continues it's long collaboration with pianist Leon McCawley, named "one of today's most impeccably musical pianists" by International Piano. His past recordings for SOMM include much-admired releases of piano music by Chopin; Barber (Critics' Choice in Gramophone); Brahms (Classic FM CD of the Week); Schumann; Rachmaninoff Complete Preludes; Haydn Sonatas and Variations (awarded a Diapason d'Or); Schubert; three further volumes of Haydn Sonatas; and the 2024 release Natural Connection, about which Gramophone wrote: "This scintillatingly varied recital combines sensuous virtuosity, compelling charm and musical probity. Highly recommended." In this recital McCawley presents some of his old favourites by composer-pianists Liszt, Beethoven, Chopin, and Franck. While the recital focuses on 19th century composers, the programme begins and ends with a nod to J.S. Bach. Among Bach's works that Franz Liszt revered were his six organ preludes and fugues. In transcribing them for piano, Liszt became a major influence on later arrangers. Heard here is the first in the set, Prelude and Fugue in A minor. The Piano Sonata in C major, Op. 53, "The Waldstein," by Beethoven-dedicated to his friend and patron, Count Ferdinand von Waldstein-comes from his aptly named "Heroic" period. It was written in 1804, two years after the watershed moment of his Heiligenstadt Testament, when he had contemplated suicide because of his encroaching deafness, but instead made the profound choice to channel his despair into a bold new musical style. The "Waldstein" Sonata is a vivid expression of this newfound path and of Beethoven's ability to transcend personal adversity to create ground-breaking works of deep complexity. One of the renowned "out-takes" of musical history is Beethoven's Andante favori. He originally intended it as the slow movement of his "Waldstein" Sonata, but he substituted it with a shorter adagio labelled "Introduzione." He had formed an attachment to the piece, though, and he published it as a stand-alone work, including it frequently in subsequent recitals. In an engaging piece of programming, Leon McCawley pairs it here with the "Waldstein" Sonata. Two introspective works by Chopin follow. The Berceuse is a series of continuous contemplations on a simple, nocturne-like theme. In the Barcarolle, Chopin's affinity to the bel canto operatic style is strongly apparent, especially in the beautiful, florid figurations in the right hand. Leon McCawley closes his beautifully curated recital with the Pr�lude, Choral et Fugue for solo piano by C�sar Franck. Franck was trained as a pianist, but he served as an organist at Paris's Sainte-Clotilde Church from 1858 until his death in 1890. Inspired by the rich, orchestral sound of the Cavaill�-Coll organ there, he developed a grandiose, improvisatory style of keyboard writing that was harmonically influenced by Bach but thoroughly romantic in expression.

Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music

Christmas