This is an issue of considerable potential significance, the opening installment in what is planned as a complete recording of Telemann’s 1725/26 Harmonischer Gottes-Dienst, the first integral cycle of church cantatas for the liturgical year ever published. Ever the astute self-publicist, Telemann had first announced in the Hamburg press plans to publish a cycle of cantatas as early as 1723, but the late delivery of the texts by the poet, Pastor Michael Brandenburg, forced Telemann to turn to a new cycle, Harmonischer Gottes-Dienst. For this, he sought the help of various poets, but in the end employed texts that were mostly the work of a young Hamburg writer, Arnold Wilckens, who based them largely on the Epistle for the day.

Planned more with domestic than church use in mind, the 72 cantatas are chamber works scored for a single voice, an obbligato instrument (specified with characteristic pragmatism by the composer as “a violin, or oboe, or flute, or recorder”), and continuo. The earliest cantatas of the cycle, sold by subscription, were ready by the end of 1725, in time for the issue of the first in the cycle, the cantata for New Year’s Day. Numerous reprints and the number of published copies still extant testify to the success of the venture, a success that was doubtless responsible for Telemann issuing a second collection in 1731–32.

The first six cantatas to be issued in Toccata’s new series are all for high voice, and cover a wide range of the liturgical year. The claim that four cantatas (TWV 1:941, TWV 1:730, TWV 1:1502, and TWV 1:96) are first recordings is untrue, the first three being available in current recordings. Toccata has also got in a mess with their TWV numbering, giving Hemmet den Eifer the number of In gering (wrongly listed as TWV1:549) instead of its correct number, TWV1:730. Hemmet den Eifer is also erroneously listed on the cover as being for the First Sunday after Epiphany rather than the Fourth, although the booklet gets it right. Not an auspicious start for an ambitious series.

The form of each cantata is the same: opening and closing da capo arias framing a lengthy plain (or secco) recitative. The use of rhetorical gesture is a feature of the cantatas, either in obvious mimetic ways such as the graphic shakes on the word “regen” (“trembling”) in the opening aria of TWV1:1040, or with greater musical subtlety when the music of TWV 1: 1502’s first aria becomes disjointed to illustrate the impotence of mortal wisdom “to gain complete perfection.” Hemmet den Eifer starts in strikingly bold fashion with an aria demanding “Stifle your eagerness/banish revenge,” but the most dramatic music here is to be found in “Du bist verflucht” (“You are accursed”), the opening aria of TWV1:213 for the Fourth Sunday of Lent. Here a turbulent accompaniment underpins a colorfully declamatory text, the “voice of terror” inspiring a headlong chromatic descent in the voice, fearfully dogged by the recorder.

Mona Julsrud’s account of these six cantatas is generally very satisfying. She is a bright, agile soprano with a good technique that gets her around ornaments with ease, phrases musically, and sings with clarity and good diction. But on the debit side, the voice lacks distinctive color, and there’s a tendency for upper notes to sound “hooty.” She is well supported by the members of Bergen Barokk, although it might have provided greater interest had at least one of Telemann’s alternative obbligato instruments been employed rather than using a recorder throughout. Other than the solecisms noted above, the presentation is good, with a slipcase that includes the disc, and an informative 60-page booklet that deserves full credit for printing the relevant biblical text before each cantata. Good sound. Overall, this is a promising, if not perfect start to a project one wishes every success.

FANFARE: Brian Robins

RAMEAU Suites: No. 4 in A/a; No. 5 in G/g. La Dauphine. Les petits marteaux. RAMEAU-GUTMAN Pièces de clavecin en concerts: Concert No. 5 in D/d. RAMEAU-BALBASTRE Pigmalion: Giga • Stephen Gutman (pn) • TOCCATA 0052 (68:48)


I am always overjoyed to hear a new recording of Rameau’s keyboard music performed on the piano; it is a repertoire which I find completely underappreciated by most pianists today who favor the works of either Bach or Scarlatti for their recital programs. For whatever the inexplicable reasons, it is both their loss in playing this repertoire and ours in hearing it performed on an instrument capable of such tonal nuances as benefits this music. That said: This is the third and last of Stephen Gutman’s recordings of the complete keyboard music of this master, but only the first that I’ve heard. After playing this disc over and over again this month, I’ll be sure to run—not walk!—to my nearest shop to obtain the first two releases which I’ve missed out on thus far.


Luckily for me, Gutman here performs two of Rameau’s greatest keyboard suites—the one in A-Minor/Major, which ends with the virtuosic Gavotte with six variations (or doubles as he labels them), most likely modeled on the “Air and Variations” from Handel’s D-Minor Suite, and the one in G Major/Minor, which includes some of the most famous of Rameau’s excerpted pieces—“La poule,” “Les sauvages,” “L’enharmonique,” and “L’egiptienne,” among others. From the very first notes of the opening A-Minor Allemande, the pianist’s sense of exploration, his wide tonal palette, and his rhythmic freedom can all be heard to good advantage, along with his intimate and scholarly knowledge of these works—from correct ornamentation to matters of tempo. Importantly, the pianist looks to characterize each of these movements in their own particular way, and does so well—from the serious Courante to the intimate Sarabande, from the athletic and virtuosic “Les trois mains” to the exuberant and joyful “La triomphant.” Perhaps the only aspect I miss a bit comes in the concluding Gavotte, where just a bit more bombast could surely do no harm; here the minute characterization of each variation takes away from the inherent drive to the end which should pervade the entire set. As the following Suite in G is comprised of mostly named movements— à la Couperin—it benefits even more so from Gutman’s quick and profound characterization: “La poule,” being one of the best examples, demonstrates just how quickly he can portray these musical numbers. From the opening repeated-note gesture one is pulled in, only to be startled by the quick flourishes which drive the music forward. The ornaments found throughout the piece are hardly simple trills or mordents—rather, they are sounds of the hen herself. Though “Les sauvages” could be a bit more brutal in character, the pianist’s tendency to emphasize the gallant and graceful aspects in the music is in keeping with the age. “L’egiptienne” makes for a mysterious, yet rousing, conclusion.


The other works here include two transcriptions—one made by Gutman of the Concert No. 5 from the Pièces de clavecin en concerts , which includes three movements (“La Forqueray,” “La Cupis,” and “La Marais”) and the Giga from Pigmalion , possibly transcribed by one Claude-Bénigne Balbastre. Of the two works, the former is the more impressive piece, originally conceived, as is was, for a chamber ensemble of strings and keyboard; the opening work, “La Forqueray,” is actually a four-part fugue, which Gutman carefully choreographs for performance on a single keyboard—no small feat! While there are, of course, interesting little details left out, Gutman is careful to capture the most important aspects of the piece, in both transcription and performance.


Throughout this very fine recital Gutman proves himself a guide of the first order—not only does he understand this music both inside and out, he never allows the scholar in him to inhibit the performer; rather he uses the knowledge to bring out the best in this music. And while I may have my quibbles about matters of performance, there is hardly a movement in the entire recital that will not charm and delight the most judgmental of listeners. Recorded in generally good, though somewhat dry, sound and accompanied by excellent program notes (both by Graham Sadler and the pianist himself), this is a release to savor. Recommended.


FANFARE: Scott Noriega

Classical Music

The Czech-born composer Anton Reicha (1770–1836) was an exact contemporary of Beethoven, and his close friend from their mid-teens. The music of each man demonstrates an awareness of what the other was doing: they showed each other their compositions-in-progress. But although Reicha was closely associated with one of the best-known names in western culture, his own music has been grievously neglected: only his woodwind quintets have achieved any currency. Of his vast cycle of almost forty string quartets just one had been recorded before – an omission this ambitious project intends to put right, thereby revealing one of the most inventive and engaging spirits in classical music. - Toccata Classics

Classical Music

The Polish composer Moritz Moszkowski (1854–1925) is best remembered for a handful of virtuoso piano pieces, but he also produced a substantial body of orchestral music, most of it unperformed for decades. Astonishingly, he was only in his early twenties when he wrote his monumental ‘Symphonic Poem in Four Movements’ Johanna d’Arc – heard here in its first recording – a vast symphonic fresco depicting the life, death and transfiguration of the heroine of Friedrich Schiller’s 1801 play, Die Jungfrau von Orleans. Moszkowski admitted to the influence of Wagner and Raff on the work – but he also managed to prefigure the musical language of the Hollywood epics of sixty years later. As pianist, Ian Hobson has a long-standing relationship with Toccata Classics, and this is the fourth recording he has made in his alter ego as conductor – at the helm of the Sinfonia Varsovia, as with his previous albums, which uncovered the early orchestral music of Martinu. This is the first of a series of Ian Hobson recordings for Toccata Classics that will focus on Moszkowski’s piano and orchestral music.

Mykola Lysenko (1842–1912) is regarded as ‘the father of Ukrainian classical music’ but his music is virtually unknown outside his home country.

As did Bartók later in Hungary, Lysenko went out into the field, listened to what the people were singing and fashioned an individual musical language that brought together the styles of Chopin and Liszt and the essence of Ukrainian folksong.

This CD presents his complete output of music for violin and piano, the main piece being the popular Second Rhapsody on Ukrainian Themes also known as ‘Dumka-Shumka’.

It is complemented by Spring Kaleidoscope, a new work for violin and piano commissioned by the performers on this CD to display the lyrical riches of Lysenko’s vocal writing: it is a transcription for violin and piano by the Ukrainian composer Viktor Kaminsky of ten Lysenko songs.

This CD is launched together with another Toccata Classics CD, Mykola Lysenko – Piano Music: Volume One, also played .by Arthur Greene.

The booklet contains commentary in both English and Ukrainian.

Solomia Soroka, violin, studied in her native Ukraine and resides in the USA. She has recorded CDs of Leone Sinigaglia, Arthur Hartmann and Myroslav Skoryk for Toccata Classics, where one critic praised the ‘elegance and refinement’ of her playing, continuing that ‘the ensemble between her and Arthur Greene, a husband and wife team, is splendid’. Arthur Greene was born in New York and grew up in Sheffield, Mass.; he studied at Yale and Juilliard where he studied with Martin Canin. He now teaches at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor.

This is Garry Walker's third CD for Toccata Classics after two well-received releases of Havergal Brian works with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra. On this recording he explores Matthew Taylor's Viola Concerto, a work that "reinforced his status among the most significant living composers for string quartets" (International Record Review).

The Anglo Mexican Foundation celebrates it's 75th anniversary with this programme of three of it's recent commissions - from Mexican composers Alejandro Basulto and Arturo Márquez - joining the first recording of Márquez's harp concerto Máscaras, in an album that interleaves nocturnal warmth with an infectious spirit of dancing energy. Alejandro Basulto is a Mexican award-winning composer and orchestral conductor. His music is characterized by a profound Latin-American identity, a vibrant integration of contemporary popular culture, a continuous exploration of diverse techniques and the use of new narrative approaches. Arturo Marquez was born deep in the Sonoran desert in the colonial town of Alamos, Mexico. He currently works at the National University of Mexico, Superior School of Music and the National Center of Research, Documentation and Information of Mexican Music.

The American composer Arthur Farwell (1872–1952) is remembered as the leading member of a group of ‘Indianists’ who used Native American tribal melodies in their own compositions. In fact, Farwell’s stylistic range was much wider than is realized today, as this third album in Lisa Thomas’ pioneering survey of his piano music demonstrates. It reveals the influence of both Debussy and Skryabin, perhaps even Busoni and, in the two ‘Navajo War Dances’ here, intriguing parallels with Bartok. Farwell plainly had an imaginative mind with a sharp sense of keyboard drama, color, and atmosphere- and a sense of humor: which other composer ever wrote a ‘Laughing Piece?’ Lisa Cheryl Thomas graduated with a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in piano performance from the University of North Texas in 2010. She is herself of Native American stock, counting members of the Cherokee, Blackfoot, and Sioux tribes among her ancestors, and her doctoral thesis addressed ‘Native American Elements in Piano Repertoire by the Indianist and Present Day Native American Composers.’

The Czech-born pianist and writer August Stradal (1860–1930) – a Bruckner student and Liszt disciple– was one of the more prolific transcribers of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. He produced a vast quantity of phenomenally difficult piano music, including Liszt’s orchestral works, most of Bruckner’s symphonies, a good deal of the Baroque (a huge amount of Bach) and much more. This is the second in a series presenting his Wagner transcriptions, again featuring pianist Juan Guillermo Vizcarra. “Vizcarra makes a staggeringly powerful case for these transcriptions…” (Music Web Int’l)

Terrific stuff.

Shostakovich’s work for piano duet and duo may be of lower profile than his symphonies, string quartets and solo piano repertoire, but still contains some of his finest music. Recordings have emerged from the Northern Flowers label and elsewhere, but this Toccata Classics set seeks to go a considerable step further. Shostakovich’s routine habit for his orchestral works was to make a transcription for piano four hands, so that the music could be ‘tried out’, not only for his own use, but so that Communist Party officials could hear for themselves and decide if a new work was suited to the ideals of the party and therefore appropriate for public performance. This version of the Symphony No.9 was therefore almost certainly written alongside the orchestral score. The work was famously supposed to be a massive celebration of victory over the Nazis in 1945, but turned out to have an entirely different character. The piano duet version of this piece is a highlight of this disc as you might expect, and with an excellent performance and recording the work takes on an entirely new life in this setting. In short, it ‘works’ as a piano piece, with only a few passages during the slower movements and the extended build-up towards the end of the final movement where the sustaining quality and colourful impact of orchestral instruments are missed to a certain extent. Right from the moment where Vicky Yannoula and Jakob Fichert hammer out the accompaniment and bring out that witty theme at 0:48 into the first movement we know we’re in for a treat. Much of the music has been described as ‘Haydnesque’ or indeed light and bouncy in nature, at times bringing the nervy rhythms of Prokofiev to mind, and this is something which makes it sound as if written for the piano. The clarity of the bass lines, the variety of ‘oom-pah’ rhythms driving on terrifically and the exposed nature of the harmonies all work in excellent fashion, and the whole thing is a discovery and a feast for Shostakovich fans.
 
Lighter works and arrangements are of course part of the Shostakovich piano canon, and the waltz and polka numbers here are ‘pop’ pieces which entertain but needn’t delay us too long. Malcolm MacDonald’s booklet notes go into the origins of these pieces in some detail. That Polka from the Ballet Suite No. 2 is perhaps the most familiar, and as a litmus test shows how much fun the Yannoula and Fichert duo can make of these minor works. ‘The Chase’ from the film score to Korzikana’s Adventures is a magnificently daft romp.
 
For the works with two pianos we get a still very good but slightly different recorded perspective, and there are one or two minor tuning issues – a twangy effect in one of the upper notes with the piano already used for the duet pieces, and between the two instruments on occasion. Have a listen at 1:47 on the opening movement of the Suite and you’ll hopefully hear what I mean. These are actually quite minor issues, but can’t be left unmentioned. The Suite Op.6 is Shostakovich’s earliest surviving two-piano work, and pregnant with the emotions surrounding the sudden death of Dmitri’s father in February 1922. The chiming bells and romantic overtones are very nicely played here, placed effectively in Shostakovich’s early idiom, performed with warm sonority and without too much stretching of the phrases in the beautiful Nocturne, and conveying all of the rhythmic verve of the swifter movements.
 
The Concertino is a later work, written for Shostakovich’s son Maxim and having some of the character of his second Piano Concerto which was to come a few years later. This work has if anything the most orchestral character of all the pieces here, and the duo builds up huge volumes of sound in a highly effective performance.
 
With some fascinating piano duet versions of Shostakovich’s symphonies to look forward to this promises to be a series to collect. None of the performances here disappoint, the recording standard is high, and Vicky Yannoula and Jakob Fichert have the measure and spirit of all of this music very much at their fingertips.
 
-- Dominy Clements, MusicWeb International

Classical Music

Woldemar Bargiel was the half-brother of Clara Schumann, and given his interest in music, it is not surprising that he became part of the Schumann circle. His compositions were described as pale copies of the great composers, including his brother-in-law, which is perhaps unkind but not entirely unjustified. His later works resist the pull of the late-Romantics, such as Mahler and Strauss, looking to Brahms and back to Beethoven, Haydn and Schubert.

My first encounter with his music was fairly recent, as part of my survey of piano trios. Trio Parnassus have recorded his three piano trios on two MDG CDs, which are now difficult to obtain. You can obtain readily them as downloads, but they do not come with a booklet. I am generally resistant to this situation, especially where the composer is little known, but the samples of the trios that I heard were sufficiently encouraging to persuade me into a purchase. As far as I can tell, this is the first review on this site of Bargiel’s music.

The Prometheus overture was written while Bargiel was studying at Leipzig Conservatory. There is little doubt that it owes much to Beethoven’s similarly named overture, though Liszt’s tone poem Prometheus may also have had some influence. At over eighteen minutes, there is no doubt that it stretches its material too far, but it does have some splendid melodies. The orchestration is not as interesting as the other works presented here.

The premiere of Overture to a tragedy was conducted by Bargiel’s teacher, Julius Rietz, and led Hans von Bülow to write “Bargiel can claim the highest rank among Schumann’s followers after Joseph Joachim”. It was originally titled Overture to Romeo and Juliet, but changed before publication because it simply doesn’t have the emotional depth suited to the play. It has stylistic links to Schumann’s Manfred overture, but is a fine work in its right.

The Medea overture was his big success, with numerous performances around Germany and further afield, and led to his appointment as director of the music school in Rotterdam. The booklet links it to Schumann, though I more hear Mendelssohn. It builds from an ominously quiet opening into a series of increasingly dramatic surges, separated by short darkly lyrical moments. Personally, I prefer the Overture to a tragedy, but I can understand why it was so successful in its time.

The Symphony, with the exception of the second movement, is very much a case of “spot the influence”. The first movement, is very, very Beethovenian: imagine a blend of the fifth, sixth and seventh symphonies. Some of the melodies sound as though they are direct borrowings. The slow second movement is fortunately more original, though it does include what could be construed as a funeral march. It has a number of quite beautiful melodies, and some very appealing orchestral colours from the woodwinds and horns, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. The Menuett that follows might be mistaken for an abandoned Schubert piece, while the final Allegro molto owes much to Haydn, though as reorchestrated by Beethoven. Lest I sound too critical, it is worth bearing in mind that Brahms, only five years younger than Bargiel, had not completed his first symphony by this time, and when he did, there was obvious homage to Beethoven in it as well.

In its early days, Naxos was known for using journeyman orchestras from eastern Europe, but even they didn’t go as far as Toccata has done recently, with a number of recordings based in the Siberian city of Omsk. The orchestra goes by two names: the the Omsk Philharmonic Orchestra at home (and on their website) and the Siberian Symphony Orchestra abroad. The performances are well beyond serviceable – I very much doubt we are likely to get another recording of these works soon, but it would take one of the top orchestras to make much more of this music.

The booklet is written by Dean Cáceres, who has written a biography of Bargiel, and hence provides comprehensive and informative notes. The sound quality is excellent, the delicate orchestral colours well defined and the climaxes imposing.

– MusicWeb International (David Barker)

The music that Bohuslav Martinu wrote before the height of his career remains largely unknown and unperformed. This release aims to shine a new light on the compositions written during Martinu’s late teens and twenties. This release presents the world premiere recording of Martinu’s one act ballet, Stin (The Shadow). Conductor and pianist Ian Hobson conducts the Sinfonia da Camera for this release. He is joined by soprano Dorota Szczepanska, violinist Anna Maria Staskiewicz, and pianist Agnieszka Kopacka.

Carl Loewe (1796-1869) Is Remembered Today Chiefly As a Composer of Ballads. Yet There Is a Considerable Body of Piano Music That Is Strikingly Innovative in Content, Expression and Harmony. A Major Figure in Ushering in the Romantic Era His Works Contain the Germs of Ideas Later Taken Up By Composers Such As Wagner and Liszt. This Is the First of a Series of Recordings Done in Conjunction with Westdeutscher Rundfunk in Cologne. Linda Nicholson Is One of the Foremost Keyboard Players Specializing in the Performance of Baroque, Classical and Early Romantic Music on Instruments of the Period.

This is the fourth CD in a seven-CD series presenting all of Heinrich Wilhelm Ernst's compositions for the first time. It contains some of his most important compositions: an early Concertino with a melancholy slow movement and charming waltz finale; the fiendishly difficult Concerto that had a deep influence not only on Liszt's Piano Sonata but also on concertos by Brahms and Sibelius; and the late String Quartet, with echoes of Beethoven and Mendelssohn and an inwardness, charm and energy all of it's own.

This series is the first to attempt documenting the highlights of Leo Ornstein's career. On this release Arsentiy Kharitonov plays all 17 waltzes, varying from the sexily languorous to the boldly tempestuous. Fanfare praised volume one saying, "This is a distinguished and fascinating start to what should prove to be an important series of recordings."

GOUVY Sérénades: No. 1 in G; 1 No. 2 in F; 1 Op. post. in d 1. Introduction et Polonaise 2. Danse suédoise 2 • Markus Brönnimann (fl); 1 Kreisler Qt; 1 Ilka Emmert (db); 2 Michael Kleiser (pn) • TOCCATA 0185 (61:42)


As regular readers of this magazine will know, I am an ardent advocate of the music of Louis Théodore Gouvy (1819-1898), an enthusiasm I share with past and present Fanfare reviewers Barry Brenesal, Jerry Dubins, David Johnson, John W. Lambert, Robert McColley, and Peter J. Rabinowitz. The virtual consensus across the board is that Gouvy was a significant composer of the Romantic era who wrote music of considerable substance, which has until recently suffered unjust neglect. At this point, there are now a dozen or so CD sets in print of Gouvy’s compositions, with a few others out of print, devoted primarily to his symphonic works, large-scale choral pieces (secular oratorios and a Requiem), and chamber music, plus one disc apiece of his chansons and his piano music for four hands. I don’t know if this Gouvy renaissance on recordings has led yet to an increase in concert performances—I’ve not seen any myself—but it certainly provides hope for the future, and in the meantime grants a boon to music lovers for private enjoyment.


The present disc adds to our knowledge of Gouvy’s chamber works, with the world premiere recordings of five pieces for flute. (A sixth piece, the Sérénade vénitienne for flute, viola, and harp, was issued in 1999 on a Calliope CD.) All of them date from later in Gouvy’s life: the Danse suédoise from 1879, the Introduction et Polonaise from 1890, and the three sérénades for flute and string quintet (which all add a double-bass to the standard string quartet) from 1888, 1889, and 1891 respectively. The first two pieces are adaptations of movements from other works: the Danse from the op. 71 Octet, and the Introduction from the op. 83 Ghiribizzi for piano duet. The one-movement op. post. Sérénade is probably a torso of a planned larger work that was never completed; as it is, one four-page folio is missing from the surviving unpublished manuscript, but musicologist and Gouvy scholar Oliver Schmitt was able to reconstruct that material from a surviving adaptation for piano duet. While the excellent booklet notes by Schmitt (which include actual musical passages from the scores, a most commendable practice that seems to be all but extinct) do not mention an impetus for the composition of any of the other works, the Sérénade No. 1 was commissioned by the Philharmonic Club of New York, an indication of the international reputation that Gouvy once had before fading into total obscurity immediately upon his death.


While Toccata is to be commended for adding to the Gouvy discography, so far as repertoire is concerned this is definitely minor rather than major Gouvy. All of the pieces are thoroughly charming divertissements with appealing melodies and formal elegance, but none is of great significance. The instrumentalists (who have nice color photos featured on the inside face of the back tray card) are uniformly excellent and play these works with all the charm and gracefulness one could ask for. The recorded sound is ideal, with just the right perspective and balance and an inviting degree of warmth, and as previously mentioned the program notes are outstanding. While this is not an essential acquisition, lovers of Gouvy or of chamber music for flute should find this disc quite appealing, and it is recommended accordingly.


FANFARE: James A. Altena

Gara Garayev was the leading Azerbaijani composer of the twentieth century. His music fuses the western traditions exemplified by his teacher Shostakovich an the classical and folk heritage of his homeland. The two works recorded here illustrate Garayev’s stylistic range: his Violin Sonata (1960) is Neoclssical in manner, whereas the 24 Preludes (1951-63) combine influences from the Russian piano school (not least Prokofiev) with elements from Azeri modes and the rhythms of Arabic-Persian lyric poetry. This recording introduces the stellar violinist Vadim Repin to the Toccata Classics label. The presentation includes a bonus video of the film Sonates d’automne, shot during the recording of this album.

Classical Music

Renaissance polyphony is generally held to be stately, calm, reassuring. But this programme of Palestrina’s six-part Missa sine nomine, complemented by five of his motets and three by Marc'Antonio Ingegneri (c. 1535/36–92), was recorded after the Choir of Girton College, Cambridge, had undertaken a tour of Israel and Palestine. There the music and its texts (‘How can we sing the Lord’s song in a strange land?’) took on an extraordinary poignancy, with the dispossession and desperation of thousands of years ago animating the restrained dignity of Palestrina’s counterpoint with an unexpectedly topical intensity. The Girton College Chapel Choir has gained an impressive reputation as one of the most distinguished mixed-voice choirs at the University of Cambridge. As an international prize-winning ensemble comprising around 26 students, it has built its reputation through regular choral services in Girton College Chapel and frequent performances in parish churches and cathedrals across the UK. Choir members are all undergraduate or graduate students at Cambridge University.

Hans Gál (1890–1987) wrote extensively for the viola, including several remarkable works dating from the first decade of his new life in Edinburgh, where he took refuge after the Nazis seized power in his native Austria. His poignant Suite Concertante for viola and orchestra – effectively a concerto for the instrument – is joined here by three substantial chamber works, all infused with Gál’s trademark lyricism. Hanna Pakkala, the violist in all four works here, is the principal viola of the Ostrobothnian Chamber Orchestra and also plays in the Kokkola String Quartet; and Toccata Classics is delighted to welcome the Ostrobothnian Chamber Orchestra and its chief conductor, Sakari Oramo, to its roster of artists.

Polish pianist-composer Tadeusz Majerski (1888-1963) wrote some of the most interesting Polish music of his day, bringing together late-Romantic sensitivity and the harmonic freedom of Schoenbergian modernism- although primacy of emotional expression was always his watchword. Majerski spent his entire life in Lwow (now Lviv in Ukraine) and so, despite his musical importance, he has been almost completely lost from sight. This first album dedicated to his work presents one of his major scores, the rhapsodic Concerto-Poem for piano and orchestra, as well as two powerful chamber works and a number of representative piano miniatures. Michal Drewnowski is the pianist who has discovered Majerski and is making him known to the outside world- a task in which this release is playing its part.

The Russian-born German-Swiss composer Paul Juon (1872-1940) produced a generous amount of piano music - no fewer than 35 opus numbers. That has yet to be explored in great details. This first instalment of the first-every survey of his piano music reveals a composer close to his Russian roots but also alive to the music of his own time. His style has much in common with Medtner and Rachmaninov, both friends from student days, but with a harmonic freedom that suggests Debussy. His inventive use of rhythm calls on folk influences from Azerbaijan, Armenia and elsewhere. This album is the first of a series of collaborations between Toccata Classics and Mexican musicians. The Mexican pianist Rodolfo Ritter is a frequent soloist with mos tof the major Mexican orchestras, performing the complete piano concertos of Bartok, Brhams, Brachmaninov, Shostakovich and Stravinsky, as well as less-well-known concertos by Martinu, Miguel Galvez-Taroncher and Xavier Scharwenka, alongside the world premieres of the Second Piano Concerto by Manuel Ponce, the Ricardo Castro Piano Concerto and the Second and Third Piano Concertos by Gonzalo Curiel, works which he has also recorded.