Willowhayne Records presents the debut recording by BBC Young Musician 2016 Grand Finalist Ben Goldscheider. The idea behind this release was to present a concert programme taking the listener on a musical journey through the development of the horn and the subsequent music written for it. Starting in the 21st century and then jumping to the classical period, through romantic, early and late twentieth century and back to the 21st century, this release shows the full range of the horn’s versatility, as well as the technical and musical maturity of this exceptional artist. Since reaching the Final of the BBC Young Musician Competition in 2016, Ben has made his concerto debut at venues including the Berlin Philharmonie, KKL Lucerne, Barbican and the Royal Albert Hall, appearing as soloist with the BBC Symphony, Lucerne Symphony and Aurora Orchestras, among others. A committed chamber musician, highlights include appearances at London’s Wigmore Hall with Julian Pregardien and Christoph Schnackertz, and Berlin’s Pierre Boulez Saal alongside Daniel Barenboim and Michael Barenboim. Ben gives recitals throughout the UK, collaborating with many sought-after musicians.

Johannes Geffert plays the organ of Sint Paul's Church, Antwerp, an instrument originally dating from 1654. This organ is a unique synthesis built at a meeting place between cultures (Latin and Germanic) and confessions of faith (Catholicism and Calvinism). An organ case which has been built according to the principles of the Dutch-North German organ (the “Hamburger Prospekt”: vertical construction, pedal towers) contains sound qualities that are mainly French orientated. Elements of the early-romantic have also found their place here. The front of the magnificent organ case is decorated with extravagant Rubens-like sculptures which make it unmistakably original to Antwerp.

This release presents some well-known works of J. S. Bach, played on the organ in the Abbey church of Amorbach. This instrument was completed in 1782 by the brothers Johann Philipp (1705-1776) and Johann Heinrich (1715-1788) Stumm of Rhaunen-Sulzbach, Hunsrüch. Consisting of three manuals and 46 speaking stops the organ was rebuilt at various times during the 19th and 20th centuries by the organ builders Steinmeyer & Co. In 1981-1982 the organ was comprehensively restored by Steinmeyer & Co and Johannes Klais Orgelbau. Nicolas Kynaston was born in Devon, England and was a student of both Fernando Germani and Ralph Downes. He was organist of Westminster Cathedral from 1961 to 1971 prior to his career as a full time concert organist. Nicolas is Organist to The Athens Concert Hall and a professor at the Royal Academy of Music.

The doyen of British organists, Francis Jackson celebrated his 100th birthday in 2017. He has remained active as a composer, and his music is widely performed. In this recording, made during that centenary year and now released by Willowhayne Records, Mark Swinton pays tribute to this remarkable musician with a survey of his organ music, encompassing works written throughout his 100-plus years. From the heartfelt Impromptu of 1944, a birthday gift to his teacher and mentor Sir Edward Bairstow, to his Fifth and Sixth Organ Sonatas composed during the first decade of the present century, Jackson's flair at writing for his own instrument is abundantly displayed. In the clean acoustics of the Collegiate Church of St Mary, Warwick, the 1980 Nicholson organ offers a blend of Classical and Romantic aesthetics that perfectly amplify the counterpoint, texture and colors of this richly rewarding music.

“In the process of making this release of unrecorded or neglected works for oboe and piano, intriguing connections began to surface between three composers. In 1973, the year I was born, the organist Richard Elfyn Jones gave the premiere of Arnold Cooke's Organ Sonata No.1 in the presence of the composer, in Cardiff University's Concert Hall, and 46 years later in 2019, I premiered Richard Elfyn Jones' Oboe Sonata in his presence. At Cardiff University while I was an undergraduate, I studied Harmony and Counterpoint with Richard Elfyn Jones, and performed the Oboe Sonata written by Cooke's teacher, Hindemith, in my Final Recital, in the same hall, standing next to that same pipe organ which 46 years earlier was used to premiere Cooke's Sonata.” (Catherine Tanner Williams) This recording of Arnold Cooke's two lyrical Oboe Sonatas is the first for many years, having previously been recorded by its dedicatees. The album also features three world premiere recordings: The Viva Altea! Sonata for Oboe and Piano, and oboist Catherine Tanner Williams' own works: Luminous and Darkness Falling.

Arnold Cooke (1906 – 2005) was an English composer who studied at Cambridge and then in Berlin. His music is very attractive and has a strong, individual voice. This recording features three world premiere recordings – the Sonata no. 1 for Violin and Piano, the Solo Violin Sonata and the Duo for Violin and Viola. The Sonata no. 2 for Violin and Piano has been recorded once. This delightful and beautifully performed album was recorded in Manchester with members of the Pleyel Ensemble. Based in Manchester but including top players from other cities this versatile group has a very active concert and touring programme. The performances are excellent, musical and very committed and the recording was made in the Carole Nash Room (formerly the Recital Hall) at the Royal Northern College of Music. Cooke deserves to be far better known and this recording shows us clearly the fine quality of his music.

Willowhayne Records presents an album of virtuoso piano music, which shows every facet of Leeds Piano Competition 2016 semi-finalist Ashley Fripp's astounding playing. Included in the programme is Thomas Adès's Concert Paraphrase on Powder Her Face, the only available recording apart from the composer's own. "Ashley Fripp is a genuine virtuoso, an astoundingly brilliant and masterly pianist, and his total grasp of the music is a joy to hear.” (Thomas Adès)

British pianist Ashley Fripp has performed extensively as a recitalist, chamber musician and concerto soloist throughout Europe, Asia, North America, Africa and Australia in many of the world’s most prestigious concert halls. Highlights include the Carnegie Hall, Musikverein, Concertgebouw, the Philharmonie halls of Cologne, Pars, Luxembourg and Warsaw, the Bozar, the Royal Festival, and others.

Mikhail Shilyaev was born in Izhevsk, Russia. He started learning piano at the age of six and won several regional piano competitions at a young age. He studied in Russia, Germany, and in the UK. As a soloist with orchestra, he has recently performed with Musikkollegium Winterthur, the London Soloists Chamber Orchestra, RNCM Concert Orchestra, the Gregorian Philharmonic Orchestra and with the Gulbenkian Symphony Orchestra. Mikhail lives in London and plays mostly in the UK and Europe. He is interested in historical performance practice and often gives recitals on fortepianos. The choice of instrument for this recording is the result of Mikhail's personal fascination with the spirit of fin de si�cle, that period when so many musical styles emerged, coexisted, fused and challenged each other. It was an era in which the art of piano playing truly blossomed, and fortunately for us, the newly emerged recording technology documented and preserved this blossoming. The works on this release (with the exception of Mompou's Variations) were composed around the time this particular Bechstein was being built. So the pianistic sound worlds of Debussy, Ravel, Scriabin and Mompou are reflected in the sound world of this, their contemporary instrument.

As One Who Listens to the Rain

In their second album for Willowhayne Records, Antiphon presents world premiere recordings of three choral works by Michael Walsh. Two are sacred and one secular: an unaccompanied Mass of the Holy Trinity, a full-scale Requiem Mass, and The Way of Love: a setting of five love poems by the First World War poet Rupert Brooke, scored for choir and strings. These works reflect the gentle character of the composer's style, steeped through nearly thirty years of singing in English Cathedrals. It is a happy coincidence that Exeter Cathedral is where Michael Walsh first sang in a Cathedral setting: in 1968, the choir of Allhallows school sang the D minor setting by Walmisley and Batten’s O sing joyfully there and he was hooked. After studying at Trinity College of Music in London, Michael settled in Chichester and was a member of the Cathedral Choir under John Birch and Alan Thurlow from 1972-1990. He sang for a further ten years in Portsmouth Cathedral Choir. From 1972 to present day, Michael has been involved as MD of several local choirs and orchestras, giving many concerts to raise money for charities.

The Ord-Tempered Harpsichord

Arundel Experience

Although these two masterpieces are of differing styles - the Schubert (1828) being a 4 movement sonata in the Viennese classical tradition and the Mussorgsky (1874) a sequence of 15 short sections in a deliberately Russian idiom that rejects western European influence, there are parallels between them. Neither was published until after their composer’s death, the sonata in 1838 and Pictures in 1931, though an edited version by Rimsky-Korsakov had appeared in 1886. Neither work received real appreciation and understanding until the 20th century. Daniel Hill comments: “My criteria for selecting repertoire to record was twofold: firstly, that I would be playing music for which I held a deep respect, passion and conviction; and secondly, that they were pieces for which I felt I may be able to do some justice. “Both works, though largely disparate in nature, represent a kind of journey: in the vivid experience of Mussorgsky’s Pictures, this is somewhat overtly so; Schubert, on the other hand, takes us into a profoundly intimate and, at times, transcendental realm. “My hope in making this disc is that I may have found some of that elusive and precious connection between interpreter and composition.”

Daniel Rieppel, a native of Minnesota of Austro-Hungarian descent, performs Mozart’s Fantasy and Sonata in C minor, the Piano Variations of Aaron Copland and Symphonic Etudes by Robert Schumann. Dr. Rieppel performs widely in North and South America and Europe (most recently in Iceland) and has been Professor of Music at Southwest Minnesota State University for over a quarter century. He has international recognition for his research into Schubert’s incomplete sonatas, finishing several that will be the subject of his next recording.

French music for oboe and piano lies at the heart of the oboe repertoire. In this their third album, Catherine Tanner-Williams and Christopher Williams present the famous oboe sonatas of Saint-Saëns, Poulenc and Dutilleux alongside their own brand-new transcriptions of well-known arias from Bizet's Carmen, including the Habanera "L’amour est us oiseau rebelle” - Love is a rebellious bird. The oboe's vocal quality also shines in Brod's Fantasie on the Mad Scene from Donizetti’s Lucia di Lammermoor and Ravel's Pièce en forme d’Habanera. The disc includes the neglected Fantasies of Henri Dallier and Blai (Blas) Maria Colomer, and world premiere recordings of the Nocturne and Impromptu by Louise-Marie Simon, (who wrote under the pseudonym Claude Arrieu).