Under the Greenwood Tree: Songs of Love & Nature

Featuring world premiere recordings of trios by Sally Beamish and Hugh Wood bookended by seldom heard works by Moeran and Finzi, showcases the sheer wealth of string trio repertoire by British composers. Although diverse in style and substance, the four works are bound together by the common strands of vivid storytelling and a shared musical language. Finzi’s Prelude and Fugue – the composers only piece of chamber music for strings alone - was composed in 1938 and conceived as a tribute to the renowned teacher R.O. Morris, with whom Finzi studied 16th century counterpoint. It is recorded here by the Eblana String Trio for only the second time, following its premiere LP recording in 1983. Ithaka by Hugh Wood is described by the composer himself as ‘a sort of mini-symphonic poem’. This one-movement work takes its inspiration from Cavafy’s meditation on Ulysses’ homeward voyage, and vibrantly depicts the adventures, discoveries, and dangers encountered along the way. Sally Beamish’s The King’s Alchemist is similarly programmatic music, reflecting aspects of the extraordinary story of John Damian, a European alchemist who resided at the court of King James IV in the early 16th century. The CD concludes with Moeran’s String Trio, written in 1931 and deservedly counted amongst his finest works.

This release (the latest in Willowhayne Records' Experience series) showcases the organ in the abbey at Engelberg, Switzerland. Built by Goll and restored by Graf, this instrument comprises 9000 pipes, spread over four manuals with 137 stops. Among Markus Kühnis' teachers were Jean Langlais and Hans Vollenweider. This new album is a welcome departure from a traditional organ programme, being instead a collection of the artist's own transcriptions, all of which are played with astonishing virtuosity and are guaranteed to make the listener smile. There is something here for everyone from Rossini's William Tell Overture to Mexican dances.

In the first of a projected series of Experience releases showcasing organs in the seaside town of Eastbourne, Alexander Eadon returns to Willowhayne Records to perform a programme of music recorded at St Saviour's Church, in recognition of the 150th anniversary of its consecration. The programme includes Healey Wilan's Six Chorale Preludes, the composer having an association with the church. From Mendelssohn's Organ Sonata No.2 to John Philip Sousa's The Stars and Stripes Forever (in which Alexander Eadon is joined by Paul Collins) this recording represents the full diversity of the 3-manual Walker organ. Although a born and bred Londoner, Alexander Eadon BA LRAM ARCO began his musical life as a chorister in the world-renowned Choir of King’s College, Cambridge. After five years as a Music Scholar at Harrow School and a gap year as Organ Scholar at St. Martin-in-the-Fields he trained at the Royal Academy of Music with David Titterington and Nicolas Kynaston for organ performance, Nigel Allcoat and Lionel Rogg for improvisation and Patrick Russill for Choral Direction. He completed his studies at Middlesex University. Alongside this, he was Director of Music at Christ Church, Southgate in North London and Conductor of the Southgate Symphony Orchestra. He then spent two years simultaneously as Organist at Tewkesbury Abbey and School Organist of Dean Close School, Cheltenham (where the Abbey Choristers are educated), assisting with coaching the choristers and teaching within both the preparatory and senior schools. Between 2009 and 2015 he was the Choirmaster at Oundle School, directing the Chapel Choir and Schola Cantorum on several broadcasts and on tour in Rome as well as in their weekly services, amongst many other musical activities throughout his tenure. He also enjoyed rugby coaching, being a deputy housemaster and a head of year. In September 2015 he moved to Eastbourne College to take on the newly-created role of Assistant Director of Music.

Assistant Director of Music, John Challenger, releases his second album on the Cathedral’s Father Willis Organ. This album was recorded prior to the dismantling of Salisbury's famous instrument, which was built in 1876 and is currently undergoing major restoration. In this new recording, John plays organ works by the nineteenth-century composer and founder of the French Symphonic organ school, César Franck. The programme includes Franck’s Pièce Heroïque, the Prelude, Fugue and Variation, along with the gigantic Three Chorals for Organ, which Franck composed in 1890, immediately prior to his death. This is the first album to be released independently by Salisbury Cathedral.

The organ in St. George's Cathedral, Cape Town, came from St. Margaret's, Westminster in 1909. Parts of this instrument date from 1675, and it has undergone several rebuilds, extensions, and work up until 1988. This first solo recording of the William Hill instrument gives listeners a timely record of one of the city's great musical treasures. This great English organ provides a perfect, authentic sound world for the music of Elgar and Whitlock, as well as being remarkably versatile in other styles and periods.

Julius Burger was a gifted Viennese musician, conductor, repetiteur, and composer poised to make his mark on early 20th Century music, that is, until the rise of antisemitism and the Nazi party forever altered his life and took him on a journey in exile, across continents and cultures, and would come to reflect the very themes of Romanticism which he cherished. Burger’s varied career took him from Berlin Radio and the Kroll Opera house to the burgeoning BBC and later working with Columbia Records as well as a long tenure at the Metropolitan Opera where he coached some of the greatest voices of the 20th Century. But it wouldn’t be until he was in his 90s that he would finally fulfill a lifelong dream of hearing his own compositions performed. This album represents the first ever recordings of Julius Burger’s lieder, spanning from 1915 to his final piece in 1988. These lieder show a master of his craft and a legacy from a world which was thought to have been lost. A life in exile is a heavy burden to bear and, where many lose their artistic purpose, Burger persevered. According to those who knew him, Julius Burger considered his works to be his children, having no offspring of his own. It is our hope that with this album, his children will finally step off the faded manuscript pages and into the world.

A Bach Family Album

Bleckell Murry Neet is an album of Cumbrian music played on the guitar and harp. Ed Heslam has a background in classical guitar playing, as a soloist and in various ensembles, while Jean Altshuler has built a career as an orchestral harpist and, more recently, playing the lever harp in chamber music. For this album, Jean has returned to the pedal harp, giving a more resonant sound which perfectly complements the rich tone of the Carrillo guitar, as well as allowing more scope in arranging the music. The content represents a snapshot of musical themes which would have been familiar to the people of Cumberland and Westmorland during the late 18th and 19th centuries. Bleckell Murry Neet carries with it the history of a bygone era. It alludes to a time when dialect was widely spoken (and sung) in Cumberland and Westmorland; to a period when everyday people danced with an energy and passion that is now hard to imagine and to an era when the town of Whitehaven was at the centre of trade and communications, while central Lakeland was merely an obscure backwater. The album consists of a series of melodies gleaned from the manuscripts of Cumbrian musicians. These old tunes carry the hint of stories of love lost, of love yearned for and of love found; they allude to tales of the Border Reivers and stories of the corruption and electoral fraud of the rich landed gentry who often exerted a malign control over the region and it's people.

British composer Sir Lennox Berkeley still needs to be more widely appreciated, and this recording puts his music into a wider context of the environment that shaped him. France played a vital part in Berkeley’s development: apart from being a Francophile, circumstances brought him into contact with Nadia Boulanger, with whom he studied formally during the years 1926–1932, which Berkeley spent in Paris. While there he also met Francis Poulenc, among other artistic figures. This album is designed both to pay homage to Lennox and to acknowledge the pivotal role played by Paris in his life and development as a composer. It combines works by Berkeley with his Parisian near-contemporaries Poulenc and Lili Boulanger, the younger sister of Nadia.

In the keenly anticipated follow-up to Music For Piano And Strings Holger Skepeneit travels effortlessly through styles, centuries, and musical traditions. Always speaking in his own, distinctive voice, the pieces lead to often unexpected, but always fulfilling places and have an easy aesthetic appeal without being superficial. Holger Skepeneit a sought after pianist, keyboard player, composer and musical director. During his career he has performed and recorded with artists including Katrina and the Waves, Vanity Fare, Brian Poole and the Tremoloes, Ray Lewis and the Drifters, Pete Cunnah (D-Ream) and many others. Career highlights include being featured as a pianist/composer and arranger on Jacky Cheungs No. 1 album Private Corner (multi-platinum status), performing at the BBC Proms in the Park, and winning the Westminster prize for improvisation. He also composed the music for Mike McKenzies award-winning film Belonging, and has written extensively for TV and advertising. His latest book Balkan Bash (a series of Macedonian / Bulgarian flavoured compositions and textbook on odd-metre playing) was published by Chili Notes in 2017. Holger is currently a Trinity Rock and Pop examiner and has taught at a number of Universities and Music Colleges including the London College of Music and the Institute for Contemporary Music Performance.