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‘Psalms are at the heart of our choir’s musical identity. They inform everything else we perform – technically, musically and emotionally. They are the best medium for a choir to communicate directly with members of a congregation. The Chapel at St John’s is a perfect space in which to sing psalms’ - Andrew Nethsingha ★★★★★ ''Beauty of sound is to the fore in liquid, blended voices flow seamlessly in and around each other, in clarity of diction and exquisitely modulated delivery...Excellent, extensive notes round off a relishable recital" - Choir and Organ ★★★★ Performance, ★★★★★ Recording "[Nethsingha's] insistence on crisp articulation pays major dividends in a feisty reading on Psalm 52, where the come-uppance of the boastful tyrant is relished by the St John's singers" - BBC Music Magazine "The really remarkable thing is how much feeling they pour into the phrasing and the words so that each Psalm isn’t just a heartfelt prayer, it’s a miniature drama…The really wonderful thing is the choir’s diction. It’s so clear…Andrew Nethsingha’s shaping of every phrase is wonderful…The recording team captures the acoustic of the chapel as expertly as they always seem to on these St John’s releases, and the organ is blended perfectly with the voices" - Musicweb International -
“Percussionist extraordinaire Joby Burgess” returns with his fifth album on Signum Records, “A Percussionist’s Songbook” – a collection of specially commissioned ‘songs without words’ from John Metcalfe, Tunde Jegede, Dario Marianelli, Yazz Ahmed, Graham Fitkin, Dobrinka Tabakova and Gabriel Prokofiev. Scored for an arsenal of pitched percussion and electronics the songbook is inspired by texts ranging from the poetry of Robert Graves and Birago Diop to novels by Michael Ondaatje and Isaac Asimov; American philosopher Michael Sandel, songwriter Peter Gabriel, United Nation population growth statistics and Saudi Arabian folk tales. "His recordings are so full of vibrant energy, vitality and freshness…the virtuoso percussionist's technical brilliance, fantastic agility and coordination, and innate musicality. 'A Percussionist's Songbook' may well be Burgess's best album yet" - Gramophone ★★★★ Performance, ★★★★★ Recording "Combining a multi-genre passion for contemporary western music with explorations of ancient global traditions, Joby Burgess has done much to foster the art of percussion" - BBC Music Magazine "A fascinating record with wide-ranging ambition and, surely, mass appeal. Joby Burgess has created a release for classical label Signum that could sit equally comfortably in the rock or ‘world’ genres, such are its broad range of influences and audible sense of adventure…Warmly recommended." Art Muse London -
Each December, we find ourselves surrounded by winter’s darkness at the fulcrum between the old year and the new. In the shadowy stillness of these short, cold days, December is the darkroom that focuses our gaze squarely on the bright promise and growing light of the imminent new year. Into the Light was recorded in the dark, uncertain days of the COVID-19 pandemic. Nevertheless, the process was imbued with optimism and hope for brighter days ahead. In its first holiday recording in more than a decade, chamber vocal ensemble Cantus offers a thoughtful selection of old and new favorites, each sung with the group’s trademark warmth and virtuosity. The album reflects Cantus’ commitment to diversity of repertoire. Its selections span five languages and feature works by a broad range of composers and arrangers: from John Jacob Niles and Kenneth Jennings, to Joni Mitchell and B.E. Boykin. The album also offers six pieces created specifically for Cantus, including two new arrangements from Reginald Bowens and Christopher H. Harris.
After two successful albums on Signum Records, the American vocal ensemble Cantus present their first christmas album, Into The Light. The “engaging” (New Yorker) low-voice ensemble Cantus is widely known for its trademark warmth and blend, innovative programming and riveting performances of music ranging from the Renaissance to the 21st century. “Delightful…simply divine…veritably translucent…breathtaking… the alluringly elegant, adroitly layered, world premiere arrangement of Twas the Night Before Christmas.” - Exclusive Magazine ★★★★★ "For vocal aficionados, this is pleasure from start to finish" - BBC Music Magazine "This is 'precision singing' of the highest quality…well worth acquiring for some Christmas cheer" - Organists' Review -
Returning for their third album on Signum Classics, Anna Lapwood and The Choirs of Pembroke College, Cambridge present their first Christmas album featuring a wide range of festive repertoire from traditional carols to works by contemporary composers including Sir James MacMillan and Melissa Dunphy. In addition the album premieres three new works written by the Pembroke Girls' Choir including an arrangement of the familiar carol Gaudete. Anna Lapwood is a trailblazing musician. Alongside her work as a conductor, Director of Music and public speaker, she performs an extensive number of organ recitals on some of the greatest instruments across Europe each season. In 2022 she was announced as Associate Artist of the Royal Albert Hall and Artist in Association at BBC Singers. Directed by Anna Lapwood, The Chapel Choir of Pembroke College has one of the most exciting and varied ranges of choral endeavours among Oxbridge choirs. Alongside their primary responsibility of contributing to worship in the College’s Chapel, they engage in regular artistic collaborations, media appearances and outreach. ★★★★ "Highlights include a numinous take on MacMillan's 'O Radiant Dawn', Ailsa McTernan's soaring solo in Patricia Van Ness's 'Archangelus' and a performance of Kerensa Brigg's 'A Tender Shoot' which shows the Chapel Choir's vibrant tonal blend and intelligent enunciation at their best…an inspiring recital" - BBC Music Magazine "In the latest recording released on Signum by Anna Lapwood and the Chapel Choir of Pembroke College, Cambridge, the soft smooth sounds of the central chorus combined with the crystal clear lines of the upper voices makes for a reflective experience. I’ve listened to it repeatedly over the past few days" - Thoroughly Good "What makes this album unique is a trio of carol arrangements developed in rehearsal by the choristers themselves" - Gramophone -
“Inspirations and imaginings, evolving, changing English usage, landscapes, friendships and passings lie behind this album... Loosely, the songs we’ve selected embrace multiple interpre- tations and nuances of ‘divine’. As well as, I could argue, that sentiment of English song and English speaking composers embodying the [Blake/Parry] ‘Jerusalem-Builded-Here’ trope. The world I came from (singing in choir stalls), along with how countertenors are perceived generally, has been hard to escape. So here perhaps I’m taking on the challenge. As well as an opportunity to include songs written for me that for some while I’ve been needing to put down on disc.” - Iestyn Davies. ‘Divine Music’ marks Iestyn Davies’ third recital album on Signum Classics. The ‘Four Songs’ (Purcell/ Adès), Spoons Aria (Adès), Four Traditional Songs and Old Bones (Muhly) are world premiere recordings. Muhly’s Four Traditional Songs were also written dedicated to Iestyn Davies. Song of the Day "This is just gorgeous" - BBC Radio 3 Essential Classics "Beautiful" - Radio 4 "A characterful, unusual programme…[Davies] flexible instrument and impressive range" - Gramophone ★★★★ Performance ★★★★★ Recording "Little if anything phases Davies technically: he pins the setting’s wide intervals with laser accuracy, and easily encompasses the trickily embellished closing ‘Hallelujah’…The Lover in Winter is included, the ice-like angularities of the piano part contrasting vividly with Davies’s hovering, velvet-soft vocalism…[The Four Traditional Songs by Nico Muhly] Davies and Middleton slot together seamlessly, equal partners in the heartworn melancholy Muhly forefronts in these settings…taken whole this is a classy and interestingly varied recital, with unfailingly sensitive contributions from both performers." - BBC Music Magazine -
‘Cradling his programme of Sonatas in a set of strongly contrasted Variations and a Divertimento, Peter Donohoe takes an enlivening slant, a sense of ‘rediscovery’ of Haydn’s ambiguity, indeed, unique character’ - © Bryce Morrison. Recording instrument: Steingraeber (Bayreuth) Concert Grand Piano Model E at Steingraeber & Söhne - Klaviermanufaktur Since his success as joint winner of the 1982 International Tchaikovsky Competition, Peter Donohoe has gained international renown as one of the foremost pianists of our time, for his musicianship, stylistic versatility and commanding technique. "An arresting start to Peter Donohoe’s new series of Haydn’s complete keybard works on Signum Records...It’s a stunner" - Slipped Disc "Beyond dispute is that Donohoe is a highly intelligent, sensitive and sincere exponent, and if you like your Haydn virile and fuss-free, his approach may well be what you are looking for" - Gramophone "It is a balanced Haydn played with the subtleties that can be extracted from the instrument. The sound of the recording is deliberately kept spatially close and small, like in a chamber…a new view of these sonatas that is astonishing and one that one has to get involved with" - Piano News "With excellent sound courtesy of Mike Hatch...Donohoe gives consistently stylish and affectionate readings – shapely, nimble – of always-enjoyable and -resourceful music (154 minutes’ worth to ease the woes of the World) that makes for listening pleasure via an attractive piano of ideal lightness and clarity. Volume One is thoroughly recommendable...with successors keenly anticipated" - Colin's Column -
Following their successful Dvořák cycle with Signum Records, Albion String Quartet are back with a selection of string quartets by Walton and Shostakovich, recorded in 2021. The concept: to juxtapose two masterpieces written in the same year in the immediate aftermath of war (1946) by composers inhabiting two entirely different social and political worlds in the Soviet Union and Britain respectively. Formed in 2016, the Albion Quartet brings together four of the UK’s exceptional young string players who are establishing themselves rapidly on the international stage. Recent engagements from the 2017-18 season included performances at the Louvre in Paris, Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, Robert Schumann Gesselschaft in Frankfurt, Båstad Festival in Sweden, Festival of Music in Franconia and Rhine Valley Music Festival in Germany, as well as the Hay Festival in the UK. The members of the quartet play on a fine collection of instruments, including a Stradivarius and Guarnerius. The best string quartet recordings of 2022: EDITORS CHOICE "I was instantly stuck by the sheer vividness - both the compelling committed playing and the immediacy of sound - of this superb chamber album from the Albion Quartet" - Gramophone CRITICS CHOICE "This is just a fantastic recording. It sounds great, the playing erudite and courageous, and quite simply the best thing I've heard all year. The architecture and pacing throughout the album are so well judged, and the excruciating yet exhilarating journey through these musical and emotional states captures the dichotomy of those times - and these times - so well. For this the Albion Quartet and their production team deserve high praise" - Gramophone ★★★★★ Performance ★★★★ Recording "The Albion Quartet pace, phrase, point and colour Walton's volatile textures and agile rhythms with all the sensitivity and energy they require. Yet they are equally successful in the fiercer more unpredictable contrasts in the Shostakovich…The Signum Recording…has tremendous presence and dynamic range" - BBC Music Magazine -
In November 2022 Fretwork return for the second installment of their cycle of works by Matthew Locke. Matthew Locke was born 400 years ago in 1622, and while he is often ranked as one of England’s finest composers, he is still unaccountably neglected: his music may not be as immediately appealing as his immediate successor, Henry Purcell, nor as wide-ranging as William Byrd, yet his forceful musical personality and luxuriant technique place him in the first echelon of English composers, with his works described by Richard Boothby of Fretwork as having a “quixotic, capricious restlessness that is constantly challenging the listener to follow his argument ... a thrilling musical ride”. Accompanying Fretwork on continuo for this recording are David Miller (archlute and theorbo) and Silas Wollston (harpsichord). The cover of the album bares an inscription in the walls by the choir stall of Exeter Cathedral, thought to have been carved by the composer during his time as a member of the choir there. ★★★★★ Performance ★★★★ Recording "The album makes for felicitous listening, and for the uninitiated, a perfect introduction to Locke's viol consorts" - BBC Music Magazine "[Fretwork] transform it into something beguiling…Sergio Bucheli's gentle thrum…is stunningly sketched, while Fretwork stretch notes to their mournful maximum. Ornaments are excellently offered to the ether…[Suite No. 8 in A Minor] There is a gravitas to this Pavane that stops me in my tracks Fretwork embody this historical juncture through a flexibility and agility of stroke" - Gramophone ★★★★ "Fretwork are joined by Sergio Bucheli (archlute and theorbo) and Silas Woolston (harpsichord) in sensitive, stiff upper lippish performances, inviting the ear to seek out the music's quirkiest details" - The Irish Times Online -
"Darkness to light is a theme which continues to engage artists, musicians, philosophers and thinkers through time, and this theme, coupled with thoughts of remembrance, hope, redemption and acceptance is the thread that ties together all the music performed on this recording" - Bob Chilcott ‘Canticles of Light’ is Bob Chilcott’s ninth album on Signum Records. Featuring celebrated composers including Cecilia McDowall, Francis Pott and James MacMillan each work has been carefully selected by conductor and professor Agnieszka Franków-Żelazny, with the final track written especially for the NFM Choir. Hailed by The Observer as ‘a contemporary hero of British choral music’, composer and conductor Bob Chilcott has enjoyed a lifelong connection with singing and choirs. As a composer he has a large catalogue of music published by Oxford University Press that reflects his broad view of musical styles and genres. ★★★★★ "The album was recorded in 2019 but its themes gain additional resonance with its release earlier this year in a very different world" - Choir & Organ ★★★★★ "The challenge of translating this music to the point in sound and emotion is mastered by the NFM Choir under Agnieszka Frankow-Zelazny without fault. [An] engaging sound...It is choral singing full of light, with voices that radiate from within...In general – splendor and radiance stands for the performance of the NFM Choir" - Pizzicato ★★★★ Performance ★★★★ Recording "[Chilcott’s Move him into the sun] Tenor Sebastian Mach’s plangent solo in ‘Apologia pro Poemate meo’ is a highlight here, feelingly supported by players from the Wrocław Philharmonic" - BBC Music Magazine -
International award-winning composer, Amanda Lee Falkenberg has composed a dynamic new work that merges music and science. The seven-movement symphony dramatizes past, present and future moon explorations, and highlights discoveries that have been made in our search for other worlds that could possibly sustain life. Through seven exhilarating movements, concertgoers will experience a stunning space adventure that focuses on the stories of these fascinating moons. But what uniquely defines this symphony is its planetary core message which culminates in the 7th movement, dedicated to Earth-Moon. This final movement offers a discovery of a different kind and provides a unique opportunity to view our planet united and whole, from the surface of the Moon, a breathtaking, life-changing experience referred to as THE OVERVIEW EFFECT. The impact of such a privileged sight has inspired a call to action from Astronauts and as a result, has propelled them to share this profound perspective shift with all of us here on Earth. Through the persuasive and powerful forces of music, the symphony offers Earthlings a chance to contemplate who and where we are in the universe. In 42 minutes they will be taken on an emotional journey, marveling at the wonders of these moons, the beauty of our planet, and possibly even experience their own perspective shift as crew-mates aboard this spaceship we cruise, Earth. This is the story of THE MOONS SYMPHONY. ★★★★★ "This is a real one-off…it succeeds because [Falkenberg's] a very experienced composer of film music, and the extraordinary quality of the performance" - Choir and Organ "Marin Alsop secures excellent playing from the London Symphony Orchestra" - Gramophone ★★★★ "Falkenberg’s passionate and creative adaptation of the film music genre is firmly embraced by the committed artistry of the London Symphony under Marin Alsop and the warm cohesion and crystalline diction of the London Voices directed by Ben Parry…The Moons Symphony offers a precious and timely perspective on our own fragile planet that we would do well to heed" - Limelight "This ambitious project is brought to life by a sizzling LSO and a gutsy London Voices…This is musical painting on an infectiously grand scale" - BBC Music Magazine "This is a captivating work, an exciting and emotional journey in tonal language, in which the composer aspires to make her music serves as a reflection on who we are and where we are, so that we are aware of the beauty of our planet and the majesty of the moons of our solar system...Alsop is impeccable because of the naturalness with which she extracts all the melodic weight of this work, which lives with the stars" - Sonograma ★★★★½ "This is music designed to grab the listener's attention. It also happens to be right up the alley of conductor Marin Alsop, leading the London Symphony Orchestra and the London Voices; she builds a solid structure and keeps it moving along effectively" - All Music -
400 years ago, in 1623, England lost two of its greatest composers: William Byrd and Thomas Weelkes. In a pro- gramme marking this double anniversary, The King’s Singers and Fretwork turn their focus to the bold personalities of these two men, Will and Tom. Featuring well-known gems by the two composers, alongside works which had never been recorded before and which are rarely heard live, Tom and Will unlocks some of the humanity behind these two giants of Elizabethan music. Presented in The King’s Singers’ unique style, this programme is filled with beauty, drama and storytelling. As part of this project, The King’s Singers and Fretwork have commissioned two new works for their joint forces, by two of Britain’s great living composers: Sir James MacMillan and Roderick Williams. These works only feature in the version performed by The King’s Singers and Fretwork, but represent a commitment to keeping the spirit of Byrd and Weelkes alive in today’s musical landscape. ★★★★★ "Fretwork and the King’s Singers are a wonderful match and complement each other well. As a lover of Byrd and Weelkes’ music, this is a great album; but for someone who has yet to encounter the joys of Weelkes or Byrd this album is a glorious introduction to both composers" - Morning Star ★★★★½ ALBUM OF THE WEEK "There could be no better bedfellows than The King’s Singers and viol consort Fretwork…Signum’s engineering suitably captures the domestic scale of the music, and the enthralling mix of finely blended voices with the gritty sonic patina of the viols…a classy tribute" - Limelight ★★★★ "The standard is high…a bonus comes in the form of two new pieces, commissioned from James MacMillan and Roderick Williams" - Financial Times -
Completing their cycle of mixtape albums, ECHOES is Orchestra of Swan’s third album on Signum Classics. Featuring works by artists including JS Bach, Philip Glass, and Frank Zappa and some new arrangements by Artistic Director, David Le Page. “Although you can listen to each track in isolation Echoes is, first and foremost, a complete journey; the way a work ends and another begins is designed to create a frisson, a jolt of recognition or a feeling of surprise and satisfaction. Echoes explores landscape, light, water, dreams, birth, and the slowly changing rhythm of the seasons; it also represents a callback to the days of vinyl when the act of listening to recordings was necessarily more involved and required all of your attention... Despite the ongoing march of music technology and the death of various beloved formats the mixtape has somehow survived and adapted It is unaccountably more popular than it has ever been” - David Le Page ALBUM OF THE WEEKEND "This album is going to be huge..Timelapse and Labyrinth, have had 7.5 million audio streams since January 2021 …we know it’s probably going to be even bigger" - Scala Radio "Listen to it end to end for an eclectic mix of sophisticated sounds; favourite tracks include Philip Sheppard’s Buffalo Jump and a tender arrangement of Venus Furs…it’s another lovely collection. Roll on the next release" - Thoroughly Good Blog "It is the sheer eclecticism of the disc that is so appealing. from that re-imagined Vivaldi straight to the fierce energy of Phillip Shepherds Buffalo Jump in a performance ie magnificent, fiery energy from the Orchestra of the Swan; and then, the jarring contrast to the madcap Peaches en Regalia by Frank Zappa, a phenomenal four minutes of fun…Echoes is a vibrant journey, its contents perfectly considered, the superb performances beautifully delivered….It is the first recording I have heard that really works in Spatial Audio: the immersive spatial element to the Max Richter in particular elevates the experience" - Classical Explorer -
“[Their Beethoven performance’s] were shockingly deep. I’ve never heard a quartet so young get so inside this ultimately inscrutable music” - LA Times The Calidore Quartet return to Signum Classics for the first installment of their Beethoven Cycle: The Late Quartets. Their interpretation is informed by their diverse set of mentors which include Alban Berg, Emerson, Guarneri and yet still uniquely representing the senti- ments, aesthetics and research of their generation. Their interpretations of Beethoven are already critically acclaimed with future performances planned at prestigious venues to be announced. WINNER CHAMBER MUSIC AWARD 2024 ★★★★★ Performance ★★★★★ Recording "Meticulously detailed performances…with playing of quite remarkable technical accomplishment: I'm not sure, for instance, that I've ever heard the tremendously challenging Op.133 Fugue…done with greater precision and clarity…the Calidore players penetrate right to the heart of the music, giving warm and intensely lyrical accounts…[the players] have produced performances that can stand comparison with the best" - BBC Music Magazine "They are boldly recorded here, played with remarkable depth, yet another example of astonishingly life-affirming music making." - LA Times "Deeply satisfying, impeccably recorded and representative of the gratifyingly high standard of quartet playing we may hear today from so many of today’s young artists" - Musicweb International -
Her third recital album on Signum Records, celebrated soprano Mary Bevan returns with a selection of French songs, featuring works by composers including Britten, Ravel, Debussy and Faure. “Over the years since the release of my debut album Voyages with Joseph Middle- ton in 2017, my passion for French mélodie has grown and deepened...The texts that composers of mélodie have set to music contain a depth and a mystery that I find fascinating and a source of repeated inspiration... My idea for the album began sim- ply with a desire to record Britten’s Les Illuminations, a work I feel closely connect- ed to, having performed it many times over the years and each time having found something new in it to interest me" - Mary Bevan The Week: The Best Albums of the Year so far ALBUM OF THE WEEK "A terrific disc…she is superbly supported by Joseph Middleton, 12 Ensemble and the Ruisi Quartet" - The Week ★★★★★ Performance ★★★★ Recording "Bevan and the conductorless 12 Ensemble move as one organism as she glides mesmerisingly over their ebbing and flowing pulse. The heart of the recital, though, is a radiantly searching performance of Britten’s Les illuminations…Bevan’s ability to combine warmth with refreshing vigour is to the fore in Chausson’s Chanson perpétuelle and the Debussy songs grouped by Holloway as Quatre mélodies de Verlaine. Her effervescence in Augusta Holmés’s delectable Serenades, another first recording, provides a sunny conclusion that perfectly balances the opening luminous nocturne of Fauré’s Clair de lune." - BBC Music Magazine ★★★★ "Refreshing…succulent, instrumental colouring…Warm, round tone and persuasive phrasing" - The Times ★★★★ "[Les Illuminations] Romping energy and shimmering brilliance of the performance by Bevan and the strings of Ensemble 12…Bevan has becoming a real master of French song; her diction is impeccable even in the most agile and rapid songs, and her singing in the quieter songs has a delicious tenderness and intimacy - as does the playing by pianist Joseph Middleton, Ensemble 12 and the Ruisi Quartet. In all this CD is a wonderful introduction to the perfumed, erotically charged world of French song at its height" - The Telegraph -
"The experience of being lovesick is universal. We are not the first to encounter it and there is no place safe from feeling this particular brand of melancholy. A favourite topic in art since the medieval period, museums are bursting with portrayals of love’s rebuke, and lovesickness has been studied as a legitimate medical illness, not least of all by Sigmund Freud who called it ‘a kind of craziness’. The 17th century was a unique period when feeling these bittersweet emotions was embraced as fuel for artistic expression. Love triggers an amphetamine-like euphoria in a dozen regions of the brain, similar to cocaine, dopamine, and oxytocin. In the thralls of an amorous high, one easily forgets the opposite of that ecstasy; unrequited or faded love that brings a despair all its own, causing depression, confusion, apathy, mood swings, and insomnia — the physical manifestation of heartbreak" - Randall Scotting His second album on Signum Records, counter-tenor Randall Scotting is joined by celebrated lutenist Stephen Stubbs for a collection of anti-Valentine's songs focussing on heartbreak and loss from the 17th century. "Perhaps there is no cure for lovesickness; but we are confident that this album will be comfort for all those who have loved, lost, and hope to love again". - Wendy Heller, Chair, Dept of Music, Princeton University. Stephen Stubbs plays on three instruments at A=415 Hz; a 10-course bass lute by Lawrence K. Brown, a baroque guitar by Ivo Magherini, and a 10-course renaissance lute by Stephen Barber. "The programme is skilfully planned and beautifully executed…Scotting sings throughout with rich, even tone and clear diction" - Gramophone ★★★★ Performance ★★★★ Recording "[The album] offers a worthy platform for the acclaimed musical and dramatic skills of Randall Scotting and Stephen Stubbs" - BBC Music Magazine "Any risk of addiction? So much the better – these songs are worth it!" - Musicweb International ★★★★½ "American countertenor Randall Scotting’s strapping image runs counter to what you might expect. There is a robustness to the voice, too, but refined through his extensive operatic experience. The opera house and the salon coexist in this dramatic yet intimate themed recital in which the legendary Stephen Stubbs, playing renaissance and baroque lutes and a baroque guitar, deploys his legendary arsenal of colours and expressive gestures" - Limelight -
Wonderland is full of magic and myth. Containing exclusively works commissioned by The King’s Singers across their 55 years, the album celebrates their trademark musical storytelling, with no shortage of comedy. György Ligeti’s six Nonsense Madrigals, each setting playful children’s poetry or extracts from Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, provide a musical spine to the album, commemorating 100 years since the composer’s birth in 1923. From just over 50 years ago, the fairytale The Musicians of Bremen (1972) - set to music by the Australian composer and Master of the Queen’s Music Malcolm Williamson sits alongside Time Piece (1972) by Paul Patterson, which tells an eccentric alternative creation story. These myth-based works have recent companions such as Judith Bingham’s extended work Tricksters (2019), which unearths what could happen if miscreants from different world mythologies could come together for the first time, and Ola Gjeilo’s A Dream within a Dream which questions the very nature of perception and reality. The album also features the legendary Japanese film and game composer Joe Hisaishi’s first ever choral work, I was there (2022), focussing on the cultural memory of tragic events such as 9/11 and the 2011 Japan Earthquake. Themes of hope and positivity, centred on the natural world, emerge in Makiko Kinoshita’s Ashita no uta (Song for tomorrow) (2020) and Francesca Amewudah-Rivers’ Alive (2022). "It’s an eclectic line-up, showing off the group's stylistic range, as well as their technique…all the madrigals are crisp and right in the groove- a pretty flawless set of sonic experiments and wisecracks" - Gramophone "The recorded sound of the voices is flawless...The King’s Singers are a world-class vocal ensemble, and Signum has done a remarkable job in putting this thoughtfully crafted package together. A remarkable release" - Classical Candor "The performers relish the challenge, revelling in the astringency of the harmonic language and nailing Ligeti’s wry humour by avoiding silliness or pantomime. Ligeti rules" - The Arts Desk