“There is such variety of colour and texture but also, he has these themes that run through them so this sense of flow, this sense of rhythmic impetus—the rivers, the night, the sort of sensuous and erotic but also spiritual so there is a unifying sense across them but there’s lots of variety and I can imagine a lot of these songs going straight into choirs repertoires and people really enjoying getting to know them.” - BBC Radio 3 Record Review
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Rivers is the second EP from composer John Barber and Fourth Window vocal ensemble. Over its five tracks conductor Sarah Latto and 8 acapella voices tell five different love stories- spiritual, romantic and parental. Julia, setting text by Robert Herrick, imagines a lover heading to a magical late night rendezvous; My River - written for John’s son just after he was born - uses text by Emily Dickinson to create a modern day spiritual of hope and gratitude. In Lullaby, a mother sings her baby to sleep whilst her partner is at war. The EP is bookended by The Voice Of My Beloved and Love Is As Strong As Death - setting timeless text from the Song of Songs. ★★★★ - "If you enjoy contemporary choral music this is highly recommended" - Crossrhythms -
"A Child's Dream" is a reflection of my personal journey in the music world, from some of the very first pieces I played as a child to significant milestones (like my concerto debut at age 9) sharing my exciting story with our listeners. This programme showcases the music that has been my lifelong companion, travelling with me across the globe but also some hidden gems by neglected composers throughout history, voices which deserve to be heard. - Alexandra Dariescu “a beautiful reminder that tops can be tails and ends hold beginnings.” - Gramophone “Absorbing, elegantly produced, engineered and annotated” - International Piano -
Elgar’s unjustly neglected ‘greatest choral masterpiece’ (Jeremy Dibble) is given an outstanding new recording by conductor David Temple, Crouch End Festival Chorus, London Mozart Players, and soloists Francesca Chiejina, Dame Sarah Connolly, Benjamin Hulett and Ashley Riches.
Composed in 1906 after The Dream of Gerontius and The Apostles, The Kingdom depicts the lives of Christ’s disciples and the community of the early church with a mixture of gentle conversational sections and astonishing dramatic passages. Recorded in the recently restored Victorian Theatre at Alexandra Palace, its fluid musical narrative is both arresting and profoundly moving.
Echoing Sir Adrian Boult, David Temple considers the oratorio to be Elgar’s pinnacle achievement. ‘I truly believe The Kingdom to be Elgar’s greatest choral work. It is a gem from the first note to the last.’
EDITORS CHOICE - GRAMOPHONE ★★★★★ - Choir and Organ ★★★★ - BBC Music Magazine ★★★★★ - Mail on Sunday - "Everything about this recording is outstanding. The sound, under veteran Mike Hatch, is brilliantly vivid. The singing of the chorus that the self-taught Temple founded 40 years ago is truly exceptional." “A very fine large-scale piece, given a most persuasive and sympathetic recording ... Temple gets them to sing with passion and guts, but never at the expense of a very fine sound and the kind of flawless intonation that is hard to achieve with an ensemble of this size.” - The Arts Desk “The music, both solemn and triumphant, projects an aura of divinity over the mission of Christ, and elevates the listener to a dimension of sacredness and reverence.” - Sonograma "Indispensable" - The Elgar Society -
“Orlando Gibbons was a genius. We can probably all agree that this term is massively anachronistic. However, justified, I think, in order to establish his music on the same elevated niveau as Purcell or Beethoven or Schubert. While it is difficult to make such analogies when his music is still relatively rarely performed by comparison with these more illustrious names, but Gibbons’ fecundity of imagination, his masterly handling of his material, his emotional depth and maturity, the exquisite turns of phrase, his harmonic assurance, his contrapuntal ease and mastery - all this puts him in the first rank of composers” - Richard Boothby. “My Days is a ritualised memory piece about Orlando Gibbons (1583-1625) written for two ensembles whose recordings informed so much of my musical development. I feel like I spend half of my life trying to trick string players to play like Fretwork...so it was with enormous pleasure that I composed this piece.” - Nico Muhly ★★★★★ - BBC Music Magazine ★★★★ - Financial Times ★★★★ - Fono Forum ★★★★ - "Muhly’s composition, with its urgent string figures, contrasts beautifully with the flowing imitations of Gibbons’ fantasias, around it." - The Guardian “An exhilarating reminder of the sheer ambition of this extraordinary body of chamber music.” - Gramophone "[Fretwork's] interpretation of these pieces by Gibbons, as well as one by Nico Muhly, is distinguished by technical excellence, interpretative depth and an innovative contribution to the viola da gamba repertoire." - Sonograma -
Following on from his JS Bach Complete Organ Works collection performed on the organ at Trinity College Cambridge, David Goode returns with an album of organ works by WA Mozart. It is well known that Mozart highly esteemed the organ as an instrument (for example, his famous ‘King of Instruments’ remark) and enjoyed improvising at length. However, this sadly did not translate into writing for the instrument. Organist David Goode explores these works, and those which even may not have been intended for organ, and discusses in his programme notes how best to render them for two hands and feet, and how to register them suitably. “His unquestionable intellectual affinity with the music is matched by energy and elegance. This is a recording not to miss.” - Organists' Review, ★★★★ - “...There are charming little pieces ranging from the early Londoner Skizzenbuch to the late gem of an Andante in F, K616. The two big works are impressively played, making the most of the neo-classical Metzler organ at Trinity College, Cambridge” - BBC Music Magazine ★★★★ "Goode's undertaking is a success in every respect, since, in addition to the quality of the performances, it shows us a Mozart who, even in timbres not usually associated with him, maintains his sonic universe...A recording that is worthwhile for Mozart fans, of course, but also for those curious about the instrument." - Ritmo -
In a new arrangement for solo harp, celebrated harpist Gwyneth Wentink presents Dutch composer Simeon ten Holt’s Canto Ostinato and Aforisme No. 2 (a transcription by Jeroen van Veen on behalf of Simeon ten Holt). “I first heard Canto Ostinato on piano in 2011 and I felt as if I was on fire. THIS is something I wanted to play on the harp: I clearly recall the zeal and enthusiasm I felt at the time. I was buzzing with curiosity, excitement and vitality. Exploring various musical genres, arranging music for the harp and working in interdisciplinary settings is something that has always been important to me. Playing the harp, one is being confronted with a rather restricted repertoire, and one almost evidently scans the horizon for what else one can arrange, commission and/or discover” – Gwyneth Wentink.★★★★ "Fans of 'Canto ostinato' will cheer at the arrangement by harpist Gwyneth Wentink. She cunningly highlights opposing voices and rhythms, as if Canto ostinato is simply rock-solid music." - De Volkskrant
"Canto Ostinato is one of the great works of minimalist music. At 48 minutes... I imagine the player needs to have very tough fingertips to play continuously for this length of time. In addition to the whole work, we are given on an extra track, a version of Section 74. It is exquisite." - MusicWeb International
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Following her acclaimed Brahms release on Signum Classics in May 2021, Leeds International Piano Competition Winner (2015), Anna Tsybuleva, releases a new album of Debussy’s 24 Preludes pour solo piano. Tsybuleva has been described by as embodying “superb pianism and intelligent musicianship” (Gramophone Magazine) and “A pianist of rare gifts: not since Murray Perahia’s triumph in 1972 has Leeds had a winner of this musical poise and calibre” (International Piano Magazine). Praise for Tsybuleva on Signum Classics “One is speechless. As far as their performance is concerned, the German Symphony Orchestra Berlin, the soloist and the conductor Ruth Reinhardt are an extremely eloquent team that realizes their musical ideas together. You can hear a direct and gripping Brahms, without any airs, without frills – music that speaks to you directly” – Piano News ★★★★ Performance ★★★★ Recording - "Anna Tsybuleva interprets fluently and continuously" - Fono Forum 7/10 Performance, 10/10 Recording - "Beauty of tone, sensitivity and spaciousness permeate her Debussy Preludes" - ClassicsToday "There is plenty to enjoy in terms of sensitivity, grace and nimbleness. The opening 'Danseuses and Delphes' is appropriately statuesque and sensitively weighted, while the frank simplicity of 'Bruyères' is a good example of her no-frills naturalness. She is also capable of storytelling, as in her cheekily whimsical 'Danse de Puck'." - Gramophone "From Anna Tsybuleva you hear playing of a special finesse and evocation…enchanted with what I find available I find myself longing for more Debussy from Tsybuleva…she has been excellently recorded…She is at the heart of the Debussian world" - The Art of Pianists "[She brings] Debussy's lucid and fragrant sound to life…A magnificent interpretation of Debussy's Préludes" - Piano News Recorded in utterly glorious sound this is a worthy addition to the great sets that have gone before. - Music Web International -
‘Close Harmony’ is the latest musical offering from Grammy Award winning and internationally acclaimed vocal group The King’s Singers. A combination of newly recorded works and tracks from their The Library EP series, the album takes a deep-dive into one of the most beloved and unique corners of their music library: the close-harmony arrangements. New arrangements feature from composers Daryl Runswick (such as an imaginative, exciting version of Rossini’s Barber of Seville Overture) and John Rutter (Jerome Kern’s The Way You Look Tonight) showcasing the diversity of both their talent and the repertoire they present. ★★★★★ "The current line-up of King's Singers demonstrates their continued pre-eminence with these outstanding recordings of often very difficult arrangements…the Singers deliver with their usual mix of charm and skill" - Choir & Organ "All the characteristic features that constitute the unique King’s sound are here plentifully: the often complicated and thrilling arrangements, the technical and rhythmical expertise, the perfect homogeneity of the concerted singing, and the inventiveness. The songs in themselves are of course first class, but very often the arrangements ennoble them further into little masterpieces – and it is not just the technical wizardry that impresses. Many of the more lyrical songs are sung in simple six-part arrangements, so beautifully, so loveably...They are equally at home in every genre they approach...I recommend it with all possible enthusiasm!” - Musicweb International "A simple scan of the thirty-one songs reveals the immense breadth of the release...Close Harmony is that all-too-rare album where with every listen a new favourite emerges...It wouldn't be exaggerating to say that pretty much every track on Close Harmony will take its place at the top of one's playlist at some point...the six have developed a spectacular ensemble blend...there's no shortage of delights to enjoy on this encompassing, double- disc collection" - Textura -
The second album from the Choir of St John’s with their new music director - Christopher Gray. At the centre of the programme are the atmospheric Quatre Motets pour le temps de Noël by Francis Poulenc, and the heartfelt Three Carol-An-thems by Herbert Howells who directed the Choir here at St John’s during the Second World War. Other items include the beautiful carol John Rutter wrote for the Choir in 1985, There is a flower, and the haunting Peace on earth by Master of the King’s Music, Errollyn Wallen. “My aim with this album has not been to break new ground with repertoire, but to ensure that classics remain fresh for the current generation” - Christopher Gray 9/10 - “all the singing is first class throughout.” - CrossRhythms ★★★★ - "Captures [the choir] in wholesome fettle" - BBC Music Magazine "A glorious mixture of impassioned performances" - Gramophone “A superb disc, beautifully presenting a procession os stellar performances with detailed notes and in sterling sound.” - Classical Explorer “The recording quality is of the excellent standard that all of John’s own label recordings have established” - MusicWeb International “The Choir of St John's clearly continues to thrive, and Christopher Gray has assumed the mantle of his distinguished predecessors with aplomb.” - Organists' Review -
Following their acclaimed mix-tape series on Signum Classics, LIGHT and SHADOW is the sixth album from Orchestra of the Swan and David Le Page. Featuring new arrangements of works by Peter Gabriel, Thomas Newman and Radiohead, this latest instalment promises to take you on a compelling, imaginative journey – bridging musical genres such as jazz and electronics in their signature ‘Swan’ style. -
Their second album of 2025, and their 11th album with Signum Records, baroque giants La Serenissima return with an album of works by composers including Telemann, Sieber, Durante, and Brescianello. The album explores how their styles changed and developed as they ‘crossed borders’ between Italy, Germany, France and other European countries. ★★★★★ - “Once again, the ensemble La Serenissima convinces with an extremely determined, but never unloving articulation” - Fono Forum “Fascinating, poetically communicative, subtly virtuosic, thoroughly beautiful, this is my favourite La Serenissima album in some years.” - Gramophone "This is a peach of an album, put together with all the care and dynamism we’ve come to expect from this outstanding team." - Europadisc “With their usual interpretative exquisiteness and musicological rigor, La Serenissima offers a rich and varied listening experience” - Sonograma "This is a most enjoyable disc, which offers a nice mixture of familiar and little-known pieces in top-class performances. Don’t miss it." - MusicWeb International -
Baroque giants La Serenissima return with VIVALDI 8 – VOLUME 2, following their previous instalment in February 2025 of Vivaldi 8 Volume 1. Recognised for ‘whipping up a storm with Vivaldi’, La Serenissima is ‘one of Britain’s best-loved chamber orchestras’ (The Telegraph) known for their outstanding performances, championing a host of neglected Italian baroque composers. Uniquely, the group’s entire repertoire is edited from source material by founder and violinist, Adrian Chandler OSI. ★★★★★ - “After being obsessed by the composer and his music world for more than 30 years, Chandler by now is Vivaldi incarnate” – The Times “[Chandler] and his musicians could not sound more at home, more free to be themselves, than they do here.” - Gramophone -
Their third duo album on Signum Classics, Viktoria Mullova and Alasdair Beatson perform Beethoven’s Sonatas 2 and 10. Uniquely for the A Major sonata Op 12 No 2 they use a copy of an 1805 Walter (a Viennese fortepiano), and for Sonata No 10 op. 96 they use a copy of an 1819 graf, both by Paul McNulty. Together with violin strung with gut, these instruments are what Beethoven’s music craves, giving a rich texture and distinct colours between the registers. ★★★★ - “A wonderful performance that becomes richer on each listening” - BBC Music Magazine ★★★★ - “The fine detail of both the violin and the keyboard playing is exquisite” - The Guardian “Yielding to none in sensitivity and imagination, Mullova and Beatson make an eloquent case for the more intimate, transparent sound world of period instruments” - Gramophone “Their perceptive interpretations express these works’ full gamut of emotions from introspection to humour.” - The Strad “The wait has been worth it: Mullova’s superb musicianship shines in close-knit partnership with Beatson.” - Europadisc -
“Santtu conducts Strauss: Ein Heldenleben” is the sixth album from Philharmonia Records. Conducted by Santtu-Matias Rouvali, this performance was recorded at Southbank Centre’s Royal Festival Hall. ★★★★★ - “The orchestral sound is superb and gloriously expansive” - BBC Music Magazine “An expression of power without disorder, of tension without confusion – a Heldenleben of irresistible gravity and luminous calm.” - Sonograma “The recording quality is flawless and there is no hint of this being live … this [recording] achieves a profundity which wholly validates Rouvali’s more reflective interpretative choices." - MusicWebInternational -
“To my ears, Llŷr Williams is one of the great pianists of our age.” John Gilhooly, CBE. His 17th album with Signum Classics, the Welsh pianist Llŷr Williams, brings a profound musical intelligence to his work as soloist, accompanist and chamber musician. His second album of Robert Schumann works explores a selection of works that span a substantial part of Schumann’s life. Llŷr Williams’ long and successful collaboration with Signum Records includes the 8-disc box-set ‘A Schubert Journey’ (2020), the 12-volume ‘Beethoven Unbound’ (2018), a ‘Wagner Without Words’ double album (2014) and highlights from Liszt’s ‘Années de pèlerinage‘ (2012). "This is a collection bound to appeal to admirers of expressive piano mastery, as well as to the most discerning of Schumann aficionados." - Gramophone ★★★★ - “There’s so much to admire in these remarkable recordings” - BBC Music Magazine Praise for Robert Schumann: Piano Works Vol. 1: “… the performances are always immaculate, their working out totally lucid; it’s unquestionably thoughtful, authoritative playing.” ★★★★ – The Guardian“[Williams] is a subtle, sensitive, and eminently satisfying artists possessed of a magnificent technique, a glorious tonal palette and terrific musical intelligence… I found Williams’s entire approach to Schumann a breath of fresh air, finding new perspectives around every corner.” – International Piano“Llŷr Williams’s poise, clarity and wholeness of approach, admirable in themselves, are no barriers to the passion, romance and reverie inherent in this generous selection from Robert Schumann’s piano catalogue … poetry and panache from both hands” – Colin’s Column -
Their fourth release on Signum Classics, the “engaging” (New Yorker) men’s vocal ensemble Cantus present a collection of songs conveying the connectedness and isolation created through the use of technology both during and beyond the Covid pandemic, and the mental health impact on society as a result. “Alone Together has taken on a whole new context and meaning since March 2020. This album is a journey that reflects upon isolation and connectedness in our world. We hope that you find moments for beauty and introspection, both familiar and new” Booklet Texts