Permutations is a new work by Freya Waley-Cohen, commissioned as part of a Aldeburgh Festival’s 2017 season and exploring the relationship between architecture and music.
Born in London in 1986, Tamsin Waley-Cohen enjoys an adventurous and varied career. In addition to concerts with the Royal Philharmonic, London Philharmonic and BBC orchestras, amongst others, she has been associate artist with the Orchestra of the Swan and works with conductors including Andrew Litton and Tamás Vásáry. She enjoys a duo partnership with Huw Watkins, whose Concertino she premiered, and together they have recorded for Champs Hill and Signum Records, for whom she is a Signum Classics Artist. In 2016-2017 she will be a recipient of the ECHO Rising Stars Awards. She studied at the Royal College of Music and her teachers included Itzhak Rashkovsky, Ruggiero Ricci, and András Keller.
Freya Waley-Cohen’s music has been performed by the Manson Ensemble at the Royal Academy of Music, conducted by Oliver Knussen, the Orchestra of the Swan, conducted by David Curtis, CHROMA ensemble, e Hermes Experiment, Reverie Choir, Richard Watkins, Huw Watkins and others, at venues including the Sage Gateshead, Spital elds Festival, e Ryedale Festival, e British Film Institute, Snape Maltings Aldeburgh, Dartington, e National Portrait Gallery, and Kew Gardens.
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Recorded Live from their spiritual home of King’s College Chapel, Cambridge, The King’s Singers present an album of festive Christmas music, blending ancient and modern works with traditional favourites and new arrangements. The disc also features A Thanksgiving by former King’s Singer Bob Chilcott, which is performed here alongside the National Youth Chamber Choir of Great Britain. ★★★★ As usual with this eternally-renewing 49-year old ensemble, the technique is impeccable - The Times Absolutely draws you in… the group has thought so seriously about how to make its distinctive sound work for each piece - Gramophone The King’s Singers are as alluring as ever - The Sunday Times The King’s Singers in particularly fresh, spontaneous fettle - BBC Music Magazine A gorgeous setting of a thanksgiving text by St Richard of Chichester… lifts the disc into the realm of the slightly special - Music Web International This is mostly a commendably serious, brilliantly performed live recital… The King’s Singers current incarnation are in fine vocal fettle - The Arts Desk -
A prolific composer and organist, Naji Hakim is truly one of the most versatile performer-composers working today, garnering praise from his numerous organ and composition competition prizes as well as an award from Pope Benedict XVI for his musical work in benefit of the church.This new recording continues Signum’s series of discs with Naji Hakim with a new selection of his chamber works, featuring performances by Rima Tawil, Magali Mosnier, Claire Foison, Quatuor de la Chapelle Royale (with Renaud Bary) as well as by the composer. These works draw on a wide range of influences: Phèdre sets the words of Jean Racine’s tragic work of the same name to music; Caprice en Rondeau is a sprightly piece featuring themes by Rameau; and the Diptyque combines folk tunes through the tonal pallate of the basque flute the txistu. The premiere recording of the Concerto for Piano is a tour-de-force for soloist Claire Foison, accompanied in this version for String Quintet by the Quatuor de la Chapelle Royale and Renaud Bary. -
The Mozartists continue their continuing complete Mozart opera recording series with the one-act dramatic serenade Il sogno di Scipione, K. 126. Composed in 1771 as a celebratory homage to Prince Archbishop Sigismund Schrattenbach of Salzburg, the Archbishop died before the piece could be performed. In the spring of 1772 Mozart amended the work so that it could be used in honour of Schrattenbach’s successor, Hieronymus Colloredo – the only necessary change was to alter the name of the dedicatee in the nal recitative. The story of Scipio’s Dream takes place in c.148 BC, while the celebrated Roman general is a guest in the palace of his ally Massinissa, King of Numidia (in modern day Tunisia). As Scipio falls into a deep sleep, he dreams that the allegorical figures of Fortuna (Fortune) and Costanza (Constancy) appear to him in Elysium and demand that he should choose one of them to follow for the rest of his days. ★★★★★ The singing, indeed the general musicianship throughout, is really good - Classical Ear ★★★★ This is a rewarding set, gracefully paced… An impressive achievement - BBC Music Magazine ★★★★ Provides another fascinating insight into the compositional skills of the young Wolfgang and comes up to the high standards we have come to expect from Ian Page and his group - iClassical ★★★★ The virtuoso arias demand singers of agility, which Classical Opera's cast, headed by tenor Stuart Jackson, supplies in abundance. Ian Page is the lively conductor - Financial Times ★★★★ An engaging and fully dramatized reading of the music… Page brings fluency and character to their generous instrumental introductions and succeeding vocal displays - Classical Source Ian Page presides over a charming performance, with well-paced recitatives and appropriate, sometimes extravagant decoration. This is minor Mozart, done supremely well - Gramophone Not for the first time in this series I find myself returning in the final analysis to Page’s direction of his outstanding orchestra… beautifully nuanced and balanced playing - Opera Magazine -
To mark their 50th anniversary, The King's Singers have made it their mission to celebrate great music above all else - an aim which has driven them throughout their history. Their newly recorded triple-disc album - GOLD - completely reflects this with 60 tracks divided across three albums, themed as Close Harmony, Spiritual, and Secular. What unites every track across these albums is the quality of the material. Whether ancient motets, brand new commissions or much-loved arrangements of close-harmony music from the last 50 years, The King's Singers have put together a selection of great music that reflects the extra-ordinary diversity of their repertoire. ★★★★ The box-set is a delight for King’s fans and a defiant statement of longevity - Choir and Organ Fans of the ensemble will delight in finding a copy under the tree on Christmas morning… beautifully supple, technically pristine singing - Primephonic This disc is a distillation, by their current incarnation, of what makes them special. Here’s to the next fifty years - Music Web International It’s hard to think of a group whose music-making has aged so well… Here’s to another 50 years - Gramophone Features in BBC Music Magazine's Six of the Best King's Singers Recordings -
Soprano Mary Bevan and pianist Jopseph Middleton perform a programme exploring the genius of Baudelaire and Goethe, and how texts by them unlocked very speci c musical landscapes in settings by Debussy, Duparc, Chausson, de Bréville, Séverac, Fauré and Schubert. Praised by Opera for her “dramatic wit and vocal control” in stand out performances on opera and concert platforms, Mary Bevan is a winner of the Royal Philharmonic Society’s Young Artist award and UK Critics’ Circle Award for Exceptional Young TalentPianist Joseph Middleton specialises in the art of song accompaniment and chamber music and has been highly acclaimed within this eld. Described in the BBC Music Magazine as “one of the brightest stars in the world of song and Lieder”, he has also been labeled “the cream of the new generation” by The Times and “a perfect accompanist” by Opera Now. ★★★★ A beautiful programme… they include plenty of intriguing and little-known songs that more than deserve these excellent interpretations - Primephonic Bevan’s purity of tone and discreet yet telling way with words can be by turns unnerving and alluring in the Baudelaire settings… Middleton, as one might expect, is marvellously insightful, playing throughout with weight as well as grace and subtlety - Gramophone "Bevan's creamy, velvet tone is continually seductive, while her upper register is achingly beautifull when hushed, yet also soars radiantly in Debussy's Cinq poèmes de Baudelair…In short, this "invitation au voyage" should most definitely be accepted" - BBC Music Magazine "To sum up: a fascinating journey through Baudelaire’s and Goethe’s poetic landscapes, under the guidance of Helen Abbott’s expertise and the sensitive music-making of Mary Bevan and Joseph Middleton" - Musicweb International ★★★★ ½ "Bevan's warm tone and sensitivity to the nuances of the words and music create a consistent mood throughout the album, and the restrained accompaniment of pianist Joseph Middleton sustains the feeling of veiled mystery that Bevan successfully conveys…Bevan's expressive interpretations and smooth delivery reveal her profound artistry and love for this repertoire" - All Music -
Tamsin Waley Cohen is joined by pianist Huw Watkins for a new disc exploring folk- inspired Bohemia from before the First World War – featuring works by Antonin Dvořák, Josef Suk and Leoš Janáček. Waley-Cohen captures the score’s spirit of infectious bonhomie to perfection… this gifted duo refreshingly exchanges the percussive tendency and angular introspection of some recent accounts for a spiritually intense espressivo reminiscent of Yehudi Menuhin in his prime - The Strad Just fresh, thoughtful and committed interpretations shot through with poetry and alertness - Gramophone The performances are all well prepared, well integrated, well-conceived and beautifully played. Altogether a cherishable disc - MusicWeb International English violinist Tamsin Waley-Cohen’s flexible and versatile technique is assured, especially demonstrated in Dvořák’s and his son-in-law Suk’s Four Romantic Pieces...They have an affinity with this music and play lyrically ...This is classy playing from both performers. - AUSTA National Journal -
Leading performers of 17th-century music Fretwork, His Majestys Sagbutts and Cornetts and the Magdalena Consort (directed by Peter Harvey) combine forces under the artistic direction of William Hunt for this rst complete recording of the consort anthems of Orlando Gibbons. Gibbons’ music is one of the artistic glories of the rst Stuart reign. Amongst his sacred compositions, verse anthems such as is is the record of John and Behold, thou hast made my days are long acknowledged masterpieces, amongst the greatest in all English sacred music, but best known to most in their setting for choir and organ. Here they are presented together with an array of other great anthems, some of them scarcely known, in their more intricate and colourful versions for consort accompaniment. Following the instruction of such contemporary writers as Morley and Caccini, these radical new performances place communication of text at the forefront, seeking to rediscover the dramatic essence of the verse anthem that made it arguably the most effective musical creation of the English Reformation. With the incisive declamatory skill of several of the UK’s leading period performers, they reveal the extraordinary rhetorical and poetic power of this music, as it might have been heard in the Chapel Royal and the private domestic chapels of early 17th century England. Learn more about the Orlando Gibbons project here: https://www.orlandogibbonsproject.com/ ★★★★★ Subtle, seductively supple and sinuous singing and playing… Volume 2 from this dream-team will be eagerly awaited - Choir and Organ ★★★★★ This is the finest recording of this quintessentially English music that we are likely to have… a real treat, and an impressive master-class in how these texts should be declaimed - Early Music Review Gibbons at his most alluring: a glorious fusion of the intimate and ceremonial in richly-voiced, warmhearted performances - BBC Radio 3 Thomas Morley's lovely phrase evoking music's ability to link earthly listeners to heavenly contemplation - The Times The effect, in the three In nomines recorded here, is of uncanny beauty, familiar notes polished up to a new sheen and lustre - GramophoneAll downloads include booklets. -
Seasonal Music by Bob Chilcott
Bob Chilcott’s compositions are beloved with choral societies around the world, and this album represents the fruits of his recent collaborations with the US choir Choralis and their conductor Gretchen Kuhrmann. Featuring festive works for solo choir as well as choir and brass ensemble, at the centre of the programme is Wenceslas, inspired by the legend of the Bohemian King who braved the winter weather with his Page to save the life of a poor peasant, and incorporating the melody of the famous carol into each of its 8 movements. The disc includes the premiere recordings of Chilcott’s Gloria, which was premiered by the choir to great critical acclaim in 2015. These musicians radiate all the warmth of the famous church scene in Home Alone… That underscores Chilcott’s gift as a songwriter and an arranger - Gramophone Chilcott’s music undeniably sounds great when sung by a small scale professional chamber choir (such as here) but there’s something equally appealing in the inclusive joy of a performance by a larger group of amateurs. This is a tribute to them, as much as to the composer of the music they sing - MusicWeb International Incorporating the traditional carol Good King Wenceslas it’s a work rich in melodic invention… sung here with becoming warmth, the finale glowing with good tidings… Impeccably directed throughout - Primephonic This effortlessly fluent, audience-friendly music is hard to dislike. The craft is impeccable, the tunes are memorable and the performers invariably sound as if they’re enjoying themselves - The Arts Desk -
Simon Desbruslais returns to disc on Signum with an album that continues to expand the repertoire of the trumpet even further, with four new commissions for Trumpet, Piano and String Orchestra Toby Young’s The Art of Dancing is described by the composer as being ‘a modern homage to the baroque dance suite’, drawing inspiration from modern dance music styles including Acid House, Garage and Drum & Bass. Geoffrey Gordon’s Saint Blue is inspired by the visionary artist Wassily Kandinsky, creating a double concerto with a remarkable jazz-inspired cadenza between the trumpet, piano and double bass. Deborah Pritchard’s Seven Halts on the Somme responds to the series of oil paintings by artist Hughie O’Donoghue that mark seven stopping points for British troops during the Battle of the Somme – one of the most bloody conflicts of the First World War. Finally, Nimrod Borensteins’ Concerto for Piano, Trumpet and String Orchestra juxtaposes rhythms to create a multiplicity of different atmospheres in this highly effective and powerful work. For these premiere recordings Simon Desbruslais performs with pianist Clare Hammond, accompanied by the English String Orchestra under Kenneth Woods. ★★★★ Beautifully performed, highly original disc - BBC Music Magazine Simon Debruslais continues to expand the repertoire of his instrument with four new commissions… creating a double concerto with a remarkable jazz inspired cadenza - Northern Echo -
Drawing international media attention following their founding in 2014, The Girls’ Choir of Canterbury Cathedral have quickly become leading lights in the British choral music landscape. For their first recording with Signum – led by their director David Newsholme – they draw on the rich catalogue of what have become British cathedral anthems from the 16th Century to the 20th, performing works by composers including Tallis, Byrd, Stanford, Parry and Howells. They are joined on this recording by the Men of Canterbury Cathedral choir, as well as organists Aidan Bawtree and Nicholas Wearne. ★★★★ A highly enjoyable, well recorded CD that flows well and contains some wonderful singing… Go ahead and buy it! - iClassical The Girls and Men of Cantebury Cathedral Choir [draw] in the rich catalogue of what have become British cathedral anthems - Northern Echo -
The orchestra is the brainchild of Chi-chi Nwanoku MBE, FRAM, who describes the project’s aim as being “... to create a space where BME musicians can walk on stage and know that they belong, in every sense of the word. If even one BME child feels that their colour is getting in the way of their musical ambitions, then I hope to inspire them, give them a platform, and show them that music, of whatever kind, is for all people.” In this first release in a new series, Chineke! orchestra perform two beguiling works – Sibelius’s Finlandia and Dvořák’s much loved Symphony No. 9 ‘From the New World’. Both pieces encompass different aspects of BME influences in Western Classical music: Sibelius’s Finlandia embodied a national sentiment in both the composer’s homeland of Finland as well as for other small nations seeking to free themselves from subjugation from other countries (becoming the national anthem of Biafra during the civil war of 1967-1970), and although underplayed by critics at the time, Dvorak’s work rings with melodies influenced by the folk music and spirituals sung to him by his African- American student and assistant, Harry Burleigh, and with rhythms and pentatonic sections inspired by the music of the Sioux Indians, all wrapped up in the format of a Western Classical symphony. Music Web International A remarkable testament to a remarkable orchestra. Norther Echo This live recording of the works at the Royal Festival Hall, under the baton of Kevin John Edusai, oozes dynamism with fine playing in the quieter passages. The Kansas City Star pickDrawn from exceptional musicians from across the continent, the orchestra is part of the Chineke! Foundation – a non-profit organisation that provides career opportunities to young Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) classical musicians in the UK and Europe. Their motto is ‘Championing Change and Celebrating Diversity in Classical Music.Signum are proud to present the debut recording from the Chineke! Orchestra, in a new live orchestral recording from The Royal Festival Hall, London. -
One of the UK’s leading choral directors for over 50 years, Stephen Wilkinson MBE has led both professional and amateur choirs across Europe, and is particularly renowned for his work with the BBC Northern Singers and the William Byrd Singers of Manchester. Only retiring from conducting in 2009 at the age of 90, Stephen Wilkinson’s songs span the breadth of his long career as a conductor and musician, and are best described by his daughter Clare – an acclaimed mezzo-soprano herself who also performs on this recording – as being “a unique voice, yet deeply rooted in the English song tradition of Finzi, Gurney and Quilter.” Performed by British singers Mhairi Lawson, Clare Wilkinson, James Gilchrist and Matthew Brook, they draw on texts by a wealth of sources including Auden, Yates, Coleridge, Shakespeare and many more. Highly persuasive English lyricism… a worthwhile labour of love - The Guardian There are fine things here…. strikingly original…. rooted in textual detail - Gramophone Drawing on texts from the likes of Auden, Yates, Coleridge and Shakespeare, this is a must for devotees - Northern Echo The English song tradition continues to bear fruit [and] Wilkinson takes his place in the canon - MusicWeb International -
On their premiere recording, the Old Royal Naval College Trinity Laban Chapel Choir, directed by celebrated choral conductor Ralph Allwood, perform the works of British Choral Award winner Roderick Williams. Based in Greenwich, East London the choir is comprised of both students from the conservatoire (including several choral scholars) as well as outstanding volunteer singers. It is unique amongst cathedral, church and collegiate choirs in the UK in that it has ready access to the wide range of musical resources at the Conservatoire, collaborating frequently in a wide variety of genres as well as performing for services at the beautiful 18th Century Chapel of St Peter & St Paul. As well as being renowned as a singer Roderick Williams is also well-respected as a composer, and his works have been premiered at the Wigmore and Barbican Halls, the Purcell Room and live on national radio. ★★★★ This is a well presented introduction to a contemporary composer of whom I hope and expect to hear more - Cross Rhythms This vivid choral anthology has given continued pleasure throughout the year, filled as it is with an astonishing versatility of moods and styles - Gramophone This disc shows another equally distinguished side to one of the UK’s leading singers. It’s very well worth hearing - MusicWeb International -
The Sacconi Quartet record the string quartets of British composer Graham Fitkin, The Composer writes in the introduction to this disc: “ The string quartet medium seems to me to thrive in contexts of both poignant intimacy or extrovert forceful information overload. (And indeed all those delicate shades in between.) I feel it has a strength of purpose that I relish, an honest homogeneity to it, a good wide pitch range and quite frankly the ability to play decent long sustained notes or short pizzicati. It’s been all too tempting.” Composed between 1992 and 2007, this disc compiles Fitkin’s complete works for String Quartet, performed by one of the UK’s most dynamic and versatile string quartets. The Sacconi Quartet, for whom the medium-length String was composed, play throughout with élan and what sounds like a complete understanding of the ebb and flow of each of these quite diverse pieces… A terrific disc that I encourage everyone to buy - Gramophone All weaved with his trademark rhythmic complexity - Northern Echo -
Voce Chamber Choir’s new disc is a moving tribute to Sir John Tavener, featuring a selection of works by him (many of which are previously unrecorded) and by Roxanna Panufnik. At the heart of the disc is the premiere recording of Panufnik’s 99 Words to my Darling Children, a moving setting of Tavener’s last message to his family. As well as the Voce Chamber Choir, the disc features performances from cellist Matthew Barley, organist James Sherlock and narration from Simon Russell Beale. ★★★★★ Voce Chamber Choir offer a well-balanced sound with a polished sheen to their singing. An unusual and most welcome disc - Choir and Organ The result – a lullaby that cradles its sung text with infinite tenderness – is exquisite, and beautifully handled… a strong, and very welcome, first outing - Gramophone It’s a really lovely programme… lovely moment of connection between the two, a lovely homage - BBC Radio 3