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Australian conductor Geoffrey Simon is resident in London and has appeared there with the London Philharmonic Orchestra, London Symphony Orchestra, Philharmonia Orchestra, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, London Chamber Orchestra and English Chamber Orchestra. Internationally, he has appeared with the Adelaide, Atlanta, Bournemouth, Canberra, City of Birmingham, Fort Worth, Melbourne, Milwaukee, Queensland, Sapporo, Shanghai, St Louis, Sydney, Tasmanian, Vermont and West Australian Symphony Orchestras, the Israel, Moscow, Munich and New Japan Philharmonic Orchestras, the American Symphony, the Residentie Orchestra of The Hague, the Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony and the Australian Opera. Written after Mussorgsky had met Russian artist and designer Viktor Hartmann, Pictures at an Exhibition is by far Mussorgsky’s most played work. The piece was written when Hartmann gave Mussorgsky two ‘pictures.’ Hartmann very suddenly died aged 39; following his death, a memorial exhibition was put on in St. Petersburg. Mussorgsky donated the two ‘pictures’ which Hartmann had given him before he died. Mussorgsky is said to have based the piece on his experiences at this exhibition, which was in memory of Hartmann. The concerto version is performed here by Tamas Ungar in an arrangement by Lawrence Leonard. All downloads include booklets. -
Mark Williams leads the Choir of the Jesus College Cambridge through an evocative selection of choral works inspired in varying ways by the songs of Solomon. Songs of love have been written from the earliest records of human existence. None are more passionately ecstatic than the Song of Solomon, which occupies a unique place in the Holy Bible in both style and content. It contains lyric poems of love and courtship, as might have been sung at Jewish weddings. For Christians, these poems speak to the beauty of the union of Christ and his ‘bride’, the Church. The present collection presents a diverse group of choral works written between the 16th century and the present day, with most inspired by this unique sacred text. Under Mark Williams direction, the choirs make a clear elegant and focussed sound, and clarity is very much the watchword in the performances - MusicWeb International This CD features both the Jesus College Choir (top line women) and the all-male Chapel Choir. The two sounds are well differentiated, the fresh clarity of the boys contrasting with the more mature sounds of the young women - Choir and Organ Superlative singing - Northern Echo -
As one of Britain’s most respected and versatile musicians, Sir Richard Rodney Bennett has produced over two hundred works for the concert hall, and fifty scores for film and television, as well as having been a writer and performer of jazz songs for over fifty years. This disc of compositions and arrangements performed by the BBC Singers showcases some of his most popular and beguiling works for choir and voice, drawn from classical and jazz music and featuring his ever-popular work A Good-Night. There's not a note out of place or a phrase that seems second-hand - The GuardianThis CD offers an excellent overview of Bennett’s a cappella choral works, demonstrating the breadth of this compositional interests and versatility across a wide range of genres from contemporary classical to jazz to Christmas music - Studio Flamingo With the Singers' impeccable intonation, warm vocal blend, this CD is a must-buy for anyone interested in contemporary British choral music - Choir & Organ -
“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 -
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. -
This recording is compiled from Armonico Consort’s ‘Naked Byrd’ programme, featuring music by Tavener, Purcell, Barber and Byrd, composers who wore their hearts on their sleeves, and whose art saw their emotions laid bare, in an atmospheric concert where magical musical moments are intertwined with sublime passages of plainchant and violin improvisation. ‘Naked Byrd Two’ follows on from their December 2009 release (‘Naked Byrd’). Armonico Consort is, at its heart, a highly talented vocal ensemble that stages a wide variety of concerts. The quality of the performances they stage is reflected in the praise they have recently received: An achingly beautiful selection - Classic FM Superb! - The Times A beautiful sound - BBC Radio 3 Record Review [A] splendid second volume in the Armonico Consort’s Naked Byrd series - The Independent[A] disc of unending delight - Gramophone -
Bass-baritone Stephan Loges is accompanied by Iain Burnside in a collection that explores concepts of lost youth, the transience of life and the comforting presence of nature. The programme features performances of Schumann’s 12 Gedichte Op. 35 and Brahms’s 5 Lieder Op. 94, as well as in 5 rarely recorded works by Finnish composer Yrjö Kilpinen.
Born in Dresden, Stephan Loges was an early winner of the Wigmore Hall International Song Competition. He has given recitals throughout the world, including regular appearances at Wigmore Hall London and the Oxford Lieder Festival, as well as Carnegie Hall New York and many more.
★★★★ Loges and Burnside are a responsive duo... an intuitive set of songs with real light and shade throughout - BBC Music Magazine A sensitive, touching account of [Schumann's Op 35 cycle], with Iain Burnside offering fine piano playing - Gramophone Iain Burnside is as usual a flexible accompanist and Stephan Loges, who has already an impressive catalogue of recordings behind him, adds a further gem to his [collection] - MusicWeb International -
“Contemporary music and Commissioning have been central features of the last fifteen years at St John’s. It’s been a joy to work with talented student composers, singers and instrumental- ists; my own musicianship has been greatly enriched by their creativity and energy... After a 30-month break from sessions during the pandemic, we were very pleased to be able to record again in 2022. The material on this album comes from various times of year, whilst we were also continuing our Magnificat series. For the final sessions in December the outdoor temperature was forty degrees colder than it had been for the previous recording in July! The personnel of the lower voices had also largely changed, but I hope you will hear a successful continuity of sound- world. All the composers are alive today but, at the suggestion of one of them, we have omitted dates of birth so as not to intrude on their privacy. I’ve curated a sequence of music which aims to celebrate some of the broad range of styles in 21st-century choral writing. The premiere of Iain Farrington’s Nova Nova was the final piece in my last St John’s broadcast - I have often enjoyed pushing the boundaries of the Anglican choral tradition!” - Andrew Nethsingha CHORAL AND SONG CHOICE ★★★★★ Performance ★★★★★ Recording "The album gives a remarkable overview of contemporary choral trends…The choir's musicianship is superb and its vocal balance perfectly calibrated; the textures vibrant and the sensuous beauty of the St John's sound is expertly captured by Signum…A valuable addition to the choral library" - BBC Music Magazine “A superlative album… The sequence is beautifully planned and feels seamless” - Choir & Organ "This CD, with the now fully mixed choir of St John's, is outstanding in content and performance. It represents both a culmination of achievement and shines a light on the new possibilities for choral music in the future. It would be a mistake not to buy this." - Organists' Review "This superlative album represents Andrew Nethsingha's exploration of contemporary music during his fifteen years as Director of Music…beautifully planned and feels seamless…What a legacy he leaves" - Cathedral Music -
The Mozartists continue their MOZART 250 project of staging operas by Mozart and his contemporaries with their recording of the UK premiére of Niccolò Jommelli’s Il Vologeso, first performed over 250 years ago on 11 February 1766 for the Stuttgart court in Ludwigsburg. For this eagerly awaited performance The Mozartists assembled a superb young cast, headed by the Irish mezzo-soprano Rachel Kelly, a graduate of the Royal Opera’s Jette Parker Young Artist Programme, tenor Stuart Jackson, a former Mozartists Associate Artist, and soprano Gemma Lois Summerfield, winner of the 2015 Kathleen Ferrier Award. Jommelli was born just north of Naples in 1714 (the same year as Gluck) and died there in 1774. Largely forgotten now, he was one of the most celebrated composers of his day, and during a career which spanned thirty-seven years he wrote some eighty operas as well as a great number of sacred works. He was seen as an important and progressive composer in combining the vocal melodiousness and lyricism of Italian opera with more elaborate and dramatically charged elements of French opera. Set in Ephesus, on the western extremes of the Parthian Empire, in c.164 AD, Il Vologeso centres on Berenice, a woman who becomes caught between two men – the victorious Roman general Lucio Vero, and Vologeso, King of the Parthians (thought dead, but recently returned after his defeat battle). The Mozartists, under the dynamic leadership of conductor and artistic director Ian Page, are leading exponents of the music of Mozart and his contemporaries. Originally called Classical Opera, the company was founded in 1997, and has received widespread international acclaim for its stylish and virtuosic period-instrument orchestra, its imaginative and innovative programming, and its ability to nurture and develop world-class young artists."What commends this one-off concert version ofIl Vologeso is its raw energy…In Jommelli’s multi-section finale, Page springs a lot of surprises and paces his dynamics superbly…[This] Il Vologeso is a gem." - BBC Music Magazine
"The cast, recorded at a concert with no subsequent patching, is excellent. This is a fine achievement by The Mozartists and Ian Page" - Gramophone ★★★★ "In this London production recorded live, Ian Page enthusiastically conducts The Mozartists who are more than familiar with this pre-classical repertoire" - Classica -
Under their guest conductor Paavo Järvi, the Philharmonia Orchestra perform three characteristically fiery works by the Danish composer Carl Nielsen; the Flute and Clarinet Concertos, and the Aladdin Suite.The concerto solo parts are performed by two of the orchestra’s principal players – flautist Samuel Coles and clarinettist Mark van de Wiel. -
For her debut concerto recording, ECHO 'Rising Star' Juliette Bausor performs works for flute and orchestra by Mozart and Nielsen, with Royal Northern Sinfonia and conductor, Jaime Martin. -
Night Lights is the first choral EP from composer John Barber and Fourth Window ensemble. Using 8 solo voices its four tracks journey from the twinkling lights of a city at dusk to the dawn of a new day. Setting texts by contemporary writers Inua Ellams and Hazel Gould and traditional words from The Song of Songs, this is an intimate and, at times, epic exploration of night time - a place of solitude, wonder and unexpected connections. Conducted by Sarah Latto, John's music is direct and confessional - with echoes of Steve Reich, James Macmillan and Bjork - a fresh new voice in contemporary choral music. -
Renowned British composer Richard Blackford sets the Greek fable of Niobe to music in the premiere recording of his new violin concerto, performed by Tamsin Waley-Cohen with the Czech Philharmonic under conductor Ben Gernon.
In the myth, Niobe, who has seven daughters and seven sons, mocks Leto, goddess of motherhood yet mother of only two children - Apollo and Artemis. In revenge, Apollo murders Niobe’s sons, while Artemis kills her daughters, and her husband Amphion, king of Thebes, commits suicide. Niobe in grief turns to Zeus for help, who takes pity and turns Niobe to stone; she continues to weep, however, for eternity, her tears flowing as a stream from the rock.
Waley-Cohen comments: “The Greeks saw Niobe as a warning against hubris, but what happened to her can also be interpreted today as a tale about the overly severe punishment of women judged to have stepped out of line. Her punishment seems so brutal, as does the punishment that many women face today around the world. Richard’s concerto is an incredibly powerful piece and a story that is so relevant to women’s issues today.”
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A song recital which commemorates World War One brings to mind works by the poets and composers who fought valiantly for their country. But the affliction of the War was not restricted to the battlefields. As well as those who fought, there were those interned, those who stayed to defend their home, and those who were forced from their homes by the advancing armies. This recital draws its inspiration from those lives upturned by the Great War, whether friend or foe, soldier or civilian. Some survived the conflict to produce great catalogues of works. Others never made it home, penning their final songs in the mud of the trenches. Alongside established works, this recital programme introduces some little known songs to portray the humanity of those caught up in the torrent of The Great War. 2CD Set, Price of a Single CD
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Swiss guitarist Christoph Denoth is considered one of the foremost guitarists of the younger generation, much praised for his rich sound and musical expression. For this new recording from Abbey Road he joins the London Symphony Orchestra under Jesus Lopez Cobos to perform three much loved works for guitar and orchestra – Rodridgo’s much loved Concierto de Aranjuez, the Nocturnos de Andalucia by Lorenza Palomo, and a new orchestral arrangement by Denoth of Joaquin Malats’ Serenata Espanola.★★★★★ Throughout Denoth impresses both with his technique, but also with the engaging way he plays the music...Whilst the Rodrigo is a lovely, highly recommendable performance, it is the Palomo which makes this disc special. I do hope that the performance makes more guitarists take up this fascinating work - Planet Hugill It's attractive, without ever being too comfortable, and backward looking. It's very cleverly scored for large orchestra, and will give much pleasure - Classic FM Throughout, Denoth again shows himself to be a thoughtful musician of considerable taste and technical prowess - Gramophone Much praised for his rich sound and music expression, [Denoth] brings all his talent to bear on much-loved works for guitar and orchestra - The Northern Echo -
Their second Christmas album on Signum Records, Armonico Consort and Christopher Monks return with a new album featuring a collection of carols both old and new. They have created the perfect soundtrack for those who love an atmosphere at Christmas. Featuring world premiere recordings by Composer Toby Young and the first ever recording of ‘Star Song’ by Jonathan Dove on a Christmas album, there are also exquisitely sublime versions from ‘Silent Night’ to ‘Away in a Manger’. "It is ten years since our last carols recording, and we have collected some incredible works we have been so keen to record, including several commissioned from our composer in residence. Christmas somehow manages to inspire composers to write the most imaginative, both in terms of creativity and melodiousness, and Toby is an expert at making Christmas music sound just as we want it to be!" - Christopher Monks "This ["O Adonai"] is a beautiful, shimmering, numinous opener sung by soprano Emily Wenman. I could imagine this stilling the most restless of congregations at the start of a carol service and leading them into worship. There is a splendid selection of material… there is nothing that is not worth hearing in this collection, but my favourite is Elizabeth Poston's "Jesus Christ the Apple Tree". All the singing by the Armonico Consort is first-rate and ably supported by Edward Picton-Turberville on the organ of St Jude's Church, Hampstead. This is a well-chosen and well sung collection that should lift the hearts of all who hear it.” – Cross Rhythms"One of the most outstanding works of this recording is the already named The Star Song, a brilliant Christmas carol with a fabulously commissioned main theme, performed fabulously by the choir. The music selected by Christopher Monks is universal, within the best religious tradition. The sublime Angel's Carol by John Rutter and Jesus Christ the Apple Tree by the composer Elizabeth Poston live in the hearts of musicians, a wonderful canon of four sopranos that interweave the main melody with itself and create a delightful finale." - Sonograma Magazine -
The Sonata for organ by Peter Tranchell, a former Precentor of Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge, was written in 1958 for Peter le Huray, a fellow lecturer in the Music Faculty of Cambridge University, and Director of Music at St Catharine’s College. The music is closely based on the dedicatee’s name, and the third movement makes extensive use of the plainchant Antiphon Tu es Petrus. The title page quotes the Antiphon melody together with the Acrostic—an arrangement of the letters of the name Peter Geoffrey le Huray:EEGEFFEEHA PTRORYLURY
The first movement, Preludio – Allegro molto, is a toccata, with perpetuum mobile semiquavers in the right hand and mildly dissonant left hand chords in short crotchet and semiquaver phrases, suggesting the rhythms of Morse Code. These are, of course, the non-pitch letters of the name Peter Geoffrey le Huray: PTRORYLURY. The top notes of the chords and the angular pedal theme which follows are derived from the pitch letters EEGEFFEEHA (H = B natural). The left hand then introduces a two-part version of the EEGEFFEEHA theme, continuing on to a new melody, based on the LH chords of the opening in arpeggiated form, together with more dissonant harmonies. This section forms the central part of an arch-structure, and the movement closes with a short coda, finishing on a highly-spiced E major chord. Throughout this movement the harmonic idiom is highly chromatic and often dissonant, though there is always an underlying sense of tonality. The rhythm of the name Peter le Huray is frequently projected. Andante ostinato is imbued with feelings of longing, with two major climaxes, ecstatic or anguished, perhaps both. The opening three-part counterpoint makes extensive ostinato use of the retrograde version of the theme (AHEEFFEGEE), and this is in evidence for most of the movement. The predominantly dissonant idiom finally gives way to more romantic harmonies, ambiguously suggesting fulfilment or resignation, surmounted by the AHEEFFEGEE melody. Tu es Petrus in fuga starts with a grand, richly harmonised statement of the Tu es Petrus melody (Tempo comodo ma non lento), before embarking upon a fugue (Allegretto con moto), based on EEGEFFEEHA as the main subject, and of extreme complexity, both contrapuntal and rhythmic. The time signature is 4/4 , but as often as not the effect is 3 + 3 + 2/8 , and the periodic appearances of the plainchant melody in this rhythm, over a somewhat irreverent oom-cha-cha accompaniment, recall Tranchell’s compositions for the theatre. The fugue ends with two further expansive harmonisations of Tu es Petrus, linked by a characteristically pianistic flourish. There are hardly any indications of registration or dynamics, apart from a few crescendi and suggestions of balance, such as 'en dehors' and 'equal manuals'. The title page includes the instruction: Each movement may be played separately either loud or soft. The present edition, the first of Peter Tranchell’s Sonata for organ to be published, has been type-set from the composer’s manuscript by John Gwinnell and published by The Peter Tranchell Foundation. The Sonata for organ is recorded with permission from the Syndics of Cambridge University Library. "The perfectly in tune Compton proves itself the perfect vehicle for this richly varied repertoire, especially when as well recorded as it has been here by the Signum team…[Harper's] assured technique nakes light of some of the challenges that clearly exist, unerringly finding the heart and soul of every work in the programme…You won't be disappointed" - Organists' Review -
Christmas carols have a universal appeal stemming from the tradition of music being played, sung, rearranged and rewritten by different generations in many different countries and over a number of centuries. Louis Halsey’s Nova! Nova!, a collection of new arrangements of many of the most well-known and beautiful carols from as far back as medieval times, represents perhaps the largest collection of carols by a single composer for many years. Hertfordshire Chorus and David Temple have recorded 23 of these carols in this beautifully presented new collection, including English, German, French, Czech, Basque, Welsh and Irish melodies. “What I love about Louis Halsey’s arrangements is that they are both tasteful and simple, allowing the beauty of each carol to shine through. We are thrilled to share these with a wider audience with this new recording.” - David Temple, Musical Director“This is an attractive CD of many familiar Christmas hymns and carols in arrangements by Louis Halsey for choir and organ. People looking for different, singable and listenable settings of some familiar music need not look further than this disc. ‘Joy to the world’, ‘Ding dong! merrily on high’, ‘O come, O come, Emmanuel’, ‘Deck the hall with boughs of holly’ and many others are found here. The Hertfordshire Chorus give spirited and committed performances of this repertoire. Their diction is clear and crisp, the dynamic contrasts are excellent, and their command of French and German is impressive.” - RSCM -
The festival of Christmas means many things to many people. Its status as an international public holiday provides a rare opportunity for families and friends from far and wide to come together. Being creatures of habit, many communities establish rituals to prepare for and mark the occasion, finding comfort in the familiarity of an annual structure. For some, the birth of Christ the Saviour is at the centre of these practices, while others regard Christmas as a secular celebration characterised by Santa and mulled wine. These diverse, multifaceted traditions of Advent and Christmas are explored throughout Now may we singen. With works by composers of different generations, backgrounds and musical legacies, Christmas as both ancient holy day and modern, ever evolving holiday is embraced by Timothy Garrard (director), Ben Bloor (organ) and the Choir of Westminster School through bold, characterful musical interpretations. -
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 -
Signum Records are proud to present the seventh album from film and television composer Oliver Davis. Similarly to his previous album SOLACE, AIR was written during lockdown and draws on themes of nature, environment and the natural world. Davis’s previous albums with Signum have reached the top 10 on both iTunes Classical and UK Specialist Classical Charts multiple times, receiving numerous five-star reviews and well over a million streams on Apple Music. British composer Oliver Davis has parlayed a long record as a composer of film and television scores into a successful career as a composer of orchestral music that in performance have attracted top-notch London orchestras and soloists. He has also been active as a composer of ballet – most recently premiering Lineage with choreographer Edwaard Liang at New York City Ballet’s prestigious Fall Fashion Gala. ★★★★ "Britain's Oliver Davis is a soundtrack composer who has turned to freestanding orchestral and chamber music with great success…Fresh and never sentimental or cloying, this recording benefits from fine studio sound on the part of Signum Classics, and overall, this may be a good recording to try for those curious about Davis" - AllMusic.com -
This is Oliver Davis’ first album dedicated to the piano, and specifically two pianists, Dutch piano duo Beth & Flo. The album features this dynamic duo playing four hands piano and also on two pianos with full orchestra. The song cycle 'Siren Songs' features sopranos Grace Davidson, Julia Doyle and Grace's son chorister Joshua Davidson. The theme of the album is water, in its many forms with songs depicting a river journey, Sea Dances for four hands and strings, Sea Waltzes in addition to the Water Variations. The opening piece, The Water Garden, will be one of three singles being released prior to the album's launch. The pianists and singers are accompanied by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Paul Bateman. “[The] material nestles comfortably in the contemporary classical genre whilst avoiding the usual tediously contrived sentimentality some other composers rely upon...The opening track – Sea Dances for 4 Hands and Strings – quickly secured earworm status soon after I first heard the album” – Thoroughly Good Blog -
British composer Oliver Davis’s works have been described as being ‘beautiful’ (The Times) and having ‘pulsating rhythmic energy’ (Classic FM), and has been heard the world over through his frequent collaborations with ballet companies, from Edwaard Liang’s 13th Heaven which premiered in Singapore to Secrets, choreographed by Erico Montes and premiered by e Royal Ballet. In this new recording Liberty, Davis explores works for violin, soprano, strings and orchestra, working with a host of world-leading performers including violinist Kerenza Peacock, soprano Grace Davidson and cellist Katherine Jenkinson, all alongside the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra under the baton of Paul Bateman. Previous albums from Davis have been critically praised, entering in the top 10 in the UK specialist classical charts and becoming disc of the week on Classic FM and the Mail on Sunday and featuring in several ‘Best albums of the year’ listings. A host of world-leading performers - Northern Echo -
Recorded at the height of the international Covid lockdown, Oliver Davis’s sixth album for Signum is a feat of both technological as well as artistic achievement. Following from draws together artists from across the globe for a selection of moving works for a variety of forces – recording a violinist in Los Angeles, a piano duo in The Netherlands, a guitarist in Argentina and the Budapest Scoring Orchestra conducted by Péter Illényi in Budapest. Davis’s previous albums with Signum have reached the top 10 on both iTunes Classical and UK Specialist Classical Charts multiple times, receiving numerous five-star reviews and well over a million streams on Apple Music. British composer Oliver Davis has parlayed a long record as a composer of film and television scores into a successful career as a composer of orchestral music that in performance have attracted top-notch London orchestras and soloists. He has also been active as a composer of ballet – most recently premiering Lineage with choreographer Edwaard Liang at New York City Ballet’s prestigious Fall Fashion Gala. -
Armonico Consort return to disc on Signum with a festive selection of classic carols and hymns alongside new commissions and arrangements. The programme is rounded off by Benjamin Britten’s timeless A Ceremony of Carols. If you want this particular programme it is hard to imagine it being better performed - Early Music Review Highly recommended - Northern Echo Intimate, small-scale performances of mainly familiar titles - BBC Music Magazine -
Nigel Short leads Tenebrae in a new album of sacred and jazz inspired choral works by Alexander L’Estrange, one of Britain’s most popular living choral composers.L'Estrange's works add a jazz-infused chordal depth and a roving harmonic eye to Howell's declamatory muscularity and modal palette. It's attractive, approachable music, with nothing contrived or patronising about it - Gramophone Vivid, varied and completely satisfying - Choir & Organ The choir masterfully interprets all the works to perfection and gains power and warmth from one piece to the next, offering to its listeners deep bass sounds as well as the brilliant homogeneity of voices - BachTrack On the showing of this disc, Alexander L'Estrange is the go-to person for evocative and striking small scale new commissions, something lyrically attractive with some luscious harmonies... Each item is perfectly lovely with the fine performances of Tenebrae giving us plenty of magical moments - Planet Hugill -
★★★★ Performance ★★★★★ Recording “Charles Owen and Katya Apekisheva tackle Between Friends with an unassailable instinct for Dove’s playfulness, glittering sonorities and discursive breadth.” – BBC Music Magazine The Sacconi Quartet join forces again with celebrated composer Jonathan Dove for the latest instalment of their many fruitful collaborations and journeys. The String Quartet no 2 On the Streets and in the sky was written during the recent pandemic and was commissioned for the Sacconi Quartet to celebrate their 20th anniversary. Between Friends, is a world premiere recording, and a memorial to Graeme Mitchison (1944-2018), a multi-disciplined scientist, intrepid adventurer, cyclist, paraglider, mountaineer and a possessor of two pianos on which he and Dove would play together for over forty years. Who Wrote the Book of Love? Is an extended song cycle written for baritone Philippe Sly who performs the work here. Vanishing Gold is a compact five-minute piece written for the 40th anniversary of the Endellion Quartet, who then retired. Dove’s previous release with the Sacconi Quartet on Signum “In Damascus” was awarded Gramophone Recording of the Month and Presto’s Editors Choice in 2017. "You couldn’t hope for a finer way in which to discover the chamber world of this important British composer most recognised for his opera and vocal music. Essential listening, whether contemporary is usually your bag or not." - Gramophone -
A beautiful collection of songs, Only a Singing Bird features Michael Head’s best-known works, The Ships of Arcady and The Little Road to Bethlehem, as well as his beautifully-imagined, nostalgic song-cycle, Snowbirds. NYCoS National Girls Choir is joined by its patron and world renowned mezzo soprano, Karen Cargill for this incredible new recording. -
2012 marks the 15th anniversary of the first release from the leading independent classical label Signum Records. Beginning life as an early music specialist (with a landmark release of the Complete Works of Thomas Tallis with Chapelle du Roi), Signum has grown since 1997 to a catalogue of over 300 releases across a wide range of genres. The organ collection combines works by world class performers (including Simon Preston, David Goode, Jeremy Filsell, Naji Hakim, Joseph Nolan and more) recorded on organs from Freiberg, Buckingham Palace, Westminster Abbey & Cathedral, the Royal Albert Hall and more - all selected from titles across the Signum catalogue.A sampler ranging from the boxy organ of Buckingham Palace to the magnificent instruments of Freiberg and Rouen; nearly as many players, too, and repertoire from Bach to Langlais - BBC Music Magazine Among the plentiful gems here, David Goode's Messiaen in Eton, Samuel Wesley's Choral Song courtesy of James Vivian in London's Temple Church, and Robert Quinney's haunting performance of 'Nimrod' in Westminster Abbey especially stand out - Choir & Organ -
The Choir of Jesus College Cambridge present this album of sacred works which follows events in the Church calendar. From Ash Wednesday, through to the final feast of the year – Trinity, the recording features works by Bryd, Purcell, Casals, Elgar, Stanford, Britten, Tallis and James MacMillan, all directed by Mark Williams. ★★★★★ Bairstow's The Lamentation is interpreted with marvellous subtlety here - Choir & Organ Brooding and refined - The Telegraph Fresh, engaging performances of works spanning the church year, from a choir moving swiftly up the Oxbridge pecking order. The Rorem and MacMillan pieces get especially fine performances - BBC Music Magazine -
This album marks the culmination of a landmark project to re-imagine new works from old for saxophone, choir and organ. Celebrated saxophonist Sam Corkin is joined by Canterbury Cathedral Choir to bring a fresh perspective to some well-loved repertoire, recorded within the iconic surroundings of Canterbury Cathedral. Featuring fifteen specially commissioned works by leading composers including Gabriel Jackson, Errollyn Wallen and Roderick Williams. "The overall sound of this recording is excellent, capturing the ambience of the cathedral, the impeccable diction of the singers and the balance between the solo saxophone and singers and on some tracks the powerful interjection of the organ. Overall, an excellent album warmly recommended." - Clarinet and Saxophone Magazine “The performances are exemplary. Sam Corkin has great control of the saxophone and his timbres are par excellence. The edginess he infuses at times heightens tensions. Do have a listen – it’s inventive, interesting, and at times intense.” - The Organist -
A seductive and fascinating disc for fans of contemporary music, this collection of works for Bassoon with choir and orchestra feature works by British composer Stephen Frost and Norwegian composer Kjell Mørk Karlsen. The disc’s title work Parapraxis, for solo bassoon and choir, melds together a mix of sacred latin text and secular English poetry, pushing and playing with the illusory ‘boundary’ that seems to exist between the two. The other two works – Frost’s Bassoon Concerto and Karlsen’s Serenata – are beguiling and stimulating pieces that show off the talents of Norwegian bassoonist Sigyn Birkeland and the Belarusian State Chamber Orchestra. In demand as a soloist, Sigyn Birkeland has been Principal Bassoon in the Norwegian Radio Orchestra since 1992. She continues to champion the instrument by commissioning, performing and recording new works for the instrument in a variety of unique ensembles and settings. -
As a schoolboy at Eton in the 1860s, Parry was very much alive to the traditions of part-singing—the glee, madrigal and part-song — that had become increasingly popular in Britain since the middle of the eighteenth centuries. Though the popular entertainment genre of the glee had, by his time, run its course as a subject of composition, it was still a style of music that was widely sung by many vocal societies and choral unions. It was, however, the 'madrigal' and the 'part-song' that were emerging as more important foci. "[The choir’s] youthful radiance offers substantial rewards” - BBC Music Magazine -
Will Todd has established himself as one of the UK’s most popular choral composers. His anthem, The Call of Wisdom, was performed at the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee celebrations with a TV audience of 45 million people. His breakthrough work, Mass in Blue, has been performed hundreds of times all over the world. Passion Music was commissioned for the choirs of St Martin-in-the-Fields and continues the fusion of jazz and choral music so successfully blended in Mass in Blue. The structure highlights different points in the Passion story, beginning with a new setting of ‘Greater love has no man’ and including an evocative Stabat Mater, a movement focusing on the seven last words of Christ, and a setting of ‘Were you there when they crucified my Lord?’. The Jazz Missa Brevis gives new life to the sung Latin Mass texts in an accessible, short setting which embraces a variety of jazz styles, from the swinging jazz waltz Kyrie to the up-beat Latin-groove Gloria. The smooth jazz ballad Sanctus, 7/8 Benedictus and soulful Agnus Dei complete this inspiring Mass setting.Shaneeka Simon would sound just as confident singing Broadway material and the St. Martins Voices [perform] with what can only be described as relaxed reverence - Choir & Organ Sensitively, often rapturously written and immaculately performed - BBC Music Magazine A stimulating release, beautifully recorded and produced - Gramophone There is a great deal to admire in this release from an important and gifted British choral composer - Church Times A must for devotees - The Northern Echo -
A programme of concert arias by Mozart, Haydn and BeethovenLeading British soprano Sophie Bevan performs a sumptuous programme of concert arias by Mozart, Haydn and Beethoven. Bevan is accompanied on this new recording by The Mozartists, recently launched by Ian Page’s internationally renowned period ensemble Classical Opera as an expansion of its continuing exploration of Mozart and his contemporaries. Complementing Classical Opera’s ongoing recording series of the complete operas of Mozart, the creation of The Mozartists reflects the group’s expanding repertoire and ambitious plans, and they can be heard in concert from September 2017. -
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. -
The Choral Scholars of University College Dublin and Artistic Director Desmond Earley follow up their debut release with a programme of new choral music inspired by the evocative imagery of the natural world in traditional Irish and Scottish folksong and poetry. The disc includes a number of world-premiere recordings of new works and arrangements commissioned by the choir. The Choral Scholars of University College Dublin, under the artistic direction of Desmond Earley, is Ireland’s leading collegiate choral ensemble. With a large repertoire ranging from art to popular music, and stretching from the medieval to the contemporary in style, this choir gives many concerts throughout the academic year, both in Ireland and abroad. This whole project exudes quality - Gramophone Excellently sung - BBC Music Magazine Earley [shapes] a sequence of traditional Irish settings with contemporary material, [and his] setting of 'Danny Boy' [is] quite beautiful - Choir & Organ -
Mark van de Wiel joins the Philharmonia Orchestra under Christopher Warren-Green in the premiere recording of Joseph Phibbs’ Clarinet Concerto, praised by The Sunday Times following its UK debut as a work “that will surely be performed all over the world ”. Following a long friendship between composer and soloist, Phibbs and van de Wiel collaborated to create this stunning and virtuosic new work for the clarinet and orchestra, which features a thrilling cadenza at the end of the first movement. It is paired with a scintillating live concert-recording of Mozart’s timeless Concerto for Basset Clarinet in A Major, K. 622, performed with the London Chamber Orchestra. -
2012 marks the 15th anniversary of the first release from the leading independent classical label Signum Records. Beginning life as an early music specialist (with a landmark release of the Complete Works of Thomas Tallis with Chapelle du Roi), Signum has grown since 1997 to a catalogue of over 300 releases across a wide range of genres. The piano collection collects performances from John Lill, James Rhodes, Jill Crossland, Jeremy Filsell, Alessio Bax, Llyr Williams and Ana-Maria Vera. -
The new recording from percussionist Joby Burgess includes ambient electronics fused with mellow vibraphone, explosive cinematic drumming and the delicate muted sounds of 1960’s New York.Psappha Iannis Xenakis
Psappha is an archaic form of Sappho - a great Greek poetess from the Island of Lesbos, born in the 600's BC. Composed for six groups of instruments (of wood, skin and metal) Psappha is muscular, abrasive and often violent - an intensely masculine work in contradiction to its title. The inspiration comes from Sappho's poetry, whose rhythms appear constantly in both small cells and the large scale over arching structure. Instrument choice is left to the performer, Xenakis writes ‘timbre serves only to clarify the rhythmic structures’ - my performance seeks maximum range and colour, with a nod to touring practicalities.
Ekstasis Linda Buckley
A ‘leading figure in the younger generation of Irish composers’ Linda Buckley combines medieval harmony, ambient electronic music and the hypnotic atmosphere of Javanese Gamelan in her commission for Pioneers of Percussion. Referring to the Greek term for ‘trance, to stand outside oneself, rapture’ Ekstasis is composed for vibraphone, Thai gongs and electronics. Premiered by Joby Burgess in 2016, Ekstasis was commissioned using funds from Arts Council England.
The late musicologist Bob Gilmore writes: ‘Buckley engages with an area of experience that new music is generally shy of, which, simplified and reduced to a single word, I’d call ecstacy. Not the drug-induced euphoria of dance music, but exultant, heightened states of being that are the product of an excitable sensibility, of an emotional response to the world that sees the bright places of life as clearly as the dark.’The King of Denmark Morton Feldman
Feldman’s reply to Stockhausen’s Zyklus is the great early anti-percussion composition, where a collection of soft sounds, twinkle like stars in the night. In The King sounds move without weight as dust through a gentle breeze, to create a deep seemingly disconnected sonic canvas. Feldman captured the muted soundscape of New York from Coney Island on a summer afternoon in 1964.
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This new recording for Signum Records includes silvery vibraphone with live looping, a quasi rock n roll documentary exploring censorship and a musical picture of the subtle shifts in our changing Seasons.
The Filthy Fifteen Nicole Lizée
Montreal based composer Nicole Lizée has been called a musical scientist, with a body of work inspired by the glitches of outmoded and well-worn technology. The Filthy Fifteen is a quasi rock n roll documentary taking a satirical look at censorship and the PMRC. Formed in 1985 the ‘Parents Music Resource Center’ was a committee of ‘Washington wives’ including Tipper Gore, which led to the labeling of albums with ‘Parental Advisory’ stickers. The live percussion - which includes a 'censorship kit' (typewriter, books, papers) - meld and intermingle with the rhythmic and pitch inflections of voices taken from footage and recordings related to the hearings. Premiered by Joby Burgess in 2016, The Filthy Fifteen was commissioned using funds from Arts Council England.
Can’t Sleep Rebecca Dale
Hailed by Classic FM as "one of today's most exciting young composers" Rebecca Dale is a London based composer, working most often with large orchestral and choral forces in the worlds of cinema and theatre. Written for solo vibraphone and live looping Can’t Sleep explores the moments around sleep, where our brains fire ideas around to keep us from resting. Premiered by Joby Burgess in 2016, Can’t Sleep was commissioned using funds from Arts Council England.
Seasons Tōru Takemitsu
Tōru Takemitsu is one of the most influential Japanese composers of the 20th Century. Combining traditional Japanese music with ideas from the American experimental and European Avant-Garde, Takemitsu created a sound uniquely his own for both the concert hall and film scores. Seasons (1970) is a 16 minute exploration of the sounds between our Seasons, using only metallic materials to describe the subtle shifts and changes. At the heart of my performance is the Canna Sonora (Aluminium Harp) - a Capone-era friction instrument, designed and built in Chicago - this replaces Francois and Bernard Baschet’s instrument of glass bars ‘Trombone’, which featured in the early performances of this work. Seasons is notated graphically, with an echo effect applied to this generally soft music, a response to statements of an almanac, atmospherics and astrology.
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Michael Finnissy was born in Tulse Hill in 1946. He studied at the Royal College of Music with Bernard Stevens and Humphrey Seale, and in Italy with Roman Vlad. Much of his early work was first performed in France and the Netherlands, while he was working as a freelance repetiteur and pianist for dance-classes. He taught at the Royal Academy of Music, at the universities of Sussex and Southampton, and at the Katholiek Universiteit in Leuven. He has also given summer courses at Dartington, and been resident artist at the Victorian College of the Arts in Melbourne (Australia). He has been featured composer at the Huddersfield Festival several times, at the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras, and many other places across the world, most recently at SICPP in Boston USA. Here, The Choir of St. John’s College, Cambridge perform Finnissy’s deep, rich and fulfilling music in what has been a four year process. It has taken Conductor and Director Andrew Nethsingha, four years to gradually become acquainted with the pieces on this recording. He says it “has been a deeply enriching experience which I want others to share”. All downloads include booklets. RUNNER UP - Contemporary: Gramophone Recordings of the Year 2021 "Nethsingha’s choristers and supporting players do Finnissy’s music proud" - Classical Source -
The King’s Singers explore the folk songs and melodies of the world in a new programme entitled Postcards. In their own words: “In our travels we have amassed a wonderful collection of folksongs and popular songs from numerous countries, many of which we use as encores when we visit. The influences and sources are extraordinarily far-ranging, and each song has its own local characteristics. To celebrate the diversity of music that we perform and the numerous countries we visit each concert season, we have recorded an album of some of our favourite folksongs from around the world.” Typically immaculate performances of songs collected by the King's Singers on their global travels, and used as encores. Velvet vocal blending is a given, and mellifluous arrangements - BBC Music Magazine -
Poulenc was a skilled pianist, cultivating a style of playing characterised by colourfulness and clarity, possessing an ear for melody that distinguished him as France’s finest song composer since Fauré. ★★★★★ Lucille Chung proves a fantastic Poulenc advocate... A release to savour - Classical Ear For me the most attractive piece here is Poulenc’s own arrangement for two pianos of his Concerto for two pianos. The slow movement alone is worth the price of this exceptional disc - Classic FM A very special disc indeed - MusicWeb International -
Composing over 150 works for piano and voice over a period of 44 years, the songs of Francis Poulenc remain consistently popular to concert audiences the world over. Varying in their individual style and character in a way that defies generalization, Poulenc set music to a wide range of different French poetry – both ancient and modern, and from the serious to the surreal. This second release in a new series charts the complete songs of Francis Poulenc, performed by some of the greatest singers of the day and accompanied by the exceptional Malcolm Martineau. Praise for the first disc includes: "Lisa Milne performs wonderfully throughout this Poulenc disc. She really sings the French as to the Manoir born … A nicely balanced and arranged recital for all of these voices, so a promising start to this new Poulenc series." Hilary Finch and Andrew McGregor, CD Review, BBC Radio 3 -
Composing over 150 works for piano and voice over a period of 44 years, the songs of Francis Poulenc remain consistently popular to concert audiences the world over. Varying in their individual style and character in a way that defies generalization, Poulenc set music to a wide range of different French poetry – both ancient and modern, and from the serious to the surreal. This is the third release in our series that will build to encompass the complete songs of Francis Poulenc – performed by some of the greatest singers of the day and accompanied by the exceptional Malcolm Martineau. Praise for the first disc includes: "Lisa Milne performs wonderfully throughout this Poulenc disc. She really sings the French as to the Manoir born … A nicely balanced and arranged recital for all of these voices, so a promising start to this new Poulenc series." Hilary Finch and Andrew McGregor, CD Review, BBC Radio 3 -
Composing over 150 works for piano and voice over a period of 44 years, the songs of Francis Poulenc remain consistently popular to concert audiences the world over. Varying in their individual style and character in a way that defies generalization, Poulenc set music to a wide range of different French poetry – both ancient and modern, and from the serious to the surreal. This is the fourth release in our series that will build to encompass the complete songs of Francis Poulenc – performed by some of the greatest singers of the day and accompanied by the exceptional Malcolm Martineau.
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Composing over 150 works for piano and voice over a period of 44 years, the songs of Francis Poulenc remain consistently popular to concert audiences the world over. Varying in their individual style and character in a way that defies generalization, Poulenc set music to a wide range of different French poetry – both ancient and modern, and from the serious to the surreal. The final disc in Signum’s series of The Complete Songs of Francis Poulenc features a cast of the finest singers of our generation, accompanied by Malcolm Martineau as well as additional instrumental soloists for Poulenc’s larger-ensemble settings of his songs. Featured works in this final volume include Rapsodie Negre, Le Bestiaire, Quatre poe?mes de Max Jacob, Vocalise, Quatre poemes d’Apollinaire, Banalite?s and Le Bal Masque?.