Category: British Music

Nimbus celebrates composer Richard Blackford's 70th anniversary year with new recordings, publications and live performances throughout 2024

16/11/2023

Richard Blackford

Nimbus celebrates composer Richard Blackford's seventieth anniversary year with a major series of new album releases, music publications and concerts throughout 2024.

On 5 January, Nimbus Music Publishing releases scores for Babel, a new cantata for chorus, soloists, piano, organ and percussion (NMP.1126) and Clarissa's Tango. The latter has two versions: for violin and piano (NMP.1172), and for violin and string orchestra (NMP.1255). Clarissa's Tango also will be released on the same date as an audio (NI.1580) and audio-visual single (NI.1581), performed by Clarissa Bevilacqua, violin, and Thomas Hoppe, piano.

On 2 February, Lyrita Records will release a new album, comprising Babel and A Gaudi Symphony (SRCD.432). On the same date, Nimbus Records releases Blackford's Songs of Nadia Anjuman, performed by The Britten Sinfonia and soprano Elizabeth Watts, as a digital-only EP.

Nimbus Music Publishing: New Works by Richard Blackford Published on 5 January 2024

NMP1126

NMP1172

NMP1255

Richard Blackford writes about his new works:

Babel is a dramatic cantata based on the stories of Noah’s Flood and the Tower of Babel, with a thrilling and colourful score using organ, piano and percussion. Babel uses the chorus extensively to narrate both stories, as well as to evoke the terror of the Flood, the exuberance of the construction of the tower, and of course the multi-lingual babble of languages to which they are condemned. In addition to set pieces, such as the Nimrod baritone aria, and the soprano aria, ‘Do not fear the largeness of the showers’, the three soloists often sing together as the other-worldly voice of God. The instrumental forces are relatively modest, with the piano duet supported by the sustaining power of the organ, backed by two percussionists. This sound world is redolent of those Britten masterpieces for amateur choirs, ensembles and audiences, which have inspired many composers since, and to which I too am gratefully indebted.'

Babel's vocal score (NMP.1126) is for sale; full score and parts (NMP.1127) are available to hire. Approximate duration 38 minutes.

'In Buenos Aires, tango is described as the forbidden dance. In this performance the violin and piano capture not only the sound but also the essence of tango, creating an evocative dance between the instruments. The violin has the lead melodic material and the piano has some really exciting riffs and plays the supportive role guiding their interplay.

I remember seeing the amazing film Scent a Woman starring Al Pacino and Gabrielle Anwar. Pacino plays a blind veteran but he has an amazing sense of smell and he invites a beautifully young woman to dance a tango, something that he does supremely well. It's just one of the coolest most beautiful scenes that I can remember. After I saw it for the fifth time I just woke up one night with the idea of a tango which wouldn't go away, so I had to write it.

Clarissa’s Tango starts with a short, cadenza-like introduction on the solo violin, the tango is cast in rondo form, with the central C section moving from the home key of D minor to D major. It’s an ebullient duet that makes virtuoso demands on the solo violin, from extreme high tessitura passages and multi-stops to fast passage work as the violin elaborates on the main tango melody.'

'Tango is very visual and we wanted to capture this as a part of our release. Alongside performing the première and making the audio recording, we also filmed a companion video in Berlin. Violin and piano, represented by red and black, are two perfect dance partners who find each other in this darkly lit club-like atmosphere, where the camera dances around them eliciting this Tango. But in the sunlight outside our red and black characters fail to find each other, only when they perform this Tango do then they finally come together as one. I will be performing Richard Blackford's Tango with the LGT Soloists during their tour of Europe, Asia and Australia in November and December. Please do come and see us.' Clarissa Bevilacqua

Live Performances

Clarissa's Tango for violin and piano, with Clarissa Bevilacqua, Cervo Festival, Italy: 29 August 2023
Further performances from 25 Nov 2023 to 11 Jan 2024 with LGT Young Soloists in Australia, Thailand, Singapore, Hong Kong, Luxembourg and South America.

Songs of Nadia Anjuman. Elizabeth Watts (soprano) and Britten Sinfonia
Milton Court (Barbican), London, 14 October and Saffron Hall, 19 October 2023

Babel (with Three Rossetti Songs): Bournemouth Symphony Chorus, Gavin Carr
St Swithun's, Bath: 13 January 2024

Click here for more details of Richard Blackford's live performances.

Richard Blackford is becoming one of the foremost concert and media composers in Europe. His concert works are performed regularly around the world and his music for film and television is broadcast frequently in almost every European country. His acclaimed Pietà won an Ivor Novello Composer Award in 2020 for the Choral Category and has already received multiple performances.

'The music comes from the heart with integrity, and a technical assurance...There is a crying need for this kind of music.' The Independent on Sunday

Further Richard Blackford 2024 album, publication and live concert details will be published here.

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George Lloyd Signature Series - Nimbus announces the release of recordings and published works of George Lloyd, starting in March 2024

10/11/2023

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George Lloyd

George Lloyd Archive of Scores and Recordings moves to Lyrita Nimbus Arts

The Trustees of Lyrita Nimbus Arts (LNA) have reached an exclusive agreement with The George Lloyd Society (GLS) to take over the sale and hire of all George Lloyd’s scores held by the Society as well as the commercial exploitation of the collection of recordings made by the Society in the 1990s and conducted by the composer.

George Lloyd, who died in 1998, is remembered mostly for his twelve symphonies, but his compositions include opera, choral, concerto, piano and chamber music. LNA approached GLS earlier in 2023 with a proposal that will see all George Lloyd's scores digitised and his entire record archive represented in new compilations, in both physical and digital formats. Going beyond preservation, LNA's Trustees believe that George Lloyd’s music is ripe for rediscovery by concert managers and music lovers. Lloyd’s music, particularly his operas, won great praise and popularity before World War Two. But when broadcasting and concert life changed direction in the 1960s, his style - dramatic, large-scale, richly orchestrated, unafraid of a big tune - fell out of favour. We believe that George Lloyd’s time has come again and will use the combined resources of the Lyrita Nimbus Arts charity and Lyrita label, together with the manufacturing, printing publishing and distribution arm of Nimbus Records, to support this venture.

William Lloyd, was the composer’s business manager, executive producer and has administered his record company and musical estate for the last twenty-five years. He writes: 'Our agreement with Lyrita Nimbus Arts is another milestone in the extraordinary story of George Lloyd and his music. The Lyrita label was responsible for issuing the first three commercial recordings of Lloyd’s symphonies over 40 years ago, and it is entirely fitting that Lyrita Nimbus will now take the complete catalogue of scores and recordings into the future. Lloyd was fiercely independent, and with the invaluable assistance of Albany Records USA, together with some of the best engineers and recording producers in the business and his loyal audience, he was able to maintain that independence from mainstream publishers and record companies. This allowed him to record over 20 albums under his own baton, and to publish his extensive catalogue under the imprint of the George Lloyd Music Library, but it came at a price. His commercial success was remarkable and was sufficient to finance all the recording and printing, but until now we have not had the international marketing reach, the in-house manufacturing and printing, and the digital distribution platforms which are required by the new global markets. This is a perfect match for us, and it is a great vindication of Lloyd’s faith in the enduring quality of his work that Lyrita have recognised its value and committed significant resources to bringing his music to a new audience.'

Because George Lloyd’s personal attention is a dominating influence on the scores and recordings – which mostly he conducted himself – we have decided to headline this representation the ‘Signature Collection’. Scores will be cleaned, new orchestral parts created and recordings will be reorganised into affordable sets with new notes commissioned from Paul Conway. All digital platforms will have access to a unified and comprehensive offering from a single source.

All scores now available from Lyrita.
he recordings will be released by Lyrita between 1 March 2024 and January 2025:
www.lnarts.org www.lyrita.co.uk www.georgelloyd.com

AUDIO RELEASES ON CD, STREAMING AND DOWNLOAD

MARCH 2024

SRCD2417 4CD set Symphonies No. 1, No. 2, No. 3, No.4, No. 5, No. 6 Charade ‘Scenes from the ‘60s, Overture John Socman, conducted by George Lloyd

SRCD2421 2CD set Piano Concertos No. 1 ‘Scapegoat’, No. 2, No. 3, No. 4, conducted by George Lloyd

MAY 2024

SRCD2418 4CD set Symphonies No. 7, No. 8, No. 9, No. 10, No. 11 and No. 12 Conducted by George Lloyd

SRCD2422 2CD set Concerto for Violin and Winds, Concerto for Violin and Strings

JULY 2024

SRCD2423 2CD set Solo Piano Works
The Lilly Leaf and The Grasshopper, The Transformation of that Naked Ape, An African Shrine, The Road through Samarkand, St. Antony and the Beggar, Intercom Baby. For two Pianos - Aubade, Eventide, The Road Through Samarkand.

SRCD0424 1CD Lament for Violin & Piano, Air and Dance, Sonata for Violin & Piano, Seven extracts from The Serf.

SRCD0425 1CD Music for Brass – Black Dyke Mills Ban conducted by David King
Royal Parks, Diversions on a Bass Theme, Evening Song, H.M.S. Trinidad March, English Heritage, A Miniature Tryptic

OCTOBER 2024

SRCD2419 2CD set: Music for Chorus and Orchestra
A Symphonic Mass, A Litany, conducted by George Lloyd

SRCD420 1CD: Music for Chorus and Organ
Requiem and Psalm 130, conducted by Matthew Owens

SRCD2427 3CD set: John Socman (1951) - the complete opera
Using the composer’s own suggestions, we presents the complete opera by combining the composer's studio recording of excerpts with a BBC broadcast recorded 'off-air' by Lyrita's founder Richard Itter.

FEBRUARY 2025

SRCD2426 3CD set: Iernin (1934) - the complete opera, recorded in 1985, conducted by the composer with the BBC Concert Orchestra and Marilyn Hill-Smith in the title role.

'George Lloyd showed that rarest of all qualities in a British composer, an almost unerring perception of what the stage requires. An extraordinary achievement.' The Times
'One of the most successful operas written by a British composer'. The Musical Times

George Lloyd was born in St Ives, Cornwall, on 28 June 1913. He started to learn the violin at the age of five and was a pupil of the violinist Albert Sammons for six years. He began composing when he was ten. A rigorous musical training ensued, including lessons in counterpoint from C. H. Kitson and composition studies with Harry Farjeon.

National prominence came with George Lloyd’s first opera, Iernin (1933-34), featuring a libretto by his father, William Lloyd. Based on a Cornish legend, the opera was premiered at The Pavilion, Penzance in November 1934, conducted by the composer. An endorsement by Frank Howes, music critic of The Times, led to Iernin being performed by the New English Opera Company at London’s Lyceum Theatre in June 1935. It was a sell- out for three weeks. The following year, whilst holidaying in Switzerland, George met Nancy Juvet. They married in January 1937. Nancy’s love and support throughout six decades of marriage was to prove pivotal to her husband’s continued creativity and indeed to his very survival.

Lloyd’s second opera, The Serf, was premiered by the English Opera Company at Covent Garden in London in 1938. William Lloyd supplied the libretto, setting the story in Yorkshire at the time of King Stephen. A review in The Stage newspaper described the opera as ‘full of promise for the future’. This prospect of even greater musical attainment was about to be shattered. When war broke out in September 1939, Lloyd joined the Royal Marines as a bandsman. In 1942 he served as a radio signaller on Arctic convoys to Murmansk on the cruiser HMS Trinidad. During one of these convoys the ship was struck by torpedoes, an oil tank ruptured and the transmitting station which Lloyd was helping to operate filled with oil. There were heavy casualties and he was almost drowned. He was mentally and physically traumatised to the extent that his doctors believed he would never recover. Nancy Lloyd refused to accept this verdict and slowly nursed her husband back to health.

Convalescing at Nancy’s lakeside home at Neuchatel, Switzerland, Lloyd began to write music again. The resulting Fourth and Fifth Symphonies (1946, 1948), among his finest works, were not performed at the time. After returning to England, he won an Arts Council commission to compose an opera for the Carl Rosa Company to tour around the country during the Festival of Britain in 1951. The ensuing stage work, John Socman, featured another libretto by his father, which told the story of a Wiltshire solider returning from Agincourt. The production, which premiered in Bristol in May 1951, was ruined by artistic differences between conductor and director. Shortly after this debacle Lloyd’s father died and George’s health collapsed again. George and Nancy Lloyd bought a small cottage at Folke in Dorset and began earning a living as market gardeners. After growing and selling carnations, they started mushroom farming. During these years of self- imposed exile, George composed for three hours before the working day. Consequently, when the Lloyds sold their smallholding in 1973 and returned to London, they brought with them a portfolio containing 20 years’ worth of scores.

A friendship with John Ogdon had far-reaching consequences. Lloyd assisted with the orchestration of the pianist-composer’s Piano Concerto and Ogdon recorded for EMI Lloyd’s piano piece African Shrine, shortly after premiering it in 1969. In the same year Ogdon took the score of Lloyd’s Eighth Symphony to the BBC and had it accepted. Eight years elapsed before it was broadcast. In the meantime, another of Lloyd’s champions, conductor Edward Downes, premiered the Eighth Symphony with the BBC Northern Symphony Orchestra, broadcast on Radio 3 in July 1977. In the succeeding five years, Downes tirelessly promoted and disseminated Lloyd’s music, including a performance with the BBC Philharmonic of the Sixth Symphony at the Proms in July 1981, the first appearance of the composer’s music at the celebrated summer music festival.

Inspired by his new-found popularity, Lloyd took up the baton himself. In 1986 he conducted the premiere of his Eleventh Symphony with the Albany Symphony Orchestra in New York. He also wrote his Twelfth Symphony for the orchestra. Other notable products of a glorious Indian summer of creativity include the brass band piece, Royal Parks, A Symphonic Mass and a cello concerto.

Having suffered heart problems for a year, George Lloyd died at University College Hospital, Marylebone, London, on 3 July 1998. A service was held a week later at Golders Green crematorium. His last work, the Requiem, written in memory of Diana, the Princess of Wales, was completed shortly before his death and premiered at the 2000 Oxford Contemporary Music Festival. Paul Conway, 2023

Lyrita Nimbus Arts Registered Charity No. 1203867
Trustees: Dr. Richard Blackford, Adrian Farmer, Lynda Farmer, Charlotte de Rothschild, Antony Smith

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ULYSSES ARTS RELEASES FIVE NEW ALBUMS IN AUTUMN 2023, ALL INCLUDING WORLD PREMIÈRE RECORDINGS

11/8/2023

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British label Ulysses Arts is releasing five new albums in autumn 2023, all including world première recordings. Founded as a digital consultancy for classical music in 2008, Ulysses Arts has developed into an innovative record label presenting albums dedicated to original programming and new works.

Ulysses Arts' director, James Ross, comments: 'This is the most ambitious series or releases in our history. We are proud to be presenting this outstanding range of new music, great performers and ensembles, including musicians from the UK, USA, Netherlands, Germany, Poland and Hungary. Collectively, these five albums include the work of nineteen living composers, showing classical music today as a thriving, evolving art form, full of energy and imagination.'

Click above covers and titles below for full details:

22 September: Paul Henley Piano Works
Duncan Honeybourne, piano

Piano Sonatas No. 1, 2 and 3; Five Epigrams; Suite; Adagietto

UA230060

29 September: Todd Mason Violin Concerto & Chamber Suite

Tosca Opdam, violin; Budapest Scoring Orchestra; Péter Illényi, conductor

UA230080

6 October: All Shall be Amen

Caritas Chamber Choir, directed by Benedict Preece

New choral music by Gabriel Jackson, Cecilia McDowall, Phillip Cooke, Sarah Cattley, Eric Choate, Benedict Preece, Neil Wright, Andrew Smith and David Conte.

UA230120

3 November: Neoteric Ensemble Volume 1
Toby Street, James Fountain, Sarah Field, Rob Buckland, Richard Watkin, Adrian Miotti

New music for brass and saxophone sextet by Rob Buckland, Misha Mullov-Abado, Andy Panayi, Charlotte Harding, Toby Street, Dan Jenkins and Mark Nightingale.

UA220001

10 November: Soliloquies

Songs by Messiaen, Chausson, Frank Bridge, Hanns Eisler and Paul Willot-Förster

Maria Hegele, mezzo-soprano and Anna Szałucka, with Connie Pharoah, viola and Emily Turkanik, violin.

UA230090

Eletronic press kits, listening links and CDs for all albums are available for reviewers from Ulysses Arts.

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Lyrita releases British Piano Concertos Volume 2 with Simon Callaghan and BBC National Orchestra of Wales on 1 September 2023

22/6/2023

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Lyrita releases British Piano Concertos Volume 2 with Simon Callaghan and the BBC National Orchestra of Wales (SRCD.416) on 1 September 2023, with three world première recordings of works by John Addison, Gordon Jacob and Edmund Rubbra. The album is conducted by Stephen Bell and George Vass.

Gordon Jacob’s Piano Concerto No. 2 in E-flat was completed in 1957 and premièred on 11 July of that year at Bournemouth's Winter Gardens with soloist Edith Vogel. A Proms performance took place at London's Royal Albert Hall on 9 August 1957 with the same soloist. A review in The Times of the Proms performance declared that ‘the composer’s masterly understanding of the orchestra enables him to express each idea economically and in the most clean and attractive colours’, while The Sunday Times’s critic wrote that ‘having taught the craft of orchestration to a whole generation of composers, Dr. Jacob is himself a past master at clear and effective scoring’.

The Variations for Piano and Orchestra by John Addison, a pupil of Jacob's at the Royal College of Music, was written in 1948 and revised the following year. According to Alan Poulton’s Dictionary-Catalog of Modern British Composers, It was first performed in a BBC broadcast in 1960 by Margaret Kitchin. The work for a small orchestra, comprising double woodwinds, four horns, a pair each of trumpets and trombones, bass trombone, timpani, modest percussion and strings, and combines passages of lyrical charm with brilliantly effective soloistic writing.

Though the piano had played a prominent role in an earlier student piece by Rubbra, his Piano Concerto Op. 30 (1932) is the composer’s first fully-fledged, large-scale work for soloist and orchestra. The score features an elaborate solo part and requires substantial orchestral forces.

For publisher details, click below:
Jacob, Piano Concerto No. 2 (OUP)
Addison, Variations (Stainer & Bell)
Rubbra, Piano Concerto (ed. Simon Callaghan: Nimbus Music Publishing)

Buy CD: Europadisc Classical

'Simon Callaghan is winning a deserved reputation as a formidable advocate of forgotten British scores like these and has found a natural home with the ever-adventurous Lyrita label.'
Jeremy Nicholas, The Gramophone, October 2023

'Gute und engagierte Interpretationen machen aus diesen drei Ersteinspielungen ein hörenswertes Programm.' Remy Franck, Pizzicato, 5 September 2023

'Marvellously enterprising and revelatory ... These wonderfully idiomatic performances and the recording are outstanding, and Simon Callaghan plays reflectively when needed but also with great power and agility. Snap it up.' Gary Higginson, British Music Society, 18 August 2023

'Stephen Bell ... i George Vass, director artístic ... dirigeixen l’Orquestra Nacional de la BBC de Gal·les —amb el seu so perfectament equilibrat—i fan un retrat vívid d’aquestes tres obres poc conegudes.' Núria Serra, Sonogramo, 29 August 2023

'Simon Callaghan’s discography continues to grow and he is proving to be an excellent guide especially in the field of British music. This new CD builds upon that reputation with intelligent and nuanced performances alertly accompanied by the BBC NOW recorded with Lyrita’s usual sophisticated engineering.' Nick Barnard, Music Web International, 4 September 2023

'The keen-edged and eager performances convince you that Callaghan, the BBC NOW and the two conductors [Stephen Bell and George Vass] are everything you might cherish for such a project.'
Rob Barnett, Music Web International, 2 August 2023

'Three more gems.'
Planet Hugill, 29 September 2023

'This rewarding disc comes highly recommended.'
David Truslove, Wales Arts Review, 3 October 2023

'Simon Callaghan radiates delight in reviving these neglected items, and his pungent and precise fingering is matched by the spirited attack of the BBC National Orchestra of Wales and their two conductors.' Geoff Brown, BBC Music Magazine, 3 October 2023

'A valuable and absolutely delightful release that rightfully appeared on classical best-seller charts in the late summer of 2023.'James Manheim, AllMusic, October 2023

Stuart Millson, The Quarterly Review, 4 October 2023

Simon Callaghan, George Vass and the BBC National Orchestra of Wales

Full press kit including listening links available from Ulysses Arts.

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PAUL HENLEY PIANO WORKS ALBUM WITH DUNCAN HONEYBOURNE RELEASING ON 22 SEPTEMBER 2023

2/4/2023

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Ulysses Arts releases Paul Henley's Piano Works album on 22 September 2023, performed by Duncan Honeybourne, with several works pre-released digitally on Apple Music during the summer.

Download on iTunes or stream on Apple Music - click above

Duncan Honeybourne

Duncan Honeybourne comments: 'Paul Henley told me that he feels the piano is more 'orchestral' than any other solo instrument. His intention is to highlight its “very diverse expressive potential, ranging from beautiful lyricism to considerable rhythmic vitality”. As Henley explains: “although it has considerable lyrical potential, the piano is actually a percussive instrument”. The latter is particularly significant to him.'

All three sonatas are shot through with an attractive blend of the percussive and the lyrical: No. 3 is the most extended and ambitious scale, and with a correspondingly extended expressive range. The Suite was composed in 2002 to celebrate the eighth birthday of the composer’s son; its five movements convey an engaging directness and simplicity in character and design. Framed by two cheerful Fanfares, there is a bouncy Scherzo, a warm hearted Nocturne and a dramatic Chorale. As with all Henley’s music, it is effective but never loaded with complexity for its own sake. Sometimes touching, sometimes punchy, and often surprising, it is constructed skilfully with a distinctive ear for rhythmic zest and harmonic colour, allied to a natural gift for melodic charm.

ALBUM DETAILS

Piano Sonata No. 1 (2005): 13’02

i. Moderato ma maestoso - Allegro molto: 5’00
ii. Adagio: 4’42
iii. Allegro moderato :3’20

Sonata No. 2 (2016): 7’17
Allegro vigoroso - Meno mosso - Allegro moderato - Come prima -
Maestoso - Moderato calmo - Allegro vigoroso

Sonata No. 3 (2020): 20’42
i. ‘Processional’ - Solenne: 4’54
ii. ‘Moto perpetuo’ – Allegro molto e sempre tempo giusto: 2'05
iii. ‘Departure’ – Adagio: 6’10
iv. ‘Danza’ – Allegretto deciso: 7’33

Five Epigrams for Piano (2019): 9’23
i. Molto moderato
ii. Allegretto
iii. Andantino
iv. Allegro
v. Molto moderato

Suite for Piano (2002): 5’27

Adagietto (2020): 3’12

Epigram No. 1 in Apple Music playlists: New in Classical and Pure Piano:

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British Cello Works Volume 2: Smyth, Delius, Gibbs and Britten - Lionel Handy and Jennifer Walsh, released by Lyrita on 3 February 2023

2/12/2022

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Stream on Apple Music or download on iTunes with booklet

SRCD412 British Cello Works Volume 2
Smyth, Delius, Gibbs, Britten
Lionel Handy, cello, Jennifer Walsh, piano

Also Available: British Cello Works, Volume 1
Lionel Handy, cello and Jennifer Walsh (née Hughes), piano
Lyrita Records SRCD.383; UPC: 5020926038326

'A key figure in the British musical renaissance, Dame ETHEL SMYTH (1858-1944) was critically acclaimed for her music and for her writing during her lifetime. Smyth’s Sonata in A minor for cello and piano, Op.5 was written in 1887 and published the following year by C. F. Peters in Leipzig. The score is dedicated to the German cellist Julius Klengel, whom she met through her friendship with the Röntgen family.

In her A minor Sonata, Op. 5, as in her earlier Sonata in C minor for cello and piano (1880), Ethel Smyth favours expressivity over virtuosity, emphasising the cello’s warm and lyrical tone. The piano enjoys a key role in all three movements and is often invited to present the chief subject matter rather than merely playing a supporting role accompanying the cello line. Thus, the piece constitutes a true ‘sonata for cello and piano’. Fluent and tightly constructed,the score reveals a gift for melody, pacing and characterisation which the composer would use to good advantage in her stage works.

One of Delius’s most satisfying chamber works, the Cello Sonata is distinguished by the expressive power of its material. Both instruments enter at the same time, the cello unfolding a songlike, long-limbed line, while the piano presents the main idea. A second key theme, introduced by the cello over the piano’s rippling, arpeggiated chords, is more forthright and sharply defined.

In the late 1940s and the 1950s, Cecil Armstrong Gibbs wrote a series of instrumental works, two of them written for, and dedicated to, the cellist Eileen Croxford. They consist of Three Pieces, Op. 121 and the Cello Sonata in E, Op. 132. The Sonata is dated 12 January 1951 and was published by Oxford University Press the following year. The opening Allegro moderato is a substantial movement in sonata form. Over a syncopated, chordal piano accompaniment, the cello unfurls a sweeping, unsettled melody which contains some unexpected tonal shifts and covers a wide dynamic range.

Britten’s Cello Sonata is a challenging, bravura piece that benefits immeasurably from the natural affinity between composer and player which would inspire Britten to produce four more major works for Rostropovich over the next decade. Rostropovich wrote of the work, ‘This is a sonata full of surprises, innovations for any cellist, gifts for the musician flowing freely from the horn of plenty. We meet not merely a novelty in finger-work but, what is most important, a new kind of expressive and profound dramatic composition.'

© Paul Conway, 2022

'Handy and Walsh play with conviction and flair.'
Janet Horvath, Interlude: 22 February 2023

Electronic press kit available for reviewers

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Nimbus celebrates composer Richard Blackford's 70th anniversary year with new recordings, publications and live performances throughout 2024

George Lloyd Signature Series - Nimbus announces the release of recordings and published works of George Lloyd, starting in March 2024

ULYSSES ARTS RELEASES FIVE NEW ALBUMS IN AUTUMN 2023, ALL INCLUDING WORLD PREMIÈRE RECORDINGS

Lyrita releases British Piano Concertos Volume 2 with Simon Callaghan and BBC National Orchestra of Wales on 1 September 2023

PAUL HENLEY PIANO WORKS ALBUM WITH DUNCAN HONEYBOURNE RELEASING ON 22 SEPTEMBER 2023

British Cello Works Volume 2: Smyth, Delius, Gibbs and Britten - Lionel Handy and Jennifer Walsh, released by Lyrita on 3 February 2023

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