The UA Blog - Press Centre

J A MONTEIRO LIMEHOUSE MASS EP RELEASES ON 21 FEBRUARY 2025

12/12/2024

J.A. Monteiro's Limehouse Mass, performed by the Happenstance Singers conducted by Matthew Swann, is released by Ulysses Arts as an EP on 21 February 2025 (UA250020). The release also includes Monteiro's And Ruth said, Ave Maria, and organist James Gough playing Ye Choirs of New Jerusalem.

Click above to download on iTunes with digital booklet or stream on Apple Music

Pre-Release Singles

Electronic press kit for reviewers and radio producers available from Ulysses Arts Ltd.

LYRITA RELEASES GRACE WILLIAMS MISSA CAMBRENSIS ON 7 MARCH 2025

30/11/2024

Lyrita Records releases the world première recording of Grace Williams, Missa Cambrensis, on 7 March 2025, with the BBC National Orchestra & Chorus of Wales conducted by Adrian Partington, soloists April Fredrick, Angharad Lyddon, Robert Murray and Paul Carey Jones, Côr Heol y March (music director, Eleri Roberts) and narration by The Very Rev'd Dr Rowan Williams (SRCD 442).

“Arguably the most prominent female composer from Wales, Grace Williams (1906-1977) is enjoying a revival of interest, with several new recordings of her music in recent years.” David Smith, Presto Music

Inscribed to the memory of Grace Williams’s friend Nancy Elizabeth Jenkins, who died of cancer shortly before the work was completed, Grace Williams’s Missa Cambrensis is a full-scale setting of the Mass in Latin and Welsh, scored for soprano, alto, tenor and bass soloists, mixed chorus, boys’ choir, orchestra and speaker. The orchestral forces required consist of two flutes (second doubling piccolo), two oboes, (second doubling cor anglais), two clarinets, bass clarinet, two bassoons, contrabassoon, four horns, two trumpets, two tenor trombones, bass trombone, tuba, timpani, percussion (two players: cymbals, glockenspiel, tubular bells, tam tam), piano and strings. Missa Cambrensis is Grace Williams’s magnum opus, the last major musical statement by a composer of rare integrity. It dominates all her other concert works, investing the score with a commanding, almost legendary status. A. F. Leighton Thomas once commented on ‘the essentially human quality of her music’ and this directly communicative aspect of her writing shines through the score. Her honesty and sincerity inform her individual treatment of the Latin text and the Welsh additions to the material are a natural corollary of the pride she took in her nationality. As Malcolm Boyd concluded, the Missa Cambrensis is ‘a work of great power, rich in incident, generous in feeling, and exemplary in craftsmanship’. © Paul Conway, 2024

“It’s stunning. There is so many moments that are really moving … there’s a kind of incandescence about the writing and a degree of musical imagination that just seems to sparkle.” April Fredrick, interview with Antony Smith, Managing Director, Nimbus Records

“The Missa Cambrensis of Grace Williams, her last large scale composition, is the crowing jewel of her choral output. Whilst demonstrating a high regard to Benjamin Britten the Missa Cambrensis is imbued with lyrical inspiration and a powerful unique voice. From the incorporation of the Welsh Carol Nadolig and the reading of the Beatitudes in Welsh, her voice soars throughout demonstrating masterful craftmanship at every turn. My hope is that this recording contributes to raising the recognition that her music deserves, which may lead to more performances of this outstanding contribution to the choral repertoire.” Matthew Wood, Senior Producer, BBC National Orchestra & Chorus of Wales

Grace Williams gives “a reminder that preaching, communicating the Gospel speaks to something other than just the ideas we have in our heads. It speaks to the rhythms of our bodies, our breath, our blood.” Dr. Rowan Williams, former Archbishop of Canterbury, interview with Antony Smith, Managing Director, Nimbus Records

Missa Cambrensis Track List

I. Kyrie Eleison
1.Kýrie, eléison. Christe, eléison 5:06
II. Gloria
2. Glória in excélsis Deo 2:44
3. Laudamus Te 4:03
4. Domine Deus 2:42
5. Qui tollis peccata mundi 2:01
6. Quonium to solus sanctus 1:04
7. Cum Sancto Spiritu 2:31
8. III. Credo in unum Deum 6:32
9. Carol Nadolig 2:00
10. Credo [conclusion] 1:40
11. Beatitudes 2:41
12. Crucifixus 10:45
13. IV. Sanctus 6:44
14 Benedictus 5:39
15. V. Agnus Dei 3:26
16 Dona Nobis Pacem 6:56

Pre-order, download and streaming links will be published here.

Press kit and listening links for reviewers and radio producers available from Ulysses Arts.

ULYSSES ARTS RELEASES A NEW SPIRIT - WORLD PREMIÈRES BY SIR JAMES MACMILLAN, HENRIK DAHLGREN, PHILLIP COOKE AND ANDREW SMITH FROM CARITAS CHAMBER CHOIR DIRECTED BY BENEDICT PREECE, ON 18 OCTOBER 2024

23/8/2024

Ulysses Arts released Caritas Chamber Choir's album A New Spirit, with world premières by Sir James MacMillan, Henrik Dahlgren, Phillip Cooke and Andrew Smith, directed by Benedict Preece, on 18 October 2024 (UA240110).

Click above to download from iTunes with digital booklet or stream on Apple Music

A NEW SPIRIT: ALBUM DETAILS

Phillip Cooke, Christus resurgens

Henrik Dahlgren, Three Latin Hymns:
Ave maris Stella
Ave Regina Caelorum
Ave Maria

Sir James MacMillian, If ye love me

Sir James MacMillan, For a thousand years

Phillip Cooke, Veni Sponsa Christi

Sir James MacMillan, I will take you from the nations

Phillip Cooke, O Lord, save thy people

Sir James MacMillan, Be who God meant you to be
Sir James MacMillan, The Highgate Motet

Andrew Smith, Christi tractus in odore

Andrew Smith, Rex et martyr triumphalis

Andrew Smith, Old Irish Blessing

Maureen Buja, Interlude, 2 Dec 2024

'Congratulations to Benedict Preece and his singers for producing such a nicely balanced anthology with exemplary notes, texts and presentation.'
Malcolm Riley, Gramophone, Dec 2024

Based in Kent, in south east England, Caritas Chamber Choir was founded in 2011 by music director Benedict Preece. Caritas is the Latin word for charity: as part of its concert schedule, the Choir raises funds for charities, good causes and churches. Performing to the highest level throughout the UK, the Choir has also performed in Belgium, France - including regularly at Lille Cathedral's summer music festival, The Netherlands, Spain and Sweden. Caritas has a strong commitment to contemporary choral music: it performs and commissions music from many of the leading composers of our time, including Sir James MacMillan, Cecilia McDowall, Phillip Stopford, Phillip Cooke, Andrew Smith, Sarah Cattley, David Conte, Gabriel Jackson, Neil Wright, Eric Choate and Henrik Dahgren. Caritas is signed with UK-based record label Ulysses Arts.

Caritas Chamber Choir

Benedict Preece

Electronic press kit and pre-release listening link available for press reviewers and radio producers.

UA240110
Producer: Emily Baines
Recording Engineer: John Croft - Chiaro Audio
Artwork: Tony Garrett

LYRITA RELEASES STANFORD TE DEUM AND ELEGIAC ODE ON 5 JULY 2024

20/5/2024

Lyrita releases Charles Villiers Stanford, Te Deum and Elegiac Ode (SRCD 435) on 5 July 2024 with the BBC National Orchestra and Chorus of Wales, sopranos Rhian Lois and Samantha Price, tenor Alessandro Fisher and baritone Morgan Pearse, conducted by Adrian Partington.

'By the time Stanford had received a commission from the Norfolk and Norwich Festival to write a choral work for them in 1884, he had, aged 32, already begun to assert himself as one of Britain’s leading composers. The Elegiac Ode was, however, his first mature foray into the world of major British choral festivals. Some of the Elegiac Ode had been sketched three years earlier in 1881, but after the Norwich commission, Stanford grasped the opportunity to complete it in July 1884. The words were taken from the last part of Walt Whitman’s elegy, ‘When lilacs in the door yard bloom’d’, written after President Lincoln’s assassination in 1865. (Stanford’s pupil, Gustav Holst, would use the same text for his Ode to Death after the First World War in 1919.) Taking the seven verses of the burial hymn, Stanford divided his chosen text into four parts, creating a four-movement musical structure more akin to a choral symphony with its substantial and thematically related choral outer movements flanking two shorter inner essays.

Stanford’s large-scale setting of the Te Deum Op. 66 was first sung at the Leeds Festival on 6 October 1898: its ambitious, opulent dimensions were a fitting commemoration of the accession to the throne by Queen Victoria (its dedicatee) sixty years earlier, as well as a tribute to the full-bodied, well-trained Leeds chorus of 350 singers. A particular feature of the Te Deum is the grandeur of much of its choral writing. Though also dramatic, a dominating feature of the Te Deum is its prominent use of the chorus, and the many fulsome sonorities Stanford was able to draw from the magnificent ‘instrument’ of the Leeds voices.' © Jeremy Dibble

'A beautifully authoritative recording.'
Maureen Buja, Interlude, July 2024 (Album of the Week)

'The performances on the disc have a sophistication and vigour that does full justice to the music.'
Planet Hugill, 24 July 2024

SRCD 382: Stanford, Mass 'Via Victrix':
'Rescued from obscurity nearly a century after its composition, Stanford's largescale post-war mass is definitely worth checking out. Impassioned performances here.' BBC Music Magazine

Electronic press kit available for reviewers from Ulysses Arts.

Lyrita releases George Lloyd's A Litany and A Symphonic Mass, conducted by the composer, on 3 May 2024

2/4/2024

Lyrita Records releases George Lloyd's A Litany and A Symphonic Mass, conducted by the composer, on 3 May 2024, with Bounemouth Symphony Orchestra/Brighton Festival Chorus, soprano Janice Watson and bass Jeremy White, and Philharmonia Orchestra with Guildford Choral Society (SRCD 2419).

‘I just write what I have to write’. The artistic credo of George Lloyd conveys the directness and emotional honesty of his music, which is distinctive and written with integrity. He was fortunate enough to discover his individual and versatile musical voice at an early age. The deceptively artless quality of his scores stems from a thorough grounding in composition techniques.

Lloyd wrote in a traditional idiom enriched by a close study of selected models, Verdi and Berlioz chief among them. There is a remarkable consistency to his output, most of which was created spontaneously and without the incentive of a commission. Conceived on a grand scale, Lloyd’s late choral works build fruitfully upon his previous experience in other genres. They share with his operas an innate lyricism, natural affinity with the human voice and feeling for the long line, while their structural balance, intensive working out of motifs and rich orchestral palette owes a significant debt to his prolific symphonic output.

Chris de Souza writing in The Independent, 1998, described the Brighton Festival commission of A
Symphonic Mass as ‘perhaps the climax’ of Lloyd’s ‘astonishing career’. In his review of the original
release of the present recording, Ivan March was moved to describe the Mass as ‘one of the finest pieces of English choral writing of the twentieth century’.

Electronic press kit available for reviwers.
Digital download and streaming links will be published here.

Lyrita releases George Lloyd Requiem and Psalm 130 album on 3 May 2024

2/4/2024

Lyrita Records releases George Lloyd's Requiem and Psalm 130 on 3 May 2024, with the Exon Singers, countertenor Stephen Wallace and organist Jeffrey Makinson, conducted by Matthew Owens.

‘I just write what I have to write’. The artistic credo of George Lloyd conveys the directness and emotional honesty of his music, which is distinctive and written with integrity. He was fortunate enough to discover his individual and versatile musical voice at an early age. The deceptively artless quality of his scores stems from a thorough grounding in composition techniques.

Lloyd wrote in a traditional idiom enriched by a close study of selected models, Verdi and Berlioz chief among them. There is a remarkable consistency to his output, most of which was created spontaneously and without the incentive of a commission. Conceived on a grand scale, Lloyd’s late choral works build fruitfully upon his previous experience in other genres. They share with his operas an innate lyricism, natural affinity with the human voice and feeling for the long line, while their structural balance, intensive working out of motifs and rich orchestral palette owes a significant debt to his prolific symphonic output.

Lloyd produced the final score of his Requiem a month before his death in 1998. It is inscribed ‘to the memory of Diana, Princess of Wales’. Compassionate, reassuring and even, at times, joyful, this is a conscious leave-taking on the part of the composer. His compact and cogent setting of Psalm 130 constitutes, arguably, his most fluently effective use of a cappella choral writing.

Electronic press kit available for reviewers from Ulysses Arts.
Digital download and streaming links will be published here.

ANDREW SMITH, OLD IRISH BLESSING RELEASED BY ULYSSES ARTS ON 15 MARCH 2024 WITH CARITAS CHAMBER CHOIR CONDUCTED BY BENEDICT PREECE

20/2/2024

The world première recording of Andrew Smith's Old Irish Blessing, performed by Caritas Chamber Choir with soprano Catherine Futcher, directed by Benedict Preece, is released by Ulysses Arts on 15 March 2024, in partnership with Platoon. This single is the first pre-release for a new album of contemporary choral music launching in summer 2024.

Stream on Apple Music or download on iTunes

Andrew Smith

Andrew Smith (b. 1970) is a British-Norwegian composer with a growing international reputation for choral and vocal music that links tradition with a contemporary idiom.

He read Music and English at the University of Oslo. Composing, a hobby since the age of eight, began in earnest in the late 1990s when he wrote a piece for the newly-formed Trio Mediaeval (Norway). The subsequent recording of this and other music for the Trio brought Andrew to the attention of the American audience and led the way to collaborations with groups such as New York Polyphony, Khorikos Chamber Choir and Gothic Voices.

Andrew’s Requiem, composed for the Nidaros Cathedral Girls’ Choir in response to the tragic events in Norway in July 2011, was first performed in Trondheim in 2012. The work features on the Nidaros Cathedral Girls Choir album LUX, awarded a Grammy for Best Immersive Audio Album in January 2020.

Andrew has been commissioned and performed by numerous choirs in Norway and abroad. Recent commissions include Lukaspasjon, a setting in Norwegian of the Passion according to St. Luke for Oslo Cathedral Choir, and O Antiphons for the Khorikos Chamber Choir in New York, first performed in 2019.

Andrew Smith’s music is published principally by Norsk Musikforlag, with some works published by Oxford University Press.

George Lloyd Signature Series: Lyrita Nimbus Arts releases the complete recordings and published works of George Lloyd from March 2024 to early 2025

10/11/2023

George Lloyd

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

The Trustees of Lyrita Nimbus Arts (LNA) reached an exclusive agreement in 2023 with The George Lloyd Society (GLS) to take over sale and hire of all George Lloyd’s scores held by the Society, as well as the commercial exploitation of the recordings made by the Society in the 1990s, conducted by the composer.

Read George Lloyd: Myths and Misconceptions by Peter Davison, published in Corymbus

George Lloyd (1913-98) is remembered mostly for his twelve symphonies; his compositions also include operas, choral works, concertos, piano and chamber music. LNA approached GLS with a proposal that involves the complete digitisation of George Lloyd's scores and his entire record archive represented in new compilations. Going beyond preservation, LNA's Trustees believe Lloyd’s music is ripe for rediscovery by concert managers and music lovers. His music, particularly the operas, won great praise and popularity before World War Two. 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 arms of Nimbus Records, to support this venture.

William Lloyd was the composer’s business manager and executive producer; he 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 Edition’. Scores will be cleaned, new orchestral parts created and recordings 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.

'Hugely impressive, splendidly designed musical architecture.'
Stuart Millson, Quarterly Review, 29 February 2024

'It is an extraordinary journey to hear the whole of George Lloyd’s symphonies over a single period of time, a psychodrama if ever there was one.' Geoffrey Atkinson, British Music Society Journal
26 February 2024 (Symphones 1-6) and 22 March 2024 (Symphonies 7-12)

'An absolute must-have for anyone deeply invested in powerful and polished 20th century symphonic writing.'
Jean-Yves Dupperon, Classical Music Sentinel, March 2024

'Those of us who have admired Lloyd’s music for many years will welcome the consolidation of his legacy in this way and will hope it stimulates more performances and perpetuates his name even more.'
Jonathan Woolf, MusicWeb International, 13 March 2024

'Lloyd’s music is direct even when elusive, commanding even when equivocal, and is strongly lyrical – some of his lyricism is simply unforgettable. It is also richly, ripely and colourfully orchestrated.'
Symphonies No.7-12: Jonathan Woolf, MusicWeb International, 9 April 2024

'Rejoice! A glorious symphonic cycle by a British composer has been issued as a set for the first time.'
Damian Thompson, The Spectator, 13 April 2024

'Both sets of symphonies are valuable and incredibly well priced ... they should top the wishlist of any lover of orchestral music.' F.A.R., American Record Guide, 2024

'Richard Whitehouse applauds Lyrita’s advocacy on behalf of George Lloyd.'
Richard Whitehouse, Gramophone, 23 May 2024

All scores now available from Lyrita.
The recordings are being released by Lyrita between March 2024 and early 2025, with accompanying sheet music published by Lyrita Nimbus Arts:
www.lnarts.org www.lyrita.co.uk www.georgelloyd.com
Electronic press kits and pre-release listening links for reviewers are available from Ulysses Arts.

GEORGE LLOYD SIGNATURE EDITION AUDIO RELEASES

1 MARCH 2024

SRCD2417: Symphonies Volume 1
No. 1-6; Charade ‘Scenes from the ‘60s'
Overture John Socman

BBC Philharmonic Orchestra
Albany Symphony Orchestra
George Lloyd, conductor

5 APRIL 2024

SRCD 2418: Symphonies Volume 2
No. 7 - 12 (quadruple album)

BBC Philharmonic Orchestra
Philharmonia Orchestra
Albany Symphony Orchestra
George Lloyd, conductor

3 MAY 2024

SRCD 420: Requiem and Psalm 130

The Exon Singers
Stephen Wallace, countertenor
Jeffrey Makinson, organ
Matthew Owens, conductor

SRCD 2419: A Litany and A Symphony Mass

Janice Watson, soprano
Jeremy White, bass-baritone
Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra
Brighton Festival Chorus
Philharmonia Orchestra and Guildford Choral Society
George Lloyd, conductor

7 JUNE 2024

SRCD 2421: The Piano Concertos
No. 1 ‘Scapegoat’, 2, 3 and 4 (double album)

Martin Roscoe, piano
Kathryn Stott, piano
BBC Philharmonic Orchestra
London Symphony Orchestra
George Lloyd, conductor

5 JULY 2024

SRCD2422: The Violin and 'Cello Concertos
(double album)
Violin Concerto No. 1 and No. 2
'Cello Concerto

Cristina Anghelescu, violin
Anthony Ross, 'cello
Philharmonia and Albany Symphony Orchestras
David Parry and David Alan Miller, conductors

2 AUGUST 2024

SRCD 2423: The Piano Works: Solo and Duo: double album
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.

Anthony Goldstone and Caroline Clemmow, piano duo
Kathryn Stott; Martin Roscoe

SRCD 0425: The Works for Brass
Royal Parks, Diversions on a Bass Theme, Evening Song, H.M.S. Trinidad March, English Heritage, A Miniature Tryptic

John Foster
Black Dyke Mills Band, conducted by David King
Equale Brass Quintet

5 SEPTEMBER 2024: Score Publications

SRMP 0105-0114:
Aubade | Eventide

Road Through Samarkand for Two Piano (and version for solo piano)

Lullaby | St. Anthony & the Beggar | The Agressive Fishes

The Lily-leaf the Grasshopper | The Transformation of that Naked Ape
An African Shrine

1 NOVEMBER 2024

SRCD0424: The Works for Violin & Piano
Lament for Violin & Piano, Air and Dance
Sonata for Violin & Piano
Seven extracts from The Serf

Tasmin Little, violin and Martin Roscoe, piano
Ruth Rogers, violin and Simon Callaghan, piano

6 MARCH 2025
Nimbus Lyrita Arts publishes four orchestral scores and parts by George Lloyd

SRMP 0031 – The Dying Tree (1992), for large orchestra, 10 minutes
A single movement orchestral sketch, first performed at London's Barbican Centre in 1994 by the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra with the composer conducting. The Dying Tree is one of Loyd's few works not yet been recorded.

SRMP 0033 – Floating Cloud (1993), for large orchestra, 16 minutes
A single movement orchestral sketch. First performed in 1993 by the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra with the composer conducting. Floating Cloud is one of the few works that has not yet been recorded.

SRMP 0035 – In Memoriam (1984), for large orchestra, 6 minutes
In Memoriam pays heartfelt tribute to seven young bandsmen murdered by IRA terrorists on 20 July 1982 as they played in their band in Regent’s Park.

SRMP 0037 – Le Pont du Gard, for large orchestra, 10 minutes
A single movement orchestral sketch, inspired by the ancient Roman aqueduct that crosses the Gardon River in Vers-Pont du Gard near Remoulins in Southern France, were Lloyd spent a summer holiday.

DATE TBC

SRCD2426: John Socman (1951) - the complete opera (double album)
Using the composer’s 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.

4 APRIL 2025, TBC

SRCD2427: Iernin (1934) - the complete opera (triple album), recorded in 1985, conducted by the composer with the BBC Concert Orchestra and Marilyn Hill-Smith in the title role (triple album)

'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, premièred 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 his glorious Indian summer of creativity include brass band piece Royal Parks, A Symphonic Mass and the '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

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

11/8/2023

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.

CARITAS CHAMBER CHOIR ALBUM 'ALL SHALL BE AMEN' RELEASED BY ULYSSES ARTS ON 6 OCTOBER 2023

22/7/2023

Click above to download on iTunes with digital booklet or stream on Apple Music

Caritas Chamber Choir, directed by Benedict Preece, releases its next album, All Shall be Amen, on 6 October 2023, in partnership with Platoon.

All Shall be Amen is Caritas' sixth album: it presents music by composers Cecilia McDowall, Eric Choate, Benedict Preece, Gabriel Jackson, Sarah Cattley, Phillip Cooke and Neil Wright, that Caritas has regularly performed and recorded, alongside new exciting collaborations with David Conte and Andrew Smith. The album’s sacred theme is broad, demonstrating an omnium-gatherum of new works, and contemporaneously, championing many fantastic living composers. The majority of its works are world première recordings.

Caritas is a British chamber choir, passionate about raising money for charities through singing, and performing to the highest level both in the UK and throughout Europe. The choir, founded by Benedict Preece, performs music from all periods in around twenty concerts per year around the UK and in France, as well as services in Canterbury Cathedral.

'Caritas Chamber Choir excels, always offering a beautiful choral sound with a wide dynamic palette, and with scrupulous attention to phrasing and articulation. ... This album is a triumph.' Jerónimo Marín, Ritmo, October 2023, p. 64

'Incandescent luminosity of the British chamber choir's singing and the stirring impact of its renditions. ... Throughout the release, Preece's masterful shaping of the choir's sound is well-evidenced by the delicate interweaving of voices and the fluidity with which changes in vocal dynamics are effected. Given the evidence at hand, contemporary choral composition and singing would seem to be thriving, given the high calibre of the writing and performances featured on the release.' Ron Schepper, Textura, November 2023

'All shall be Amen excels in no fewer than première recordings.'
Mattie Poels, MusicFrames (Netherlands), 7 February 2024

All Shall be Amen: Track List

1. A Prayer of St Bernard of Clairvaux: Gabriel Jackson ........................... 2:29
2. O vos omnes: Neil Wright ........................................................................ 3:17
3. Ubi Caritas: Phillip Cooke ........................................................................ 4:42
4. Vinea mea electa: Andrew Smith ........................................................... 4:22
5. Prayer of Richard Rolle :Sarah Cattley .................................................. 3:21
6. My Eyes for Beauty pine: Sarah Cattley ................................................. 2:41
7. O Lord, support us: Sarah Cattley ......................................................... 3:23
8. Keep watch, dear Lord: Eric Choate ...................................................... 3:34
9. Adoro te devote: Gabriel Jackson .......................................................... 3:31
10. Crux fidelis: Neil Wright ......................................................................... 4:52
11. Nunc dimittis: Phillip Cooke .................................................................. 4:19
12. Rise heart; thy Lord is risen: Cecilia McDowall ................................... 4:09
13. Ave Maria: Neil Wright ............................................................................ 4:21
14. Pange lingua: Benedict Preece .............................................................. 4:24
15. O salutaris hostia; Gabriel Jackson ........................................................ 3:18
16. O sacrum convivium: Benedict Preece ................................................. 3:58
17. Locus iste: Phillip Cooke ......................................................................... 4:31
18. By Night while others soundly slept: David Conte .............................. 3:07
19. Night Prayer: David Conte ...................................................................... 4:36
20. All shall be Amen: Gabriel Jackson ........................................................ 6:02

Total time: 1:18:58

Pre-Released Singles

Benedict Preece, Pange lingua, 11 August 2023
Phillip Cooke, Ubi Caritas: 25 August 2023
Sarah Cattley, O Lord, Support Us: 8 September 2023
Cecilia McDowall, Rise Heart, thy Lord is Risen: 22 September 2023

Released on 11 August 2023

Benedict Preece

Benedict Preece sets the classic liturgical text Pange lingua 'accessibly and sympathetically, so many church choirs could sing my music. Pange lingua is a partner for my setting of Tantum Ergo, for performance during communion or Holy Week, or in concerts. All voice parts have lyrical lines, whether or not they are singing the melody. The final “Amen” quotes my Tantum Ergo, to connect both works.'

Men and Angels - new album from The Ramsey Singers releasing with Ulysses Arts on 26 May 2023

8/2/2023

Click above to download from iTunes with digital booklet or stream on Apple Music

The first two decades of the 21st Century witnessed an exciting new wave of compositions - many from women - which have rejuvenated the great choral music tradition with a huge range of individual styles. The Ramsey Singers have performed many of these album pieces on their visits to English cathedrals during the past 20 years, as well as commissioning significant additions to the repertoire. This album brings together some of the best works from this new tradition, mostly recorded for the first time, including music by Philip Stopford, Kerena Briggs, James Lavino, Lucy Walker, Alec Roth, Ben Ponniah, Jeremy Woodside, Sarah MacDonald and Jonathan Rathbone.

The Ramsey Singers

Founded in 1987, The Ramsey Singers have performed in many of England’s most famous cathedrals and churches including Canterbury Cathedral, York Minster, St. Paul’s Cathedral, Westminster Abbey and St. George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle. Singers come from all over England and meet twice a year. Directed by Mark Fenton, the choir has undertaken tours to Belgium, The Netherlands and France and has recorded albums of works by Henry Purcell and Pelham Humfrey (Priory) and Arnold Bax & Percy Whitlock (ASV). The Ramsey Singers have championed the works of contemporary composers and the choir celebrated its 30th anniversary by commissioning a piece by James Lavino.

Mark Fenton

Born in London in 1965, Mark Fenton won a Scholarship in History at Cambridge University. He sang with the choir of St. Catharine’s College under the direction of Peter le Huray and Owen Rees with whom he took part in recordings of choral works by George Dyson, Herbert Howells and Benjamin Britten. After graduating with First Class Honours, he joined the choir of Chelmsford Cathedral where he participated in numerous BBC broadcasts, recordings and tours. As founder and Director of The Ramsey Singers, Mark has conducted at Westminster Abbey and St Paul’s Cathedral in London and at Sacre Coeur in Paris. After a distinguished career in education - including fifteen years as Headmaster of Dr Challoner’s Grammar School - he returned to working in music, taking up a post as a Bass Lay Clerk at Worcester Cathedral where he has sung in BBC broadcasts and in the Three Choirs Festival.

'Innovative and totally unexpected chords, harmony and daring chord progressions (chord connections) with dissonances (such as minor seconds), which cut excitingly through the melody. All this creates musical tension and excitement, resulting in pieces that, with a link to the Renaissance, show a fresh & new metier. Conductor Mark Fenton keeps a close eye on the choral sound and creates the perfect harmony vocals with love and dedication.'
Mattie Poels, Music Frames, August 2023
www.musicframes.nl/2023/08/men-angels-van-the-ramsey-singers/#more-69985

Lucy Walker, Occuli Omnium, on Apple Music playlist New in Classical

Sarah MacDonald, Crux Fidelis, on Apple Music playlist Women in Classical Music

James Lavino, Light, on Apple Music playlist Contemporary Classical

Electronic press kit available from Ulysses Arts

Verdi Requiem, orchestrated by Richard Blackford, with The Bach Choir and David Hill, released by Nimbus Records on 7 April 2023

7/2/2023

NI6437: Verdi Requiem – Richard Blackford

Verdi Requiem orchestrated by Richard Blackford, for SATB Choir, Two Pianos, Organ and Percussion.

In collaboration with the renowned Bach Choir conducting by David Hill this recording features a sound that is distinct from the original Requiem, while still retaining the heart of the piece.

'Who would not wish to perform Verdi’s Requiem in the composer’s masterful original orchestration? The astonishing range of orchestral colour, from the moments of high drama to the most tender, give Verdi’s masterpiece its unique power and aura. When David Hill suggested that I create a new orchestration for two pianos, organ and percussion for The Bach Choir, I immediately saw the potential of an orchestration that would have a distinctive sound world of its own, not a watered-down reduction of Verdi’s original. Such an orchestration would also make the work accessible to choirs who either could not afford the full orchestra, or would not have the space to accommodate it.

Further discussions with David, who had the previous year commissioned me to write Prelude and Passacaglia for organ solo, gave valuable insights into how the organ could replicate a great range of orchestral colours that would contrast and augment the dynamic brilliance of the pianos and percussion. As work progressed, I found more and more ways of realising Verdi’s intentions with these minimal resources, such as replicating Verdi’s frequent string tremolandos by overlapping the piano tremolos in a way that, rather than cancelling each other out, produce a strange pianistic murmuring. Having six keyboard hands available generally meant that Verdi’s contrapuntal writing, especially in the Sanctus, is fully reproduced, unlike a single piano reduction. The percussion part, by virtue of being one player, requires the player to switch energetically from timpani to bass drum, and reassuringly few notes of the original were sacrificed in the course of doing so.' Richard Blackford

PHILLIP COOKE, FOUR MARIAN ANTIPHONS - CARITAS CHAMBER CHOIR AND BENEDICT PREECE - RELEASING ON 31 MARCH 2023

21/1/2023

Pre-order on iTunes or stream pre-add tracks on Apple Music

Ulysses Arts releases the première recording of Phillip Cooke's Four Marian Antiphons on 31 March 2023, performed by the Caritas Chamber Choir directed by Benedict Preece.

Four Marion Anthems

1. Ave Regina Caelorum
2. Salve Regina, Mater misericordiae
3. Alma Redemptoris Mater (pre-release on 24 February)
4. Regina Cœli (pre-release on 17 March)

Phillip Cooke

Released in partnership with Platoon.

Blessed Among Women, Weeping: Sacred Choral Music of Father Ivan Moody, from Coro Volante conducted by Brett Scott, released by Ablaze Records on 24 March 2023

20/1/2023

Download on iTunes or stream on Apple Music: click above

Fr. Ivan Moody

Fr. Ivan Moody was born in London in 1964. He studied music and theology at the Universities of London, Joensuu and York (where he took his doctorate). He studied composition with Brian Dennis, Sir John Tavener and William Brooks.

He has worked with soloists and ensembles of world renown, such as the Hilliard Ensemble, Singer Pur, Trio Mediaeval, the Tallis Scholars, the English Chamber Choir, Cappella Romana, New York Polyphony, the Regensburger Domspatz, Singcircle, Lumen Valo, Tapestry, Cappella Nova, Ars Nova Copenhagen, the Taverner Consort, Fretwork, the Raschèr Quartet, Raphael Wallfisch, Suzie Leblanc, Artur Pizarro and Paul Barnes. Over the years he has written a series of substantial choral and choral-instrumental works, including Passion and Resurrection (1992), Revelation (1995), Akathistos Hymn (1998), The Dormition of the Virgin (2003), Passione Popolare (2005), Ossetian Requiem (2005), Moons and Suns (2008), Stabat Mater (2008), Qohelet (2013) and Stephans-Weihnacht (2019). Instrumental music includes a series of concertante works for viola, cello, recorder, double bass, piano, harp, tuba, bass clarinet and marimba, and many works for chamber ensembles (notably the piano quartet Nocturne of Light, from 2009) and solo instruments.

Ivan Moody is also a conductor and musicologist; his book Modernism and Orthodox Spirituality in Contemporary Music was published in 2014. He is a Researcher at CESEM—Universidade Nova, Lisbon, and a priest of the Orthodox Church.

Neil Wright, Tota Pulchra es - Caritas Chamber Choir conducted by Benedict Preece - releasing on 27 January 2023

17/1/2023

Stream on Apple Music or download in iTunes - click above

Tota pulchra es is a 1,600 year old Roman Catholic prayer, meaning 'You are completely beautiful', referring to the Virgin Mary. It glorifies her immaculate conception, and takes its text from the Bible's Book of Judith and Song of Songs.

It has inspired great composers for centuries, from Guillaume du Fay and Heinrich Isaac in the late Middle Ages, through Schumann, Bruckner, Pablo Casals, Duruflé and Gorczycki to contemporaries such as Sir James MacMillan and Ola Gjeilo: Neil Wright's new settting revels in the opportunity for musical beauty and spiritual yearning.

Tota pulchra es is Wright's debut commission and recording with Caritas Chamber Choir. Studying the Royal Northern College of Music, as an organist, composer and improviser, he has performed throughout the UK (including Cadogan Hall; Westminster Central Hall) and in Germany (Dresden Cathedral, Stuttgart-Schondorf Orgelnacht, Friedenskirche Potsdam, Maria Laach Abbey), USA (Carmel Valley California), Italy (Tagliacozzo Festival, Cremona Cathedral), Finland (Åland Orgel Festival) and France (Vannes Cathedral, Eglise de La Trinité Paris).

Neil Wright

Caritas Chamber Choir with Benedict Preece

Caritas Chamber Choir, based in Canterbury, UK, is one of the world's leading commissioners of contemporary choral music, performing frequently around the UK and Europe, directed by Benedict Preece, a Genesis Sixteen Conducting Scholar.

Streaming and download links:

Released in partnership with Platoon.

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