The UA Blog - Press Centre

Lullula's children album The Birds releases on 20 June 2025

22/4/2025

Lullula releases its children's album The Birds on 20 June 2025 (UA25050), in partnership with Ulysses Arts.

Click above to pre-order from iTunes with digital booklet

Lullula's The Birds tells a musical story through a single, arching day – from the dances of early morning playtime to lullabies for dreaming. A musical picture book for very young listeners that journeys through the mountains of the Southern Appalachians, Irish playgrounds, and the Wiegenlieder of 19th century Germany. An album of familiar and new songs, games, rhymes, and friendships – to be listened to again and again.

Artists

Lydia Mahnkopf (soprano), Simone Easthope (soprano), Jonathan Ware (piano), Joel Frederiksen (19th century guitar, lute)

Electronic press kit available from Ulysses Arts.

Digital download and streaming links will be published here.

Golijov: The Dreams and Prayers of Isaac the Blind with CBSO Chamber Musicians, released by Luminate Records, 2 May 2025

8/4/2025

Osvaldo Golijov: The Dreams and Prayers of Isaac the Blind for clarinet and string quintet, with the CBSO Chamber Musicians - live recording, releases with Luminate Records on 2 May 2025, in partnership with Ulysses Arts.

Click above to pre-order now on iTunes with digital booklet

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

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

Colorado MahlerFest Live Releases First Album: Mahler, Symphony No. 3 and Gunning, Symphony No. 10, on 21 March 2025

4/3/2025

Colorado Mahler Fest Live releases its first album on 21 March 2025, with Mahler, Symphony No. 3 and Christopher Gunning, Symphony No. 10, conducted by Kenneth Woods, with mezzo-soprano Stacey Rishoi, the Women of the Boulder Concert Chorale, and Boulder Children's Chorale Festival Choir, in partnership with Ulysses Arts (MFL2502).

Click above to download on iTunes or stream on Apple Music

Christopher Gunning, Symphony No. 10: A Note by the Composer

'I composed Symphony No. 10 in a fairly natural way, the material stated at the beginning constantly leading me from one section to the next. The result could be likened to a series of variations, each contrasting with the last. There is no longer a “standard” format for a symphony; in classical formats there would usually be four movements, but Sibelius changed all that with his mighty Seventh Symphony, which has but one movement in the space of little more than twenty minutes. My Tenth Symphony also plays for some twenty minutes non-stop, and follows a dramatic narrative which to me is vitally important. I have always looked on my symphonies as novels, with characters in the form of themes or motifs which return and develop.

One also chooses a form to suit the emotional range of the music one wishes to compose—or perhaps the form emerges from the material one has. I suppose that was how No. 10 came into being. I knew the piece had to have a wide emotional range; I also knew it had to be relatively concise and straightforward for a listener to follow. If all this sounds excessively technical, I would counter such suggestions by saying that for me the emotional content is everything; if music doesn’t move us, it really is of no value at all.'

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

LUMINATE RECORDS RELEASES ELGAR PIANO QUINTET WITH ROBERT MARKHAM AND CBSO CHAMBER MUSICIANS ON 14 MARCH 2025

10/2/2025

Luminate Records releases Elgar, Piano Quintet, with pianist Robert Markham and City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra Chamber Musicians Jack Greed, Bethan Allmand, Chris Yates and Kate Setterfield, on 14 March 2025, in partnership with Ulysses Arts (LR246708).

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

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

ENGLISH SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA RECORDS RELEASES SIBELIUS SYMPHONIES 6 & 7 AND TAPIOLA ON 25 APRIL 2025

10/2/2025

ESO Records releases its second album, with live recordings of Sibelius's Symphonies No. 6 and No. 7, and symphonic poem Tapiola, on 25 April 2025, with the English Symphony Orchestra conducted by Kenneth Woods (ESO2502), in partnership with Ulysses Arts.

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

DENIS DELAIR VIOLIN SONATAS WORLD PREMIÈRE RECORDING: MARGUERITE WASSERMANN, JOSEF LAMING & THE LEVÉE, RELEASED BY WARBLING QUIRE RECORDS ON 25 APRIL 2025 (WQ2501)

10/2/2025

Seven Sonatas for Violin and Continuo attributed to Denis Delair, performed by Marguerite Wassermann, violin, Josef Laming, harpsichord and The Levée: world première recording released by warblingQUIRE Records on 25 April 2025 (WQ2501), in partnership with Ulysses Arts.

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

Denis Delair is known today as a theorist and the author of the Traité d’Acompagnement pour le Theorbe, et le Clavessin, first published in 1690. Despite mention of his instrumental compositions in the 1724 edition of his treatise, Delair’s compositions have - until now - fallen into obscurity.

In looking through the catalogue of the Düben Collection, a Swedish musical manuscript collection started in the 1640s, members of The Levée came across seven ‘Sonates à Violino seul’ by a ‘Mr De L’air’. When we began studying these sonatas, we were captivated by Delair’s unique style of composition: the rich harmonies, his rhetorical, vocal writing for instruments, the heavy chromaticism and surprising modulations.

These sonatas are an excellent counterpart to Delair’s theoretical writing: they are the perfect vehicle for the application of ideas from the treatise, and they feature examples of the harmonies
that Delair mentions in his chapter on ‘Acompagnemens [sic] extraordinaires’.

DELAIR’S SONATAS IN SWEDEN

While no other copies of Delair’s Sonatas have yet been found, their appearance in the Düben Collection suggests that the works circulated amongst musicians.

The Sonatas were copied by the Swedish church musician Carl Hintz. Hintz held positions in churches in Sweden and Latvia, but there is no evidence that he travelled to France. In the 17th century, the Swedish court had a taste for French aesthetics, and many artists were sent to Paris for educational purposes. Hintz was employed as a copyist under the Hofkapellmeister Anders von Düben to copy parts from French stage works by composers like Lully for performances of a French troupe of actors and musicians resident in Stockholm from 1699 to 1706. It is possible that these French musicians brought Delair’s sonatas to Sweden, and that Hintz was tasked with making a copy. Hintz died in either 1710 or 1711, so Delair’s sonatas must have been written and circulated before this date.

The Levée is an early music ensemble formed to bring forgotten music back to life and to explore new stories of music history. They want to interrogate why some music had a continuous performing tradition, and why other music remained untouched. They find that relatively unknown music presents exciting challenges to modern historical performance practice and understanding of music history.

The Ensemble reflects the interests of its constituent members in its focus on the ‘unwritten’ aspects of music which bring it to life: historically informed ornamentation, improvisation, and basso continuo realisation. Works like these Delair’s Sonatas on their debut album break down preconceptions about what we now categorise as Italian, French or German national styles, and are of particular interest to the group.

The Levée takes its name from a painting and engraving of the same title in William Hogarth’s series A Rake’s Progress (1732-35). The eight painting series depicts the machinations of a spendthrift, hedonist son of a wealthy merchant who comes to no good but enjoys himself along the way.

The Levée, the second painting in Hogarth's series, shows the protagonist "Tom Rakeford" indulging in sport and artistic luxuries. Present at Rakeford’s levée (morning ceremony) is a harpsichordist thought to represent Handel or Porpora, alongside a dancing master holding a small violin.

The Levée comprises founding members:
Marguerite Wassermann - Baroque Violin
Josef Laming – Harpsichord
Niels Pfeffer – Theorbo
Martin Jantzen – Viola da Gamba

Guest artist (Delair album)
Elise Dupont - Baroque Violin

The Levée on CONTINUO CONNECT

Marguerite Wassermann (photo c. Elam Rotem)

Josef Laming (photo c. Elam Rotem)

The Levée

Instrumentalists Marguerite Wassermann (violin), Martin Jantzen (viola da gamba) and Josef Laming (harpsichord) studied together in Switerzland at the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis and benefitted from coaching from professors such as Amandine Beyer, Eva Saladin, Jörg-Andreas Bötticher and Thomas Leiniger. The Levée made this recording in St John's Church, Loughton, in the UK, where they also presented a showcase concert of selections from Delair's Opus, followed by performances of their 'Delair in Context' programme in the UK, Germany and Switzerland.

ALBUM LAUNCH CONCERT: BASEL, SWITZERLAND, 24 APRIL 2025
Zunftsaal Schmiedenhof, Rümelinsplatz 4, 4001 Basel, 7:30pm
For press invitations, contact Ulysses Arts (in English, French or German).

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NIMBUS RELEASES DISCOVER JEAN FRANÇAIX: THE BEST OF MARTIN JONES, ON 2 MAY 2025

10/2/2025

Nimbus Records releases Discover Jean Françaix: The Best of Martin Jones, on 2 May 2025 (NI.7732). The album is a compilation of Martin Jones's acclaimed three-volume set of Jean Françaix's complete piano music.

Jean René Désiré Françaix was born in Le Mans on 23 May 1912 into a musical family – his father was a composer and pianist, his mother a singing teacher.

Françaix was a prolific composer, whose output amounts to over 200 works in a wide range of genres. His œuvre includes symphonies and cantatas, but he was most prolific in writing for the forces of soloist and orchestra. He first made his name in 1932, with a performance of his Eight Bagatelles for piano and string quartet at the International Society for Contemporary Music Festival in Vienna. His language is resolutely tonal, with a generally restricted but effective harmonic vocabulary… Charm wit and elegance, often with a sense of wry detachment, inform his scores, which are distinguished by their precision and clarity. Though an archetypally French composer, he exhibited a cheerful eclecticism, ranging over the Western musical tradition in all its diversity, which chimes with the ‘magpie’ instincts of his compatriots Poulenc and Ibert, for example.

The piano occupies a prime position in Françaix’s output, whether as a concertante instrument or in the more intimate forms of chamber music and instrumental pieces for solo piano and duets. He used it principally as a vehicle for exhibiting his virtuosity, yet his piano scores contain several examples of introspection and nostalgic reflection.
© Paul Conway

Celebrated British pianist Martin Jones recorded the complete piano music of Jean Françaix (1912-1997) in 2012 on 3 CDs. This is a compilation of his best music, in which wit, sophistication and extreme virtuosity combine in one of the twentieth century’s instantly recognisable voices.

Martin Jones has been one of Britain’s most highly regarded solo pianists since first coming to international attention in 1968 when he received the Dame Myra Hess Award. The same year he made his London debut at the Queen Elizabeth Hall and his New York debut at Carnegie Hall, and ever since has been in demand for recitals and concerto performances on both sides of the Atlantic.

He is a prolific recording artist and his many major projects include the complete solo piano works of Mendelssohn, Brahms, Debussy, Grainger, Stravinsky, Korngold, Szymanowski, Granados, Guastavino, Mompou, Ernesto Halffter, Joaquin Nin, Has Gál, Jean Françaix, Jean Roger-Ducasse, and Alan Richardson.

Digital pre-order and streaming links will be published here.

Electronic press kit & listening links available for reviewers and radio producers from Ulysses Arts.

LYRITA RELEASES BRITISH PIANO CONCERTOS: MUSIC BY JOHN ADDISON, PHILIP CANNON AND FRANCIS CHAGRIN, ON 2 MAY 2025

10/2/2025

Lyrita Recorded Edition releases British Piano Concertos on 2 May 2025, with music by John Addison, Philip Cannon and Francis Chagrin, performed by soloist Simon Callaghan with the BBC National Orchestra of Wales conducted by William Boughton (SRCD.444)

Click above to pre-order from iTunes with digital booklet

Philip Cannon’s Concertino for piano and strings (1951) dates from his formative years. It was written for the Petersfield Festival, where it was premiered on 27 January 1951 by soloist Joseph Cooper, with the Petersfield Orchestra conducted by Kathleen Merritt. This lively, neo-classical piece has achieved over a thousand performances internationally.

Though John Addison’s Concertino for piano and orchestra is, for the most part, couched in a light-hearted language, it is the product of a serious, and unfailingly inventive, approach to keyboard and orchestral writing. Speaking of the work to Lesie Ayre of the London Evening News, the composer remarked that, ‘it is a real concerto in the full sense of the word...I would not be ashamed to show the work to any first-class pianist’.

Francis Chagrin maintained an intensely practical and unpretentious attitude towards his own craft, observing that, ‘My music is not for first performances– it is just to be played’. His Piano Concerto was first performed by soloist Franz Osborn, with the London Symphony Orchestra, conducted by the composer, at an SPNM Experimental Rehearsal held at the Royal College of Music on 4 February 1944.

Conversation Piece by John Addison was written in 1958 to a commission from the BBC Concert Orchestra for that year’s British Light Music Festival. John Addison felt that, by the late-1950s, too great a divide had opened up between serious and light music: ‘Concert goers think contemporary music is so alarmingly serious that when confronted with a mildly witty turn of phrase, they assume something has gone wrong. I remember the astonished sigh of relief when, in the course of introducing one of my chamber works, I told the audience I would not mind if they smiled’. In Conversation Piece, Addison exploits to the full his talent to amuse and divert.

Simon Callaghan performs internationally as a soloist and chamber musician, in parallel with a highly successful career as a recording artist. A favourite performer at the internationally-renowned Husum Festival of Piano Rarities in Germany, Callaghan’s recent sell-out concert was praised by VAN Magazine as a “cleverly curated recital full of discoveries” and by the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung as “technically brilliant”.

Callaghan has developed a wide following and appears on a regular basis in the UK’s major concert halls, and on tours to Asia, North America and Europe. Recital partners have included Sheku Kanneh-Mason, Nicholas Daniel, Adrian Brendel, Feng Ning, Samuel West, Prunella Scales and Timothy West. BBC Young Musician of the Year Finalist Coco Tomita and Callaghan have a successful duo partnership which saw their first record released in 2022 on Orchid Classics. He is also a founding member of the London Piano Quartet, joining colleagues from the renowned Piatti Quartet to showcase the repertoire for piano quartet with a particular focus on revivifying works that have fallen into obscurity.

Digital download and streaming links will be published here on release day.

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

ENGLISH SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA RECORDS RELEASES FIRST ALBUM: ELGAR SYMPHONY NO.1 AND IN THE SOUTH, ON 28 MARCH 2025

6/2/2025

English Symphony Orchestra Records announces the release of its first album, with live recordings of Elgar Symphony No. 1 and In The South conducted by Principal Conductor and Artistic Director Kenneth Woods, on 28 March 2025, in partnership with Ulysses Arts (ESO2501).

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

Kenneth Woods, conductor

'From my first contact with the ESO, it was clear this music was in their blood. My predecessor, Vernon Handley, was as fine an Elgarian as there’s ever been, and a protégé of Elgar’s preferred conductor, Adrian Boult. Yehudi Menuhin, possibly Elgar’s closest collaborator at the end of his life, was our Principal Guest Conductor for the last decade of his life.

With the memory of their contributions to the orchestra’s Elgar legacy still fresh, it felt from day one that Elgar here is no distant historic figure of the past. Unlike Gustav Mahler, whose own performances only survive on a few piano rolls, we can even see and hear Elgar the conductor. These performances are informed deeply by the many revelatory lessons I have gleaned from listening to his definitive and thrilling interpretations of his own music.

There are studio recordings aplenty of Elgar’s major works. Our aim with these Elgar Festival Live recordings is not simply to share a performance of a piece, but to share a memory of an occasion and a flavour of this magical place. Each is a record of a single performance that grew out of a week’s immersion in all things Elgar, down to the sights he saw, the streets he walked and the air he breathed. I never take for granted that I get to stand on the same spot in Worcester Cathedral that Elgar did so many times, not so long ago. I hope the passion and virtuosity of my incredible colleagues, the intensity of our audience’s listening, and the magical acoustics of this great building all help you to feel closer to Elgar.

Elgar Festival Live is to remind us that Edward Elgar is someone whose personality remains fresh in the memory. He is somewho whose legacy is very much alive, whom the listener can think of more as a friend of a friend.'

Kenneth Woods, ESO Principal Conductor and Artistic Director

Pre-Release Singles

Released on 28 Feb 2025

Released on 14 Mar 2025

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

JULIUS RÖNTGEN VIOLA SONATAS WITH HERBERT KEFER AND MARKUS SCHIRMER RELEASED BY NIMBUS RECORDS ON 4 APRIL 2025

18/1/2025

Click above to pre-order download with digital booklet from Presto Music

Nimbus Records releases its Julius Röntgen Three Viola Sonatas album, with Herbert Kefer, viola, and Markus Schirmer, piano, on 4 April 2025 (NI 8118).

These Sonatas were written between November 1924 and March 1925. They show the composer at the height of his art… His friendly respect for the great North German and Viennese masters has quite obviously found its way into his creative thinking, and he makes use of the most diverse procedures with a sure hand. Nowhere is there a dubious proportion, no piece seems too long, no subject unduly strained. It should also be noted that Röntgen has a profound knowledge of the instruments - himself an excellent pianist, the piano part makes great demands, the viola part exploits the advantages of the instrument skilfully without ever overtaxing it. © Herbert Kefer

Herbert Kefer

Herbert Kefer, viola

Herbert Kefer was born in Eisenerz, Austria, in 1960. At the age of five he received his first musical education on the violin. He continued his studies with Prof. Karl Frischenschlager in Leoben and with Prof. Karl Stierhof at the University of Music in Vienna. In 1986 he graduated with distinction. In 1980 he founded, together with three colleagues, the Artis-Quartett. The Quartet made more than thirty recordings, some honoured with the Grand Prix du Disque and the Diapason d'Or. In 1991 Herbert Kefer was appointed head of Viola at Graz University of Music / Institution Oberschuetzen. He is in demand as a soloist as well as a sought-after partner for chamber music groups.

© www.wyastone.co.uk/viola-concertos-herbert-kefer.html

Markus Schirmer (photo: Christian Jungwirth)

Markus Schirmer, piano

Energy, expression and emotion characterize Austrian top-pianist Markus Schirmer’s music making. No matter where he tours he receives audience acclaim for his charismatic musicianship and his ability to tell vivid stories with the instrument. Markus has worked with numerous orchestras worldwide including the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra London and Tokyo Symphony Orchestra.For his exceptional artistic diversity Markus Schirmer was awarded the “Music Manual Award“ at the Euromusic International Music Convention and is a recipient of one of Austria’s most prestigious awards, the Karl Böhm Interpretation Prize. One of his reviews sums him up: 'A pied piper on the piano ... music that comes straight from the heart, the brain and the fingertips.'

© www.markusschirmer.at/artist/biography

Pre-order and streaming digital links will be published here.

Press kit for reviewers and radio producers: contact Ulysses Arts.

NIMBUS RECORDS RELEASES JULIUS RÖNTGEN PIANO MUSIC 6 WITH MARK ANDERSON ON 4 APRIL 2025

18/1/2025

Click above to pre-order on iTunes

Nimbus Records releases Julius Röntgen Piano Music Volume 6, performed by Mark Anderson, on 4 April 2025 (NI 8117).

'I must confess that I’ve been following this series since it began and I’ve been very impressed with all of the discs so far.' Jonathan Welsh, MusicWeb International

This recording provides the listener with a chronological overview of Julius Röntgen’s creative output, from his earliest published composition, written in 1864—when he was just nine years old—to pieces written as a mature composer five decades later. The latter reveals a composer of outstanding skill, diverse influences, and a master of musical forms and compositional techniques. It has been said that “One would look in vain for anything truly original or shocking in Röntgen’s output....”. However, there are works included on this recording that dispel that assumption. This pianist would argue that three works stand out, which are truly unique and powerfully original. The first is a short Toccata, which is something of a mystery work having never been published and lacking a date of composition. The others are the Sonata in C Minor from 1877 and the Passacaglia and Fugue of 1911. It is the latter that most decidedly distinguishes Röntgen as having a truly original voice. Julius Röntgen composed over 600 works and is especially known for his concertos, symphonies and chamber music. His piano music has remained unjustifiably neglected since he died in 1932. © Mark Anderson

Mark Anderson

Pianist Mark Anderson’s recordings and performances have met with widespread critical acclaim. Since his successes at the 1993 Leeds (U.K.) and 1994 William Kapell (U.S.) International Piano Competitions, Mark Anderson has appeared frequently as recitalist, soloist and chamber musician. He has performed in Japan, throughout much of Europe and Great Britain, Ireland and North America. Mark Anderson has collaborated with conductors such as Sir Simon Rattle, Nicholas McCegan, William Boughton, George Cleve, and Adam Fischer. Mark given recitals at New York’s Alice Tully Hall and Weill Hall, the Kennedy Centre and the Phillips Gallery in Washington D.C., London's Wigmore Hall and Zurich's Tonhalle and elsewhere throughout Europe and North America. His solo and concerto performances are complimented by chamber music work, most recently with the newly formed Röntgen Piano Trio.

NIMBUS MUSIC PUBLISHING

Alongside this album, Nimbus Music Publishing is publishing sheet music for Julius Röntgen's Passacaglia und Fuge (NMP 1292), Piano Sonata in C minor (NMP 1293), and Toccata (NMP 1294).

More pre-order and streaming links will be published here.

Electronic press kit for reviewiers and radio producers: contact Ulysses Arts.

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.

NIMBUS RELEASES TRIO SHAHAM EREZ WALLFISCH: COMPLETE BEETHOVEN PIANO TRIOS AND TRIPLE CONCERTO ON 6 MARCH 2025

6/12/2024

Nimbus Records releases Trio Shaham-Erez-Wallfisch performing Beethoven's complete Piano Trios, and Triple Concerto with The Orchestra of The Swan conducted by Eckehard Stier on 7 March 2025 (NI1709).

Trio Shaham-Erez-Wallfisch was founded in 2009 and comprises three of the finest international instrumentalists performing today. Playing chamber music together at the Pablo Casals Prades Festival Hagai Shaham and Raphael Wallfisch recognised an immediate musical synergy. Arnon Erez joined them for trio concerts in Lucerne and the Netherlands later that year and the Trio Shaham-Erez-Wallfisch was established. Since its formation, the Trio has been invited numerous times to prestigious chamber music series at venues such as London’s Wigmore Hall, Amsterdam Concertgebouw, Rotterdam De Doellen, Hamburg Elbphilharmonie. The Trio often appears in Spain, the UK, Ireland, the Netherlands, Belgium, Israel and Canada, and were invited by the Wigmore Hall to present the complete Beethoven piano trios in 2020.

The monumental 'Archduke' Trio Op.97 represents Beethoven at the peak of his creativity in the genre. Sketches for all four movements of this 'symphony scored for atrio' are included in a sketchbook of 1810 containing also drafts for the Egmont music and the String Quartet in F minor Op.95… Three years elapsed before the work's public premiere, by Beethoven, Schuppanzigh and Linke, on 11 April 1814 as part of a charity concert in the hall of the 'Hotel zum Römischen Kaiser' in Vienna. This concert sounded the death knell of Beethoven's public career as a pianist, owing to his profound deafness… Although Haydn and Mozart contributed much to the piano trio's evolution, Beethoven breathed new life and dynamism into the medium, expanded its size and scale and enriched its thematic and tonal substance. His trios provided a benchmark for the further flowering of the genre in the nineteenth century, as exemplified in the works of Schubert, Mendelssohn, Schumann, Brahms and Dvorák.

Digital download and streaming links will be published here.

Electronic press kit available from Ulysses Arts.

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.

LUMINATE RELEASES BRETT DEAN ECLIPSE (STRING QUARTET NO. 1) ON 24 JANUARY 2025

30/11/2024

Luminate Records releases Brett Dean's Eclipse (String Quartet No.1) on 24 January 2025, performed by the Slate Quartet (LR246707). This EP is Luminate's first recording released in partnership with Ulysses Arts.

Click above to download from iTunes or stream on Apple Music

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EPK for reviewers and radio producers are available from Ulysses Arts.

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