Alex Heffes's score to Shardlake, featuring the Paraorchestra and choir Tenebrae, is now available from Hollywood Records, released on 24 April 2024. The series releases worldwide on Disney+  and Hulu on 1 May. The soundtrack also features Alex Heffes playing electric 'cello.

Shardlake is an eerie whodunnit adventure, based on the popular historical novels by C. J. Sansom.
Set in 16th-Century England during the dissolution of the monasteries, lawyer Matthew Shardlake (Arthur Hughes) is sent by Thomas Cromwell, the Lord Chancellor (Sean Bean) to the remote town of Scansea. Shardlake's mission is to investigate the death of a commissioner and to seize the wealth of Scansea's monastery, accompanied by the ambitious Jack Barak (Anthony Boyle).

Shardlake, the central character, is disabled, therefore making it especially apt that Disney chose to collaborate with the Para Orchestra - the world’s only orchestra built around people with a range of disabilities.

Flim Music Reporter, 26 Apr 2024

Electronic press kit available from Ulysses Arts

Alex Heffes is a Golden Globe, BAFTA and three-times Ivor Novello nominated composer who has scored over 70 feature films and TV projects. He has worked with many of cinema’s top filmmakers including Steven Frears, Kevin Macdonald, Catherine Hardwicke, Mira Nair, Michael Keaton & J J Abrams. His wide range of work includes scores to Macdonald’s The Last King Of Scotland & State Of Play, Justin Chadwick’s Mandela: Long Walk To Freedom, Mira Nair’s Queen Of Katwe and Michael Keaton’s Knox Goes Away. Notable TV projects include Black Mirror (Shut Up & Dance), the award-winning reboot of TV classic Roots, the Stephen King mini series 11.22.63 produced by J.J. Abrams and the HBO limited series The Regime starring Kate Winslet and Hugh Grant.

Known for his great versatility across genres, Alex has shown himself equally at home scoring biopics such as Stephen Frears’ The Program, horror in The Rite, action in Escape Plan, comedy in Catherine Hardwicke’s Mafia Mamma and natural history films such as BBC Earth's Earth: One Amazing Day and The Elephant Queen for Apple TV+.

His unique ability to collaborate with artists also been been a trademark of his style. It was his iconic score to Macdonald’s The Last King of Scotland that first sent Alex to record in Africa where he created a blend of world music and orchestral scoring. His solo album Face To Face features collaborations with artists such as Ryuichi Sakamoto, Regina Spektor and Yasmin Levy and his score to A Suitable Boy features a collaboration with Anoushka Shankar. He collaborated closely with director Tim Burton on his screen adaptation of Sweeney Todd.

Alex’s many honors include nominations for a Golden Globe, BAFTA and several International Film Music Critics Awards as well as wins and nominations at The World Soundtrack Awards, European Film Awards and The Royal Television Society. He has been nominated three times for an Ivor Novello, winning for Best Film Score of the Year. His score to Roots won Best TV Score of the Year at the Hollywood Music In Media Awards. In 2016 he was invited to become a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

Nimbus Records releases Steve Elcock, Symphony No. 8 and Violin Concerto on Friday 7 June 2024 (NI. 6446), with the English Symphony Orchestra and soloist Zoë Beyers, conducted by Kenneth Woods, as part of their 21st Century Symphony Project.

The 21st Century Symphony Project

The 21st Century Symphony Project (21CSP) is an English Symphony Orchestra initiative conceived by conductor Kenneth Woods. The initial goal was to commission, premiere and record nine new symphonies by nine different composers. The 21CSP has been called 'one of the most important musical initiatives of modern times' by Robert Matthew-Walker, Editor of Musical Opinion, and 'the most important series of commissions and recordings of our times' by musicologist and cultural commentator Peter Davison, former Artistic Consultant at the Bridgewater Hall, Manchester.

Alongside Steve Elcock’s Symphony No. 8, other works in the 21st Century Symphony Project include David Matthews Symphony No. 9 (NI 6382), Philip Sawyers Symphony No. 3 (NI 6353) and Adrian Williams, Symphony No. 1 (NI 6432).

 Symphony No. 8
'Following the weighty Sixth and Seventh symphonies, I felt the need to write a smaller scale piece before tackling the Ninth, the finale of which was already written and was monumental enough in character to require some substantial movements to precede it. I attempted to produce such a lighter piece by turning to an early string quartet written in 1981 when I was aged 24. I had dismissed it as juvenilia but thought it could perhaps be salvaged by arranging it for string orchestra and filling out the textures… While my first two symphonies still await either performance or recording after a quarter of a century, the Eighth was already on the programme of the Three Choirs Festival before I had even finished reorchestrating it… Symphony no. 8 was commissioned by the English Symphony Orchestra and first performed by them as part of the Three Choirs Festival in Kidderminster on July 28, 2021.'
© Steve Elcock
 
Violin Concerto
'With the first movement, I wanted to achieve a return to the classical momentum that had largely been lost throughout the Romantic era and onward. The energy is unflagging, verging on the desperate, relief being provided only by the two appearances of the expansive second theme; but even this is underpinned by a niggling rhythm in the violas. The second movement provides a welcome contrast. Its opening makes use of change-ringing techniques applied to slowly moving scales in violins and violas, evoking distant bells ringing across a valley.' © Steve Elcock

'Juxtaposing two major works which confirm his standing among the leading European symphonists of his generation ... This latest release warrants the strongest of recommendations.'
Richard Whitehouse, Arcana, 18 May 2024

'One of the UK's foremost composers.'
Geoff Pearce, Classical Music Daily, 26 May 2024

Maureen Buja, Interlude: 27 May 2024

Remy Franck, Pizzicato, 12 June 2024

'The more I discover and experience the music of Steve Elcock, the more I feel the need to recommend it to anyone who happens to read this review. If you enjoy classical music in general, with a preference for symphonic writing, this living composer ticks all the boxes when it comes to harmonic integrity, orchestration colors and textures, emotive power and structural stability.'
Jean Yves Duperron, Classical Music Sentinel, 13 June 2024

'A thoroughly gripping, involving album, urgently recommended.'
Guy Rickards, Gramophone, June 2024

Electronic press kit available for reviewers from Ulysses Arts

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 Records releases George Lloyd's complete symphonies and other orchestral works, conducted by the composer, on 1 March (SRCD.2417) and 5 April 2024 (SRCD.2418).

'Lloyd became a symphonist despite himself. When he was in his twenties he seemed destined to be a composer of operas and it is likely that, had the vicissitudes of war not intervened, he would have written music for the stage exclusively. In an article for the June 1939 issue of the Musical Monthly Record, Harry Farjeon wondered why music for Lloyd was ‘not centred in the concert hall but in the theatre’ and quoted the young composer as being ‘interested only in opera’.

There are strong traces in the symphonies of what might have been: the intensely lyrical, cantabile nature of the writing; the intermezzo-like movements; the opera buffa qualities of the finales and the feeling for the long line which runs through those supple and sweeping melodies all denote a born opera composer. In the event, his operatic aspirations were cruelly cut short and it is to his courageous, life-affirming twelve symphonies that we must look to chart his development, recovery and eventual triumph.' © Paul Conway

Jean-Yves Duperron, Classical Music Sentinel
Symphonies Vol. 1, March 2024
Symphonies Vol. 2, April 2024

Electronic press kit available for reviewiers from Ulysses Arts.

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

5 January 2024: 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.

1 March 2024: Nimbus Records releases Blackford's Songs of Nadia Anjuman, performed by The Britten Sinfonia and soprano Elizabeth Watts, as an EP (NI.6444):

Also on 1 March 2024: Lyrita Records releases La Sagrada Familia Symphony, with BBC National Orchestra of Wales conducted by Richard Blackford, and Babel: A Cantata, with the Ikon Singers conducted by David Hill (SRCD.432):

Ron Schepper, Textura, 27 Feburary 2024

'Entering the Spritual Forest'
Maureen Buja, Interlude, 11 March 2024

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

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 performed Richard Blackford's Tango with the LGT Soloists throughout their tour of Europe, Asia and Australia from November 2023 to January 2024.' Clarissa Bevilacqua

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.
Electronic press kit and listening links for revieweres available from Ulysses Arts.

'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

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

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.

Nimbus Alliance releases the world première recording of Philip Sawyers, Mayflower on the Sea of Time, on Friday 3 November, with soloists April Fredrick and Thomas Humphreys, the English Symphony Orchestra and Chorus, conducted by Kenneth Woods.

Philip Sawyers, Mayflower on The Sea of Time

World Première (NI6439)

April Fredrick, soprano
Thomas Humphreys, baritone 
English Symphony Orchestra Chorus
English Symphony Orchestra 

Kenneth Woods, Conductor

'The 400th anniversary of the Mayflower's sailing to New England was in 2020. My task as a composer was to write a substantial choral and orchestral work to celebrate this event and the challenges the Pilgrims faced in the New World. My librettist wrote an imaginative piece that incorporated both a narrative and a reflection on the wider implications the story contained. Human attributes and frailties, moral, religious and political questions are touched upon. The resulting oratorio, Mayflower on the Sea of Time, is in four parts. The soprano and baritone soloists take on multiple roles as both narrators and different characters from the story.' Philip Sawyers 

This recording captures the debut performance of the English Symphony Chorus. Assembled for this project, the group brings together some of the finest professional singers from across the UK. Ensemble members appear as part of elite groups such as The Sixteen, performers on the operatic stage, working as lay clerks at cathedrals across the UK, as well as working with leading orchestras and new music ensembles.

'Given the strong narrative of the work's source material, it will be no surprise to listeners to hear music that strives forward purposefully. In his symphonies, Philip takes care to highlight structural moments, punctuating musical sentences and paragraphs with great precision and clarity, whereas Mayflower is a study in constant transition and transformation.' Kenneth Woods

'All praise goes to the four very impressive soloists and the [English Symphony] Orchestra and chorus and not least to [Kenneth] Woods, whose commitment to Sawyers has enabled this music to reach a much wider audience, which it thoroughly deserves.'
Gary Higginson, British Music Society, 25 October 2023

'Attractive and tonally vibrant ... Strongly recommended.'
Guy Rickards, Gramophone, November 2023

John Quinn, Music Web International, 17 January 2024

Electronic press kit for reviewers available from Ulysses Arts.

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

Full press kit including listening links available from Ulysses Arts.

Ulysses Arts releases Todd Mason's Violin Concerto, with soloist Tosca Opdam, and Chamber Suite, with the Budapest Scoring Orchestra conducted by Péter Illényi, on 29 September 2023.

'The writing for the solo instrument is both expressive and virtuosic.'
Geoff Pearce, Classical Music Daily, 8 Sep 2023

'A superb recording that should be listened to time and again.'
Maureen Buja, Interlude, Sep 2023

'Opdam enchants with tenderness, timing and flexibility.'
Maartje Stokkers , De Volkskrant, 28 Sep 2023

'Un jeu virtuose d’une extrême précision, aux phrasés ciselés, aux respirations idéales ... une découverte musicale des plus enthousiasmantes.' /  'Virtuosity of extreme precision, with well-defined phrasing and ideal vitality ... an exciting musical discovery.'
Jean-Jacques Millo, tr. Lawrence Schulman, Haute Définition No. 210, 30 Sep 2023

Remy Franck, Pizzicato, 2 Oct 2023

'Brought to thrilling realization by soloist Tosca Opdam and the Budapest Scoring Orchestra under Péter Illényi's direction. ... Stellar recording.'
Ron Schepper, Textura, Oct 2023

 'Une large palette de couleurs, de rythmes et d’émotions, jusqu’aux dernières notes. Avec une Tosca Opdam encore une fois irrésistible.... L’auditeur aura eu la chance de découvrir ou redécouvrir deux artistes passionnants : le compositeur Todd Mason et la violoniste Tosca Opdam. Gageons aussi que l’étonnant Concerto pour violon restera dans les mémoires.'
Bruno Chiron, Bla Bla Blog, Nov 2023

'El compositor Todd Mason ha enregistrat, en una excellent gravació al Budapest Scoring Studio per al segell Ulysses Arts, el seu Concert per a violí i Suite de Cambra. ... L’impacte dramàtic és fascinant.'
Josep Bosch, Sonograma, 29 Nov 2023

December 2023:
Todd Mason's Violin Concerto and Chamber Suite album selected as No. 5 in 20 Top Instrumental Classical Music Recordings of 2023 by Textura.

Find out more here about the making of Todd Mason's Violin Concerto, featured in The Strad.

In celebration of the diversity and published objectives of the Royal Albert Hall on the occasion of the venue’s 150th anniversary, BBC Radio 3 commissioned DANCE FOLDINGS for orchestra: the prompt was to reflect the arts and sciences as they are now. The natural world, explored by scientists, engineers, and physicians in laboratories and clinics, offers a wealth of opportunities to explore resonance and balance through sound. Few orchestral works attempt to capture the kinetic and emotional content of scientific topics and convey these concepts through abstract, rather than descriptive, music. The musical materials of DANCE FOLDINGS for orchestra take as their starting point the metaphors, pairings, counterpoints, foldings, forms, and images inspired by the biological "ballet" of proteins being assembled and folded in our bodies.

Dance Foldings was recorded in the presence of the composer, and produced in association with BBC Radio 3 and the BBC National Orchestra of Wales.

Augusta Read Thomas is one of the most active composers in the world, with commissions, performances, recordings, awards, and honours, but she is also a long-standing, exemplary citizen of the profession at large with an extensive and deeply committed history as a generous colleague in the profession. She is without question one of the best and most important composers of our time. Her music has substance, depth, and a sense of purpose. She has much to say and knows how to say it, and in a way that is intelligent yet appealing and sophisticated.

Electronic press kit available from Ulysses Arts.

Pioneering US contemporary music label Ablaze Records releases the tenth album of its innovative Orchestral Masters series worldwide on 17 March 2023. Performed by the Royal Scottish National Orchestra conducted by Mikel Toms, it features music by composers from the USA (Edward Smaldone, Jeffrey Holmes, Jason Phillips),Cem Güven (Turkey/UK), Fang Ke and Zou Hao (China/USA) and Hojin Lee (South Korea/USA).

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

Philip Sawyers (b. 1951)
Kenneth Woods, conductor
NI 6436

Double Concerto for Violin and Cello
1. I. Allegro moderato
2. II. Andante
3. III. Allegro vivo
Daniel Rowland, violin • Maja Bogdanović, cello
English Symphony Orchestra • Zoë Beyers, leader

4. Remembrance for Strings
English String Orchestra • Emily Davis, guest leader

Concerto for Viola and Orchestra
5. I. Allegro
6. II. Andante
7. III. Allegro moderato
Daniel Rowland, viola
English Symphony Orchestra • Zoë Beyers, leader

8. Octet
English Symphony Orchestra soloists

'In 2009 I was commissioned to write a cello concerto by the Sydenham International Music Festival for one of their rising stars, Maja Bogdanović. Since her musical and personal connection with the amazing violinist Daniel Rowland, it had been in my mind to write them a double concerto. Overshadowed by the famous Brahms Double Concerto, this was a somewhat daunting task. It is a piece which reflects ideas of journeys which develop initial ideas as the music unfolds and unlike previous concertos, there is no first movement cadenza. In 2020-21, a friend and colleague asked me if I would write a piece to mark the loss of his mother. He also wanted it, in some way, to be for both of his late parents. He told me how fond of my tone poem the Valley of Vision she was, so I ‘hid’ a few quotations from that piece in the new one. He also requested something akin in mood to Elgar's Elegy for Strings. The resulting composition, I hope, meets all these wishes.

The viola concerto was written in 2020. The idea came after attending recording sessions and performances of a double concerto for violin, viola and string orchestra by my fellow composer and friend David Matthews. The lovely playing of the viola part by Sarah-Jane Bradley set off some ideas for a viola concerto of my own.

In 2007 the mixed chamber music ensemble ‘Liquid Architecture’ commissioned me to write them an octet for their appearance at the Chelsea Schubert Festival. The Schubert Octet was on their programme so the instrumentation was pre-determined: clarinet, horn, bassoon, two violins, viola, cello and double bass. The piece is in one continuous movement in four sections: Adagio, Allegro, Andante and Allegro.' (Philip Sawyers)

This is the sixth title available in the Philip Sawyers series available on Nimbus Alliance.

Jean-Yves Duperron, Classical Music Sentinel, February 2023

Remy Franck, Pizzicato, 5 March 2023

Electronic press kit available for review use.

Jonathan Dove: In Exile
Lyrita SRCD.413

Sir Simon Keenlyside, baritone
Raphael Wallfisch, cello
City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra
Gergely Madaras, conductor
Jonathan Dove, piano *
World Première Recordings

In Exile
1. - Cello alone I
2. Daybreak again
3. The first arrow the bow of exile will shoot
4. See, cold Island, we stand
5. I left that land wretched
Listen to me
6. - Cello alone II
7. If I were an ear of corn
8. - Cello alone III
9. Unclean
10. Where have the horses gone?
11. My grief on the sea

12. Night Song, for cello and piano *

The idea of writing a cello concerto for Raphael Wallfisch was first mooted more than ten years ago at the Banff Arts Centre, Canada, where Jonathan Dove was composer-in-residence. The two men spoke of Dove’s interest in writing a piece for cello and orchestra, and after further meetings in London, the work began to take shape. Given the composer’s extensive experience of writing for the voice, it was decided that the score would be written for baritone singer and solo cello with orchestra with texts taken from poems by various writers.

The subject matter was suggested by the Wallfisch family history. Raphael’s father fled, together with his mother and brother, to Palestine from Breslau in 1937, and his mother, Anita Lasker-Wallfisch, is a concentration camp survivor. She has written of the persecution of her Jewish family during the Second World War and her own incarceration in Auschwitz and Belsen, where her skill as a cellist saved her life. Knowing of these events, Jonathan Dove was inspired to base the work’s theme on the universal experience of refugees being exiled from their homeland.

In Exile was premièred at the George Enescu Festival on 3 September 2022, followed by a performance in Bucharest on 5 September. Scored for baritone, 'cello and orchestra, Jonathan Dove writes of the piece: ‘In Exile moves through a day in the life of an involuntary exile: waking alone in a foreign land; remembering the moment of banishment, the moment of departure, the voyage; remembering the homeland. The Exile feels the pain of being so far away in his country’s time of need, unable to help his own people. He remembers all the names he has been called in this strange land. He thinks of all he has lost, and longs for home.

The spine of Alasdair Middleton’s libretto is from a 10th Century manuscript, The Wayfarer, by an anonymous old English author. Voices from across the ages flesh out a composite portrait: a single line of Shakespeare recurs among lyrical verses by Dante, Emily Lawless, Kahlil Gibran, Kaveh Bassiri and Douglas Hyde. The theme of exile was suggested by the history of the Wallfisch family, and is dedicated to Raphael’s mother, Anita Lasker-Wallfisch, who has told her story in her book Inherit the Truth 1939-1945: The Documented Experiences of a Survivor of Auschwitz and Belsen.

In Exile fuses elements of operatic scena and concerto, the two soloists expressing complementary aspects of the same character. In Raphael Wallfisch’s words: ‘the cello represents the soul and spirit of the Exile, the baritone is that person and sings the dramatic and often challenging texts. Jonathan’s lyrical style lends itself so naturally to the cello. He exploits every register from the lowest to the highest notes. The cello comments on the sung texts'. (Paul Conway)

Night Song, a short piece for cello and piano is derived from the final section of In Exile. In the calm closing moments of the work the baritone sings of his loss in the words of the poet Douglas Hyde : My grief on the sea, / How the waves of it roll - / For they heave between me / And the love of my soul. Night Song was written partly at the request of the Rachel Baker Memorial Charity – who commissioned the orchestral work – and partly in response to the strong reaction of the first audiences who connected with this uncomplicated musical expression.

'An intoxicating blend of emotion.'
Janet Horvath, Interlude, 3 March 2023

'This remarkable work for solo baritone, solo cello and orchestra ... dark, complex and profound'.
Planet Hugill, 21 March 2023

'An arresting, important work. ... Both music and performance can be recommended without reservation.' John Quinn, MusicWeb International, 29 March 2023

Nimbus Records releases Dream Catcher: Clarissa Bevilacqua's debut release, with BBC National Orchestra of Wales, on 6 January 2023 (NI.8109)

Augusta Read Thomas, works for violin
Clarissa Bevilacqua, violin
Juggler in Paradise, Concerto No. 3 for violin and orchestra
Nine solo works for violin including Dream Catcher
BBC National Orchestra of Wales, Vimbayi Kaziboni, conductor
Augusta Read Thomas and Adrian Farmer:  co-producers

Clarissa Bevilacqua won first prize at the 14th International Mozart Competition of the Mozarteum University Salzburg. The 18-year-old, from Italy, received not only the first prize but also the audience award and the special award for the best interpretation of a piece by Mozart – a copy of Bärenreiter’s New Mozart Edition. Bevilacqua, who has studied with Maria Luisa Ugoni, Daniele Gay, Olga Kaler and David Taylor, performed the composer’s Violin Concerto no.5 KV219 in the final round. Two years ago, aged 16, she became the youngest student ever to receive a Bachelor of Music in Italy.

'Clarissa is also the Grand Prize winner of the Cape Symphony International Online Violin Competition, is not only a wonderful violinist, but also a wonderful person. We received applications from around the world and the quality was extraordinarily high, but her exceptional talent stuck out above the rest. A true violin prodigy, Clarissa would have been an outstanding guest artist for the May 2020 concert. Sadly, the pandemic forced us to cancel the concert, but Clarissa will definitely join us in the future. Enjoy her conversation with me, a glimpse of her award-winning performance, and a special demonstration of her talent. Congratulations to Clarissa!' Jung-Ho Pak, Artistic Director Cape Symphony

Dream Catcher

'Native American tradition attaches special meaning to dreams. One tradition was to hang a 'dream catcher' that would move freely in the night air. According to tradition, good dreams know their destination: they slip through the hole in the center of the web and glide gently down the feather into the subconscious of the dreamer. Bad dreams become entangled and dissipate with the light of the dawn. Although highly notated, precise, carefully structured, soundly proportioned, and while musicians are elegantly working from a nuanced, specific text, I like my music to have the feeling that it is organically being self-propelled - on the spot.  As if we listeners are overhearing a captured improvisation.' Augusta Read Thomas
 
Juggler in Paradise: Concerto No. 3 for Violin and Orchestra

Flowering across a 20-minute arch, the work can be considered a series of poetic outgrowths and variations which are organic and, at every level, concerned with transformations and connections. The violin solo is present for almost the entire sweeping arc, serving as protagonist as well as fulcrum point, around which all musical force-fields rotate, bloom, and proliferate. The Concerto begins with a slow, spacious, elegant solo for violin, accompanied, at first, by delicate sounds in the harps and percussion. With each new phrase the tempos quicken, the intensity climaxes and suddenly we are in a spacious landscape leading to the final minutes of the composition, which are dreamy, as if the soloist were delicately floating while chanting an ardent incantation. Juggler in Paradise, is a poetic image for the way soloist and orchestra relate, a continuous rhapsodic cadenza set against colourful "paradisiacal constellations." It's physical, too: dance is often close by. When the violin starts to speed up, the score suggests playing "as if 'juggling' the notes, rhythms, articulations" and, further on, "like several objects in motion, in the air."  The animated, quicksilver orchestrations, at times pointillist like a Seurat paining, at other times akin to bold brush strokes, full and brassy, are continuously juggling and flexibly rearranging."

'Classical Music as a Constantly Evolving Organism'
Mareen Buja interviews Clarissa Bevilacqua: Interlude, 16 March 2023

'Variety aplenty in this snapshot of a distinguished American composer.'
Peter Quantrill, The Strad, 23 Feb 2023

'In this premiere recording ... the BBC National Orchestra of Wales (conducted by Vimbayi Kaziboni) makes a strong case for further performances. Bevilacqua balances the jerky playfulness of the early movements with the subtlety and space demanded in the final dream-like sequence.'
Claire Jackson, BBC Music Magazine, 21 Feb 2023

'Bevilacqua’s performances in Dream Catcher reveal mature musicianship and an intimate knowledge of the program — a notable slice of contemporary classical music from the U.S. With a warm tone in the low register, her fluent shifting in dynamics adds emotional resonance, and her approach to phrasing flows engagingly between Thomas’ moodiness and sunnier temperaments.'
Esteban Meneses,I Care if You Listen, 6 Jan 2023

Gramophone Magazine Recommended Classical Releases, 6 Jan 2023

Pizzicato, 10 Jan 2023

Planet Hugill Interview with Clarissa Bevilacqua, 14 Jan 2023

Classical New Releases: Classical Music Daily, Jan 2023

Laurie Niles, For The Record, The Violinist, Jan 2023

Electronic press kit available from Ulysses Arts for press use.