Six Violin Sonatas from the 20th century performed by German violinist Max Rostal and recorded for Argo and Deutsche Grammophon. Having fled from the Nazis and moved to London in 1934, the German violinist Max Rostal became a fixture of the English capital’s musical scene and an inspired interpreter of English music. With his regular […]
The three sonatas recorded here are linked not only by the date of their composition – the war years 1917-18 – but also because they are important in their composers’ respective oeuvres. Having left war-struck London, Elgar found refuge in his Sussex cottage to work on three of his most significant chamber works, including the […]
Delius wrote no more poignant a piece than ‘Sea Drift’ – a Walt Whitman setting of lost love as seen through the eyes of a little boy. His African-American-inspired ‘Appalachia’, a magnificent set of variations on a Slavic song is the other major work on this recording and two miniatures conducted by Marriner complete it. […]
Five substantial pieces of ‘classic’ Delius are brought together on this remarkable and heartfelt tribute to the English composer (who spent very little of his actual career in England!). These mono recordings with the LSO and Anthony Collins are true legends and for the Eloquence reissue have been remastered for optimum enjoyment. They represent Decca’s […]
Aromatherapy, the quiet moments of classical music. And the seventh volume, Reflections in the Water, is the ultimate tranquility! Water is a force of nature that inspired composers to some of their most languid compositions, from the Baroque (Handel’s Water Music written for a royal party held on a barge) to Impressionistic (the aqueous ripples and shimmer […]
Hidden gems of the chamber music repertoire. The Fitzwilliam String Quartet’s sublime recordings of the string quartets of Sibelius and Delius are released on CD for the first time, coupled with Delius’s little cello masterpiece – his Sonata in one movement. Alan George of the Fitzwilliam Quartet provides the liner notes for the two pieces […]
Daniel Barenboim’s sumptuous performances of English music have long been favourites and here they are beautifully remastered with state-of-the-art technology for this release. Pinchas Zukerman’s performance of ‘The Lark Ascending’ is surely a stand-out among recordings of this work (‘beautifully played, highly sympathetic performance’ said Gramophone). What’s more, the addition of Vaughan Williams’s Tuba Concerto, […]
Simply idyllic, this 2CD set couples a traversal of English seasons with idyllic music for cello and orchestra by English composers, all rapturously performed by the Academy and Marriner.
These recordings, made over the space of a decade from March 1954 to December 1964, capture Peter Pears in the high summer of his career and at the peak his powers, a period roughly framed by some of the highlights of his partnership with Benjamin Britten: the creation of the character of Peter Quint in […]
During the 1960s, Louis Halsey, together with the Elizabethan Singers and The Louis Halsey Singers, made a number of recordings of British choral music for Decca. Three LPs devoted to the music of Parry, Elgar, Stanford and Delius and of folk song settings by a range of British composers, are here collected on this 2CD […]
Choirs and orchestras join for a beautiful celebration of 20th-century British Christmas favourites recorded in sumptuous Argo sound. Book-ended by two perennial favourites – Vaughan Williams’s Fantasia on Christmas Carols and Finzi’s In terra pax – this collection explores the subtle and radiant music of Howells, Warlock, Ireland and Holst, and includes an orchestral number […]
