ARTHUR SULLIVAN: Songs for Tenor
Knowing that Sullivan wrote a considerable number of what are often called ‘art’ songs for voice and piano, I was quite surprised to discover that this unique recording features a well-known ‘early music’ ensemble…
FROM URSULA, WITH LOVE
Most of these rare performances date from the 1960s, but any concerns about recording quality may, with one exception, be cast aside. The disc opens with three extracts from the Suite: The Story of a Flemish Farm…
ANTHONY HEDGES: Complete Piano Music Vol 1
The brilliant and energetic Adam Davies rediscovered Hedges’s piano music during lockdown having already been a vague admirer…
SINNER: Don’t let the Harvest Pass
This is a rewarding issue on many fronts, not least as an exemplar of inspired programme-building. Lest some still blanch at the thought of encountering ‘new complexities’, it must be said at the outset that all the scores are accessible to the cautious listener…
ANDREW DOWNES: The Marshes of Glynn | Songs of the Prairies
These vivid monumental works will give heart to those who discern the death of romantic pastoralism. Downes’ approach may reflect the teaching of Howells, who regarded him as ‘one of the most effective composers coming to me these days…