Bringing Britain’s musical heritage alive
Founded in 1979, the British Music Society is dedicated to promoting and preserving Britain’s musical heritage with particular emphasis on 20th century composers through recordings, publications and events
Latest features & reviews
EDWARD COWIE: Because They Have Songs
Why do birds sing? – Because They Have Songs.’ Edward Cowie takes that answer from an African text as the title for the fourth in his series of compositions inspired by birdsong…
BLISS: Miracle in the Gorbals | Metamorphic Variations
Well – in a word, this is superb. You only need to listen to the opening of the ballet to hear timpani thwacks which, were you playing the recording on an LP, would have the stylus jumping out of the groove…
BEAUTY VEIL’D: Dare, Howell, Matthay, McEwen
Marie Dare is a new name to me; if her Phantasy Quintet starts with a surging Baxian theme, it soon relaxes into something rather more suave and loosely pastoral, with a hint of Ravel’s airy textures…
INCANDESCENT INCANTATIONS: Works for solo violin & reciter
In the field of music for solo violin and speaker, Alan Ridout’s Ferdinand the Bull has roamed, largely unchallenged, for over 50 years. The two commissions here that attempt to rectify the balance are therefore to be commended…
AND THE BLACKBIRD SANG: Choral Music
An invigorating issue of fascinating material, Excalibur Voices are a well-balanced ensemble whose phrasing, if not always the tidiest, is natural and musical…
PIANO QUINTETS: Godfrey, Hodgson, Walthew, McCabe
Percy Godfrey? No, me neither; but this 1900 Piano Quintet is quite the find. The first movement surges with full-bodied invention…