Divine Art will be releasing two new CDs in February featuring Scottish composer and artist Jim Aitchison, and British-born and Beijing-based Nicholas Michael Smith.
Two piano quintets from composer Jim Aitchison both draw on his unique dual practice as composer and artist, creating music that responds to encounters with powerful works of art by leading visual artists. Both Piano Quintets also grew out of his close collaboration with Peter Sheppard Skærved, Roderick Chadwick, and the Kreutzer Quartet.
Piano Quintet No.1 Margarete reflects upon Anselm Kiefer’s monumental Margarete painting from 1981. Piano Quintet No.2 Transience Patterns was made in response to the composer’s own experience of James Turrell’s subterranean Aqua Oscura (2015) installation at Tremenheere Sculpture Gardens in Cornwall.
Jim Aitchison Piano Quintets (Métier Records MEX 77141) will be released on 20 February 2026.
The second CD features and enchanting narrated orchestral work by Beijing-based composer and conductor Nicholas Michael Smith. The Girl from the French Port is based on a children’s story by acclaimed Chinese author Hong Ying.
This is a magical story of childhood, love, loss, and the gentle resourcefulness that helps us endure it all. Structured in the tradition of Prokofiev’s Peter and the Wolf, the piece blends narration with orchestral colour to vivid effect.
Gerry Cornelius conducts the New Music Players, with English narration by Timothy Bentinck, best known for voicing the role of David in BBC Radio 4’s The Archers. It will be coupled on the album with a version of the recording narrated in Mandarin by Niki Yan, who has starred in many Chinese and international films and tv dramas.
Nicholas Michael Smith has lived and worked in China for over 30 years. He has a distinctive and complex musical language, blending aspects of traditional Chinese music with Western classical tradition, the elements woven in dialogue, each seamlessly enriching the other.
Nicholas Michael Smith The Girl from the French Fort (Métier Records MEX 77142) will be released on 13 February 2026.