BMS stock take sale
From 1 February to 31 March 2021 the following CDs can be bought online at special prices for BMS members and subscribers to the monthly BMS e-newsletter. All the CDs below have been reduced in price to £5; double and triple CDs are available for £10. These prices...
The Ghosts of Motley Hall
Do you remember The Ghosts of Motley Hall on TV in the 1970s? It was filmed at the fictional Motley Hall – home to the fictional Uproar family. In reality this is Borwick Hall which I stumbled across recently on a trip up the Lancaster canal in north...
RVW work published by BMS member
Long-term BMS member Frank James Staneck is delighted to announce the publication of his violin and piano arrangement of Ralph Vaughan Williams’ Charterhouse Suite. Originally for piano, the six movements were first released by the same publisher in 1921. Two...
Archive RVW recordings to be released on CD
An ‘archive’ recording comprising remastered LP and 78 rpm discs is being launched by Albion on 6 September 2024. The album is entitled The Grinke legacy (ALBCD061) after Frederick Grinke, soloist, chamber musician, and teacher. Grinke (1911–1987) was a favourite of...
Mad Kings and Magic Squares
A personal celebration by Jack Van Zandt of Peter Maxwell Davies on the 90th anniversary of his birth It’s hard to imagine the impoverished world of working class Northern England where Peter Maxwell “Max” Davies grew up in the 1930s and 40s, but if you have ever read...
Alexander Goehr dies aged 92
Early yesterday morning Schott UK announced the death of the influential composer Alexander Goehr at the age of 92. Christopher Peter wrote the following on the publisher’s website yesterday: “Distinguished composer and teacher, Goehr’s substantial impact...
Albion to launch four new albums
Albion is releasing four new albums this Autumn. Two discs will be released on 11 October: Romance and Reverie (ALBCD065) by The Gustav Holst Society, with Albion Records, in celebration of the 150th anniversary of Gustav Holst’s birth. Other composers represented are...
Composer Adrian Sutton releases new album
“How long have I got to live? No idea.. but in my situation, I can’t waste time thinking about things I can’t change.. and I’ve never been so productive in my life. Seize the day,” says War Horse composer Adrian Sutton. In September 2022 the Olivier-awarded and...
SPLENDID TEARS: Settings of Alfred, Lord Tennyson
Brian Thornsett tenorRichard Masters piano EMR Records CD087 Do you read poetry and if so, do you read Tennyson? He was extremely popular a few generations ago, but now? His most famous poems are Maud (1855) and In Memoriam (1850), an elegy on the death of his friend...
Errollyn Wallen appointed Master of the King’s Music
Acclaimed composer and singer-songwriter Errollyn Wallen has been appointed Master of the King’s Music by King Charles. The Belize-born British musician was the first black woman to have a work featured in the Proms and she composed music for the London 2012...