BENJAMIN BRITTEN: Various

Apr 22, 2024 | CD reviews

Sinfonia da Requiem Spring Symphony Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra. London Symphony Chorus Sir Simon Rattle conductorLondon Symphony Orchestra LSO LIVE LSO00830 The disc gets off to a tremendous start with the pounding Ds of the Sinfonia da...

Monthly music digest

Mar 26, 2024 | News

Our round-up of some of the music-related stories hitting the headlines in the past month. Making the arts more accessible According to the Guardian, Labour leader Keir Starmer has pledged to make the arts more accessible to young people from all backgrounds. In a...

BMS member discount for revised Stanford book

Mar 26, 2024 | News

BMS members can receive a 35% discount when buying a book that sheds new light on Charles Villiers Stanford’s career as a composer, conductor and teacher. Being launched in April, the revised and expanded edition of Charles Villiers Stanford: Man and Musician...

Only the Notes You Need

Mar 23, 2024 | Features

Adam Pounds recalls three years of study with Lennox Berkeley A young composer can often feel ‘lost’, and in 1976, while I was studying at the London College of Music and won the composition prize with my Oboe Quartet, I was sufficiently encouraged by this...

Festival director dies aged 75

Mar 22, 2024 | News

The passing of Music Director Emeritus Stewart Robertson has deeply saddened The Glimmerglass Festival community. Robertson’s connection to Glimmerglass was deeply rooted in the sense of creative fulfillment and purpose he felt within the Festival’s unique...

GEORGE LLOYD: The Symphonies Nos. 7-12

Mar 22, 2024 | CD reviews

BBC Philharmonic Philharmonia Orchestra BBC Philharmonic Brass Albany Symphony Orchestra George Lloyd conductor LYRITA SRCD 2418  It is an extraordinary journey to hear the whole of George Lloyd’s symphonies over a single period of time, a...

VAUGHAN WILLIAMS: A Birthday Garland

Mar 22, 2024 | CD reviews

Roderick Williams baritoneSusie Allan piano SOMM 0683 It seems that Roderick Williams is never out of the recording studio, but this disc is more special as he has conceived it both as a CD and as a complete recital. He explains in the excellent booklet notes (also...

CHARLES VILLIERS STANFORD: Shamus O’Brien

Mar 21, 2024 | CD reviews

Retrospect OperaThe Orchestra of Scottish OperaDavid Parry conductor and the spoken role of Sergeant Cox Opera Bohemia Voices chorus RETROSPECT OPERA  RO011 Shamus O’Brien, first performed in 1896, was Stanford’s most successful opera. Well-known names of the...

MICHAEL FINNISSY: Alternative Readings

Mar 21, 2024 | CD reviews

Marsyas TrioLotte Betts-Dean mezzo-sopranoJoseph Havlet piano METIER MEX 77102 Michael Finnissy is one of the most articulate and prolific composers of his generation, generally bracketed with other pioneers who have soldiered for decades under the dauntingly...

DUO MENURIDA: In Two Minds

Mar 21, 2024 | CD reviews

Laura Chislett flutesEdward Cowie piano métier  mex 77121 Menurida is the Latin family name of the Australian Lyrebird. From there comes the name of the flute and piano duo bringing together Australian flute virtuoso Laura Chislett and composer Edward Cowie, born...