Oct 24, 2023 | CD reviews
Ayanna Witter-Johnson composer, vocals, cello & percussionGwilym Simcock composer, pianoLSO Percussion Ensemble:Neil Percy, Sam Walton, David Jackson, Jacob Brown LSO LSO5122 Both as composer and astoundingly as a performer, Ayanna Witter-Johnson is unique. In...
Oct 24, 2023 | CD reviews
University of Birmingham VoicesCity of Birmingham Symphony OrchestraMartyn Brabbins conductor HYPERION CDA68418 The world has never exactly abounded in first-rate Requiem settings, a fact which renders all the more unfortunate the persistent neglect of Stanford’s...
Oct 23, 2023 | CD reviews
Herman Jordaan organ Ismeron JMSCD 11 Alec Rowley (1892-1958) is a largely forgotten composer these days and that is a pity for his music is well worth getting to know. This two CD set is therefore very welcome containing 10 of Rowley’s organ compositions played by...
Oct 16, 2023 | CD reviews
Scott Robert Shaw Divine Art ddx 21110 What can be more English for a tenor than a recital of English songs, that is Gurney (Five Elizabethan Songs) followed by Vaughan Williams, the little known ‘Along the Field’ which are eight settings of A.E.Housman scored with...
Oct 16, 2023 | CD reviews
Songs volume 2 SOMMCD 0673 In 2022 Gary Higginson gave a warm if (slightly guarded) welcome to the preceding volume in this series; for myself, though he was long a stalwart of nearby music festivals and, as such, my ‘local compose’, this was my first encounter with...
