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 eventsLatest features & reviews
LENNOX BERKELEY: Complete Piano Music
Berkeley wrote piano music from the mid-1920s to a few years before he died in 1989, but these two CDs contain less than two hours’ music.
This is a quite comprehensive survey, but should it be called The Complete Piano Works when there are others for piano four hands?
VAUGHAN WILLIAMS: Job/Songs of Travel
Here Ralph Vaughan Williams fervently reveals why one of his most communicative works is reverently worshipped by all. That potent Elder-Hallé combination unashamedly revels in this musical extravaganza.
VAUGHAN WILLIAMS: Folk Songs Volume 1
Music aficionados who voraciously feed off the charming wit and harmonies of Ralph Vaughan Williams would do well to take note of this first of a series of releases which encompass the composer’s lifetime passion for folk songs.
JOHN RUTTER: Anthems, Hymns and Gloria for Brass Band
For many churches with the right resources John Rutter is a hero… he has created a whole series of much-loved anthems and carol arrangements.
James Joyce’s Favourite Songs
This is, in effect, a Schubertian journey that charts ecstatic love thence to melancholy and despair. There is a fine balance between the vocal means – romantic, withdrawn, only once specifically folk-like – and the varied piano writing which is colourful, clear, and sometimes turbulent.
LYNNE PLOWMAN: The Beachcomber
This CD offers just under an hour of agreeable if slightly – well, slight – listening, and as such it might be best thought of as a sampler or calling card for a composer whose major achievements are to be found elsewhere.