Recordings of Lennox Berkeley's music

British Symphonies

Format: CD
Label: Lyrita
Release date: September 2016
Catalogue no: SRCD2355

“It is impossible to overstate the debt we owe to the late Richard Itter and his Lyrita record label for promoting and, in many cases, reviving British music. This four-disc set is devoted to British symphonies mostly written in the first half of the 20th century, nearly all of which have been totally ignored both by the major record labels and concert promoters both at home and abroad… With concise yet thoroughly researched and informative booklet notes by Paul Conway, this is a very significant release which really deserves to be snapped up by everyone, not least those who still cling to the discredited belief that when it comes to composing symphonies, Britain has always been in the second division.” Marc Rochester, musicweb-international.com

• Symphony no. 3 (op. 74)

Performed by the London Philharmonic Orchestra & Lennox Berkeley (conductor)

British Now!

Format: CD
Label: MDG
Release date: August 2016
Catalogue no: 912 1944.6
Available from: Socadisc

The program on this remarkable record includes the 'Simple Symphony' Op.4 by Britten (1913-1976) in four movements, which owes its title to the fact that the composer used themes composed between nine and twelve. 'Antiphon' for Orchestra Op.85 by Lennox Berkeley (1903-1989) is in two movements. 'In Nomine (after Purcell)' by Gavin Bryars (1943-) precedes the concluding work 'When Ingrid met Capa' by Michael Nyman (1944-), recounting the meeting of the actress Ingrid Bergman and photographer Robert Capa. (Synopsis by Jean-Jacques Millo)

• Antiphon (op. 85)

Performed by the Dogma Chamber Orchestra & Mikhail Gurewitsch (conductor)

Berkeley: Stabat Mater, Batter My Heart, Magnificat

Format: CD
Label: Lyrita
Release date: August 2016
Catalogue no: REAM1129
Available from: MusicWeb International

• Stabat Mater (op. 28)
• Batter My Heart, Three Person'd God (op. 60 part 1)
• Magnificat (op. 71)

More details of this album...

Stabat Mater: Sacred Choral Music by Lennox & Michael Berkeley

Format: CD
Label: Delphian Records
Release date: July 2016
Catalogue no: DCD34180
Available from: Presto Classical

Lennox Berkeley’s Stabat Mater derives from one of the most fertile and inspired periods of his compositional life. A masterpiece, and until now the last of his major works to go unrecorded, it was written for a concert tour by his close friend Benjamin Britten’s English Opera Group; hence the unusual but effective scoring for six solo voices and twelve instrumentalists. Delphian artists The Marian Consort - with five acclaimed discs of early music to their credit - now show their versatility in a cappella and accompanied music by both Lennox and his son Michael Berkeley. They are partnered in the larger works by the Berkeley Ensemble, whose performances are enriched by their intimate knowledge of these composers’ music. The same can be said of conductor David Wordsworth, who has known and worked with both composers, and who here realises a long-cherished ambition to direct this important addition to the catalogue. (Synopsis by Delphian/Presto Classical)

• Stabat Mater (op. 28)
• Mass for Five Voices (op. 64)
• Judica me (op. 96 part 1)

Performed by the Marian Consort, Berkeley Ensemble & David Wordsworth (conductor)

Klebe Violin Sonata Op. 14; Berkeley Violin Sonatina Op. 17

Format: Digital download
Release date: July 2016
Catalogue no: SWR10357
Available from: Presto Classical

• Sonatina (op. 17)

Performed by Jenny Abel (violin) & Maria Bergmann (piano)