Recordings of Lennox Berkeley's music
British Harpsichord Music
Format: This recording includes Berkeley's two early pieces for harpsichord, written for his friend Vere Pilkington while both were still at Oxford in the 1920s: Mr Pilkington's Toye and For Vere. They are played by the young Welsh harpsichordist, Christopher D. Lewis, who is studying Berkeley's harpsichord music as part of his PhD programme at Southampton University; he writes about this in the 2016 issue of the Berkeley Society Journal. The Berkeley works come in a compilation of modern British harpsichord music, with works by Herbert Howells, John Jeffreys and Gavin Bryars, on Naxos 8573668. (Synopsis by Tony Scotland)
- For Vere
- Mr Pilkington's Toye
Performed by Christopher Lewis (harpsichord)
The Evening Hour: British Choral Music from the 16th and 20th Centuries
Format: CD & Digital downloadThe Choir of Jesus College Cambridge’s new release on Signum blends a selection of ancient and modern works from the 16th and 20th Centuries, all centred on the theme of evening.
- The Lord is My Shepherd (op. 91 part 1)
Performed by the Choir of Jesus College Cambridge & Mark Wilson (conductor)
Music for Solo Piano and Piano Duet
Format: CDThe piano was Lennox Berkeley’s own instrument and his piano works represent a microcosm of his very best compositional talents. Influenced harmonically by French models, his music is suffused with lyricism and subtle harmonies. The Sonata, Op. 20 possesses a particularly haunting beauty in its slow movement, while simple but distinctive melodic and rhythmic ideas permeate the Six Preludes, Op. 23 and Five Short Pieces, Op. 4. The Theme and Variations, Op. 73, recorded here for the first time, offers a favourite Berkeley vehicle for conveying a highly individual and personal language. (Synopsis by Naxos)
- Five Short Pieces (op. 4)
- Sonata for Piano (op. 20)
- Six Preludes (op. 23)
- Sonatina (op. 39)
- Theme and Variations (op. 73)
- Palm Court Waltz (op. 81 part 2a)
Performed by Raphael Terroni (piano) & Norman Beedie (piano)
French Connections
Format: CDThe breadth of repertoire on French Connections showcases Ainsley's range, expansive vocal colour, expressive voice and exceptional understanding of text. Accompanying Ainsley is Malcolm Martineau, to whom Heggie's Friendly Persuasions is dedicated.
The American composer pays homage to Poulenc with four imaginative songs, each of which recreates in miniature a transformative friendship in Poulenc's life. In 2008 Ainsley and Martineau gave the world premiere performance of Friendly Persuasions at Wigmore Hall, London.
The recital also includes three works by Poulenc: Fancy, Bleuet and Tel jour telle nuit, a beautifully conceived and shaped cycle; considered Poulenc's greatest vocal work it is reminiscent of the great cycles of a century earlier such as Winterreise or Dichterliebe.
Despite French heritage and fluency in the language Berkeley's friendship with Britten led him to set verse by the English poet, W.H. Auden instead. His Five Poems are some of the best of their kind; a cohesive and satisfying collection, Berkeley perfectly captures both the fanciful and reflective elements of Auden's poetry.
Auden in turn re-introduced Britten to the works of John Donne, which Britten went on to set in his Holy Sonnets; darkly moving and highly demanding, they are among his finest work. (Synopsis by Linn Records)
- Five Poems (op. 53, W. H. Auden)
Performed by Malcolm Martineau (piano) & John Mark Ainsley (tenor)
Chamber Music for Horn, Violin and Piano
Format: CD- Trio (op. 44)
Performed by Bruce Bonnell (horn), Hai-Xin Wu (violin) & Zhihua Tang (piano)
Between the Worlds
Format: CD & Digital downloadFirst audio CD by German classical guitarist Katrin Endrikat with works by A. Barrios, A.Tansman, J.S.Bach and others. A beautiful selection of original pieces and arranged works for classical guitar.
- Sonatina (op. 52 part 1)
Performed by Katrin Endrikat (guitar)
Works for String Orchestra
Format: CD"Let us composers, too, remember what Boyd Neel has done for us. Not only has he asked for and used new music but – here's the difference – he has used it many times. If Boyd Neel and his orchestra like and believe in new music, they play it over and over again until the audience get used to it and begin to like it too; not for it a first performance and then the dusty shelf." This heartfelt tribute was written by Benjamin Britten, whose 'Variations on a Theme of Frank Bridge' was written for the Boyd Neel Orchestra and premiered by them at the 1937 Salzburg Festival, thereby cementing the international reputation of both composer and performers. The off-air recording of a BBC Third Programme broadcast from 31 January 1961 featured on this disc offers further evidence of the debt composers working in Britain owed to Neel. (Synopsis by Lyrita)
- Sinfonietta (op. 34)
Performed by the London Chamber Orchestra & Anthony Bernard (conductor)
Guitar Recital by Ekachai Jearakul
Format: CD & Digital downloadIn 2014 Ekachai Jearakul became the first Asian guitarist to win the prestigious Guitar Foundation of America International Concert Artist Competition (GFA). Winner of numerous awards and an international artist, he has selected a recital that takes the listener on a journey from the baroque beauties of Weiss through nineteenth-century classics by Mertz and Legnani, concluding with three modern compositions influenced by jazz. (Synopsis by Naxos)
- Sonatina (op. 52 part 1)
Performed by Ekachai Jearakul (guitar)
For the Wings of a Dove: Music for Supplication and Hope
Format: CD & Digital downloadThis recording concludes with a setting of one of the best-known psalm texts, 'The Lord is my Shepherd'. Composed in 1975 to celebrate the 900th anniversary of Chichester Cathedral, the music by Lennox Berkeley has a directness and simplicity that belies its harmonic subtlety. A sense of confidence and security is created by the strong tonal centre (on G major) which casts into greater relief the dissonances that Berkeley uses to depict ‘the valley of the shadow of death’. As in Mendelssohn’s ‘Hear my prayer’, the division of text between soloist and chorus captures both the personal and the universal nature of the psalmist’s text. (Synopsis (c) Silas Wollston, 2014)
- The Lord is My Shepherd (op. 91 part 1)
Performed by the Choir of Queen's College Cambridge & Silas Wollston (conductor)
Lennox Berkeley: Chamber Works
Format: CD & Digital downloadFollowing their acclaimed debut recording (Clarion Call - RES10127), the Berkeley Ensemble returns with a programme of chamber works by the British composer Lennox Berkeley, one of the two composers (father and son) after whom the group gets its name.
Featuring a number of world premiere recordings, the ensemble presents a selection of works that covers most of Berkeley’s creative life from the early Francophile clarinet 'Sonatine' written in Paris while a student of Nadia Boulanger to the inventive 'Introduction and Allegro' for double bass and piano. Also featured are the 'Three solo pieces' for viola and the large scale 'String Trio' Op. 19 and 'Sextet' Op. 47 for clarinet, horn and string quartet, and the emotive miniature 'In Memoriam Igor Stravinsky'. (Synopsis by Resonus)
This recording is supported by a grant from the Lennox Berkeley Society.
- Introduction & Allegro (op. 11)
- String Trio (op. 19)
- Sextet (op. 47)
- In Memoriam Igor Stravinsky
- Piece
- Sonatine
- Three Pieces
Performed by the Berkeley Ensemble
Kathleen Ferrier and Sir John Barbirolli
Format: CDLennox Berkeley had written Four Poems of St Teresa of Avila in 1947 for contralto and string orchestra, expressly for Ferrier. As it was his first solo vocal work, Berkeley consulted with Ferrier during its composition, recalling that ‘she put herself at the service of the music.’ She gave the first broadcast performance at the end of April 1948 with the Arnold Goldsbrough Orchestra, and this subsequent performance from November 1949 under Barbirolli reveals the insight of both artists with music of their British contemporaries, more so perhaps as Ferrier never recorded the work commercially. (Synopsis by Barbirolli Society)
- Four Poems of St. Teresa of Avila (op. 27)
Performed by the Hallé Orchestra, John Barbirolli (conductor) & Kathleen Ferrier (contralto)
Nocturnes
Format: Digital downloadSince the beginning of time, the night and its mysteries have inspired poets and musicians. Rupert Charlesworth, one of the UK’s most promising young tenors, is joined at the piano by Edwige Herchenroder for this recital that includes English songs, French melodies and Lieder, all about the nighttime. Ranging from the known (Schubert, Brahms, Fauré) to the lesser known (Bax, Finzi, Berkeley), Charlesworth and Herchenroder embark on this fascinating nocturnal promenade through diverse aesthetics, troubling atmospheres and profoundly contrasting emotions; their ode to the night. Includes no. 4. 'Eyes look into the well' and no. 5. 'Carry her over the water' from 'Five Poems' op. 53, and no. 5. 'Silver' from 'Five Poems' op. 26. (Synopsis by Pro Studio Masters)
- Five Songs (op. 26, Walter de la Mare)
- Five Poems (op. 53, W. H. Auden)
Performed by Rupert Charlesworth (tenor) & Edwige Herchenroder (piano)
Nowell sing we: Contemporary Carols, Volume 2
Format: Digital downloadFollowing on from the universal critical acclaim of their first album with Resonus (This Christmas Night - RES10113), the Choir of Worcester College, Oxford - under the direction of Stephen Farr - return with a second album of contemporary Christmas Carols.
Entitled Nowell sing we, this new selection contains works from a wide variety of celebrated composers including Gabriel Jackson, Peter Maxwell Davies, Lennox Berkeley, Colin Matthews, Francis Pott, Edmund Rubbra, Richard Rodney Bennett & Herbert Howells among many others, with no fewer than nine world premieres. Also featured throughout the programme are the seven O Antiphon Preludes for solo organ by Nico Muhly, performed here by Stephen Farr on the organ of Keble College, Oxford. (Synopsis by Resonus Classics)
- Sweet was the Song (op. 43 part 3)
Performed by the Worcester College Choir & Stephen Farr (conductor)
James Galway Collection: Lennox Berkeley Complete Works for Flute
Format: Digital download- Sonatina (op. 13)
- Concerto for Flute (op. 36)
- Sonata (op. 97)
Performed by the London Philharmonic Orchestra, Lennox Berkeley (conductor), James Galway (flute) & Phillip Moll (piano)
British Piano Concertos
Format: CDA set of 'British Piano Concertos' compiled from the Lyrita catalogue is a very tempting proposition…[the] sound is consistently excellent, the notes are informative and at a budget price, it's an extremely attractive way of acquiring a lot of unusual repertoire. (Review by Record Review, March 2015)
- Concerto for Piano (op. 29)
Performed by the New Philharmonia Orchestra, Nicholas Braithwaite (conductor) & David Wilde (piano)
James Galway: the Man with the Golden Flute
Format: CDJames Galway is universally regarded as the supreme interpreter of classical flute repertoire, but his playing also crosses over into all musical genres. Now for the first time ever, in celebration of his 75 birthday, all of Sir James recordings for RCA Red Seal are being issued together in a single box set, The Complete RCA Album Collection. Born in Belfast, Galway studied in London and Paris and enjoyed a prestigious orchestral career in London before taking up the coveted position of principle flute with the Berlin Philharmonic under Herbert von Karajan. Galway left Berlin to pursue a solo career that has made him one of the iconic musical figures of modern times. His recordings have sold over 30 million copies and have won numerous awards.
In a career spanning four decades, this collection features every important concerto and solo music piece composed for the flute including all Lennox Berkeley's flute works, Pachelbel's Canon, Vivaldi's Four Seasons, Mozart's Eine kleine Nachtmusic, Clair de lune, Flight of the Bumblebee and much more. The box set also features traditional favorites from the Britain and America, including Danny Boy and Amazing Grace, great hits from Broadway and Hollywood, music by Andrew Lloyd Weber, Henry Mancini and Elton John, plus Christmas carols from all over the world. The beautifully designed box features a hardcover bound book and two performance DVDs including James Galway and the Chieftains in Ireland.
(Synopsis: Amazon)
- Sonatina (op. 13)
- Concerto for Flute (op. 36)
- Sonata (op. 97)
Performed by the London Philharmonic Orchestra, Lennox Berkeley (conductor), James Galway (flute) & Phillip Moll (piano)
A Clarinet Collection
Format: Digital download- Three Pieces
Performed by Deborah de Graaff (clarinet)
More details of this album...
In the Bleak Midwinter
Format: CDLabel: Llanfair Singers
Release date: December 2013
Available from: Llanfair Singers, Knighton Email: graham.trew1@btinternet.com
- I Sing of a Maiden
Performed by the Llanfair Singers
The Merton Collection
Format: CDIn 2014, Merton College in Oxford celebrates its 750th year. Benjamin Nicholas and Peter Phillips' specially conceived programme journeys through three quarters of a millennium of choral repertoire. Not just a demonstration of this accomplished ensemble’s versatility, the recording also provides a bird's-eye view of some important moments in musical history, and features two composers - John Dunstaple and Lennox Berkeley - associated with the College as well as three works specially commissioned for the anniversary celebrations. The choir, a relatively recent addition to this illustrious college’s complement of treasures, gives stylish and committed performances in the famous acoustic of Merton’s chapel. The Berkeley work included is Veni sponsa Christi, the second of the Three Latin Motets, op. 83/1. (Synopsis by Delphian Records)
- Three Latin Motets (op. 83 part 1)
Performed by the Merton College Chapel Choir
Kyuhee Park Guitar Recital
Format: CDThe brilliant young guitarist Kyuhee Park, winner of the 2010 Agustín Barrios and 2012 Alhambra International Guitar competitions, has crafted a recital that focuses on a sequence of sonatas and a quartet of evocative character pieces. The three Scarlatti sonatas exude dance, lyricism and virtuosity respectively, whilst Anton Diabelli’s engaging Sonata in A, heard in Julian Bream’s arrangement, is one of the relatively few extended guitar works of the Classical period. Lennox Berkeley’s Sonatina is both elegant and complex. After Malats’ popular encore piece Serenata Española and Barrios’ sublime Un Sueño en la Floresta and Chopin-inspired Vals, the recital concludes with Lopez’s richly varied Impresiones y paisajes, inspired by Lorca’s first book. (Synopsis by Naxos)
- Sonatina (op. 52 part 1)
Performed by Kyuhee Park (guitar)