Recordings of Lennox Berkeley's music
Britten the Performer: Complete Decca Recordings
Format: CDRelease date: September 2013
Catalogue no: 0289 478 5672 6
This 27-CD set brings together for the first time Britten's complete Decca recordings as pianist and conductor in which he performs music by other composers - an astonishing variety of music that ranges from large-scale choral works by Bach and Purcell to Schumann and Elgar, as well as orchestral works by Mozart, Haydn and Schubert. Solo vocal repertory is generously represented with important works by Schubert and Schumann and early twentieth-century English song. Chamber music features Britten the pianist in partnership with two of Brittens closest collaborators: Mstislav Rostropovich and Sviatoslav Richter.
During the research and preparation for this set a major discovery was made. The existence of a few unpublished Schubert songs was already known and a few works which had never appeared on CD already ensured their inclusion at the planning stage. However the discovery of an unpublished tape containing almost 50 minutes of Mozart (including Symphony No.40) with the London Symphony Orchestra recorded in Kingsway Hall in December 1963 was a genuine once in a lifetime discovery! (Synopsis by Amazon)
- How Love Came In
The Day Thou Gavest
Format: CDEvensong, a peaceful and reflective service built on the ancient monastic offices of Vespers and Compline, form the backbone of the work of many choral foundations, and is offered daily at Chichester Cathedral. This is a disc of the wonderful pieces of music performed regularly in the Chichester Cathedral.
- The Lord is My Shepherd (op. 91 part 1)
Performed by the Choir of Chichester Cathedral
Great Works for Flute and Orchestra
Format: CD & Digital downloadSharon Bezaly's latest disc includes two central works from the repertoire for flute and orchestra – the concertos by Carl Nielsen and Carl Reinecke – as well as less often heard gems, such as Cécile Chaminade's melodious Concertino and Charles T. Griffes’ Poem, with its distinctive harmonies and colourful writing. The programme also includes a true rarity in Tchaikovsky’s youthful Largo and Allegro for flute and strings, written while the composer was still a student at the St Petersburg Conservatory. Poulenc's Sonata is of course one of the most popular pieces in the flute repertoire of the 20th century, but it is here performed in an unusual version for flute and orchestra, orchestrated by Lennox Berkeley, a friend of Poulenc. Throughout this colourful and varied programme, Sharon Bezaly enjoys the sympathetic support of Neeme Järvi and the Residentie Orchestra who also join her in the spectacular encore, the Finnish composer Kalevi Aho’s virtuosic arrangement of Rimsky-Korsakov's The Flight of the Bumblebee. (Edited synopsis by BIS Records)
- Flute Sonata (op. 93 part 2, by Francis Poulenc, orchestrated by LB)
Performed by the Residentie Orkest Den Haag, Sharon Bezaly (flute) & Neeme Järvi (conductor)
Format: CDLennox & Michael Berkeley: Organ Works
Format: Digital download- Andantino (op. 21 part 2b, Arrangement of A Festival Anthem)
- Three Pieces (op. 72 part 1)
- Fantasia (op. 92)
- Impromptu
Performed by Tom Winpenny (organ)
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Entr'acte: Music for Flute & Guitar
Format: CD & Digital downloadLabel: Cambridge Recordings
Release date: April 2013
Catalogue no: CAMREC005
The combination of flute and guitar has been described as enchanting and beautiful and this is surely demonstrated by the works featured on this recording. The Ramirez guitar is stylistically acceptable as a continuo instrument in the early works by Blavet and Rameau but it is perhaps in the other compositions where the combination of the two instruments brings a different perspective on well-known pieces.
- Three Pieces for Flute and Guitar (Arrangement by Adam Pounds of 'Five Short Pieces for Piano')
- 1) Andante
- 2) Moderato
- 3) Allegro moderato
Performed by Adam Pounds (conductor) & Dinah Pounds (flute)
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English Recorder Works
Format: CD & Digital downloadAlso includes Malcolm Arnold: Sonatina op. 41, Fantasy for Recorder and String Quartet & Solitaire; Gordon Jacob: Suite for Recorder and String Quartet; York Bowen: Sonata op. 121; Edmund Rubbra: Meditazioni sopra “Coeurs Désolés” op. 67.
- Sonatina (op. 13)
Performed by Jill Kemp (recorder) & Aleksander Szram (piano)
Lennox Berkeley Complete Music for Violin and Piano, and Solo Violin
Format: CD & Digital download- Sonata no. 2 (op. 1)
- Sonatina (op. 17)
- Introduction and Allegro (op. 24)
- Theme and Variations (op. 33 part 1)
- Elegy (op. 33 part 2a)
- Toccata (op. 33 part 3)
- Sonata no. 1
Performed by Arabella Teniswood-Harvey (piano) & Edwin Paling (violin)
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Christmas from Magdalen College Oxford
Format: CDThe Choir of Magdalen College, Oxford present a programme of carols, anthems and organ music for Christmas which will inspire and uplift in equal measure. The sounds of boys’ voices soar in the warm and resonant acoustics of the fifteenth-century college chapel, with wonderful soloists drawn from the choir in an atmospheric selection featuring some of the greatest Christmas music of past and present. (Synopsis: Gift of Music)
- Look up sweet babe (op. 43 part 2)
Performed by the Choir of Magdalen College Oxford
Shine and Shade
Format: CDRe-release of the 1999 Upbeat Classics disc of the same name. "An appealing disc full of vigorous character and ideas, not to say stunning virtuosity." - Classic FM Magazine (Recording of the Month, December 1999)
"Piers Adams demonstrates superbly just how varied composers' responses have been to the unusual combination and how often they have written beautiful movements that stand comparison with any modern wind and piano sonatas. Adams and Rhodes play with superb rapport and find all kinds of different expressive characters for the very different pieces. This CD is a delight." - Classic CD Magazine
- Sonatina (op. 13)
Performed by Piers Adams (recorder) & Julian Rhodes (piano)
Alberto Mesirca: British Guitar Music
Format: CD & Digital downloadAlso works by Benjamin Britten, Sir Peter Maxwell Davies, John Dowland, Robert Fripp and Graham Whettam.
- Quatre pièces
Performed by Alberto Mesirca (guitar)
British Song
Format: CDLabel: Heritage Records
Release date: June 2012
Catalogue no: HTGCD240
Available from: Regis Records, Tolpuddle, Dorset Tel: 01305 848983
Major contributions to voice and piano repertoire commissioned by the Dickinsons from Jonathan Harvey (Correspondances), Lennox Berkeley (Five Chinese Songs), Gordon Crosse (the New World) as well as Lutyens (Stevie Smith Songs) and Peter Dickinson (Surrealist Landscape and Extravaganzas) now reissued from LP and CD.
Also available by the Dickinsons is the Heritage CD231 'American song'. Unknown recordings from the widely acclaimed partnership transferred from LP for the first time with extra material. Three songs by Gershwin, first recordings of Cage (five songs 1938), carter (Three Poems of Robert Frost; voyage), Copland (Poet's Song; Night Thoughts for Piano) and Thomson (two by marianne moore; portrait of F.B). Nine songs from Copland's 'Twelve Poems of Emily Dickinson'. Historic CD booklet with comments about this recording from the composers.
- Five Chinese Songs (op. 78)
Performed by Peter Dickinson (piano) & Meriel Dickinson (mezzo-soprano)
British Flute Concertos
Format: CD & Digital download- Concerto for Flute (op. 36)
- Flute Sonata (op. 93 part 2, by Francis Poulenc, orchestrated by LB)
Performed by the BBC National Orchestra of Wales, Emily Beynon (flute) & Bramwell Tovey (conductor)
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Julian Bream in Concerto
Format: CDLabel: Alto
Release date: February 2012
Catalogue no: ALC1174
Julian Bream does everything, it goes without saying emotional depth is in the second movement of the Arnold, the slow movement - a threnody for Django Reinhardt - most imaginative. This concerto was written for Julian Bream and he plays it magnificently, as do the Melos Ensemble. The recording is first-rate - clear but not at all clinical ... The Giuliani demonstrates Bream's technique and musicianship (Gramophone). Berkeley: Sonatina - an enjoyably amiable piece; Ravel: Pavane - very relaxed account; Roussel: Segovia - a characteristic touch of acerbity; the two sonatas of Cimarosa both very personable (Penguin Guide).
- Sonatina (op. 52 part 1)
Performed by Julian Bream (guitar)
Lennox Berkeley: Chamber Works for Wind, Strings and Piano
Format: CDRegis presents a brand new recording of the chamber works of Lennox Berkeley including two world premieres. Regis has had a long association with oboist Sarah Francis (there are six existing recordings in the catalogue) and is delighted to collaborate with her in this project. Sarah discovered the manuscripts for the new works in the Royal College of Music library and they are presented here with other works for similar forces. Extensive liner notes are provided by Berkeley’s biographer, Peter Dickinson. (Synopsis by Regis Records)
- String Trio (op. 19)
- Sonatina (op. 61)
- Oboe Quartet (op. 70)
- Suite
- Trio
Performed by the Tagore String Trio, Michael Dussek (piano), Sarah Francis (oboe) & Judith Fitton (flute)
British Recorder Music
Format: CDRoss Winters has been committed to the promotion of British recorder music ever since his first London performance at the age of ten. Five of the six works on this ground breaking CD have never been presented in this format before. Bush's 1975 Sonatina is a far more substantial work than its title suggests, and this world première recording will enable you to appreciate to the full its extraordinarily wide ranging expression. The second movement on the tenor recorder will repay several hearings.
Berkeley's Sonatina is now a well established classic of both recorder and flute repertoire. Its slow movement is exquisite and its finale always raises a smile. Establishing the recorder in its rightful position as a participant in modern chamber music alongside other established instruments was a major aim of this recording. The quartets by Berkeley and Cooke are fine examples of beautifully conceived chamber music. The Berkeley has been recorded using flute and piano but never before in its intended version with recorder and harpsichord which we present here. The slow movement of Cooke's quartet is serenely beautiful, and recorder players in particular will relate to the expressive range and vitality of his trio and variations and to the many virtuosic moments in all the pieces. (Synopsis by Meridian Records)
This recording is supported by a grant from the Lennox Berkeley Society.
- Sonatina (op. 13)
- Concertino (op. 49)
Performed by Ross Winters (recorder), Julian Jacobson (harpsichord), Yuka Matsumoto (violin) & Jessica Burroughs (cello)
English String Music
Format: CDLabel: IMP Carlton Classics
Release date: October 2011
Catalogue no: LC 8747
- Serenade (op. 12)
Performed by the English Sinfonia & John Farrer (conductor)
Down by the Salley Gardens
Format: CD & Digital downloadLabel: Harmonia Mundi
Release date: September 2011
Catalogue no: HMC902093
In addition to The Horseman, the first of Berkeley's Five Songs (Walter de la Mare), this programme offers a vivid and varied cross-section of English song, ranging from the Edwardian aesthetic of Quilter and early Vaughan Williams to the intensely expressive style of Howells and Finzi. The Purcell realisations by Britten and Tippett, meanwhile, are products of two great 20th-century composers engaging with their musical heritage. In all these different styles, Bejun Mehta shows the same verbal and vocal mastery that won such acclaim for his debut Handel recital on harmonica mundi. (Synopsis by harmonica mundi)
- Five Songs (op. 26, Walter de la Mare)
Performed by Julius Drake (piano) & Bejun Mehta (counter-tenor)
English Song
Format: CDPeter Pears’ voice was undoubtedly one of the finest and most distinctive of the twentieth century and here he collaborates with Julian Bream and Benjamin Britten in performances of English song. Repertoire includes works by Ford, Morley, Rosseter, Dowland, Pilkington, Campian, Bridge, Butterworth, Ireland, Moeran, Warlock, Holst, Berkeley, Oldham and Britten. (Synopsis by Heritage Records)
- How Love Came In
The Art of Julian Bream
Format: CDComposed in 1957, the Sonatina was dedicated to Julian Bream, who gave its first performance at Morley College, London, on March 9 1958. Bream’s 1960 recording has been re-issued by él Records in this collection. This first version on disc shows a strong sense of direction in each of the three movements and a feeling of overall unity. Bream’s playing has exemplary articulation, cantabile melodic line and rhythmic vitality, and the old recording still gives a sense of both sonority and clarity.
Christopher Daly
- Sonatina (op. 52 part 1)
Performed by Julian Bream (guitar)