Gilbert Vinter: Hunter’s Moon Context Gilbert Vinter (1909-1969) was most known for his work as a conductor and as a composer of brass band music. Vinter was a chorister at Lincoln Cathedral when he was a young boy. He later took up the bassoon. He conducted the BBC Concert Orchestra, Read more…
Romuald Twardowski: Serenade for Strings Context Romuald Twardowski (1931-) is a composer of Polish descent. He studied at the Conservatory of Vilinus and the prestigious Warsaw Academy of Music. Twardowski visited Paris and was tutored by Nadia Boulanger for some time between 1957-60. As well as being a full-time composer, Read more…
Charles Villiers Stanford: String Quartet No.8 Context Sir Charles Villiers Stanford (1852-1924) remains one of Ireland’s most popular composers. After studying at the University of Cambridge, Stanford went to Leipzig in Germany to pursue his musical studies. In 1882, when Stanford was just 29 years old, he became one of Read more…
Harry Thacker Burleigh: Southland Sketches Context Composed in 1916, Harry Thacker Burleigh’s Southland Sketches is a great example of Burleigh’s quintessential American style. Scored for violin and piano, Southland Sketches takes the listener on a journey through various quirks of the American style that Burleigh pioneered in the early 1900s. Read more…
Robert Muczynski: A Serenade for Summer Context Composed in 1976 when Robert Muczynski (1929-2010) was composer-in-residence at the University of Arizona, A Serenade for Summer was first recorded by the Arizona Chamber Orchestra. Along with many other works by Muczynski, A Serenade for Summer is diatonic and hones back to Read more…
Samuel Coleridge-Taylor: Clarinet Quintet in F# Minor Context Born in August 1875 in Holborn, London, Samuel Coleridge-Taylor started learning the violin at a young age. At first it was Coleridge-Taylor’s maternal grandfather that taught him until he saw his obvious abilities and paid for him to have professional lessons. At Read more…
Amir Mahyar Tafreshipour: Persian Echoes Context Commissioned by the BBC Symphony Orchestra in 2006, Amir Mahyar Tafreshipour’s Persian Echoes for harp and orchestra was the first ever Iranian harp concerto. Persian Echoes brings together sounds from the East and West, incorporating traditional Persian music and folk melodies, with rich Western Read more…
George Frideric Handel: And with His stripes we are healed Messiah Part II Context George Frideric Handel’s Messiah has remained one of the composer’s most beloved works. Incredibly, Handel completed this 260-page oratorio in just 24 days during the summer of 1741. The scriptural text was compiled by Charles Jennens, Read more…
Alla Pavlova: Elegy for Piano and String Orchestra Context Ukrainian composer Alla Pavlova has studied at the Ippolitov-Ivanov Music Institute and the Gnesin Academy of Music in Moscow. Pavlova has resided in Ukraine, Russia, Bulgaria, and now the USA. She has composed a number of large-scale works for the orchestra Read more…
Charles Villiers Stanford: Fantasia and Toccata Context Sir Charles Villiers Stanford (1852-1924) remains one of Ireland’s most popular composers. After studying at the University of Cambridge, Stanford went to Leipzig in Germany to pursue his musical studies. In 1882, when Stanford was just 29 years old, he became one of Read more…