Chamber Music & Recitals

Import Hybrid-SACD pressing.1. Agnus Dei, for Chorus (Arr. from 2nd MVT. of String Quartet), Op. 11 2. Motets (4), for Chorus: Help Us, O Lord - Slow 3. Motets (4), for Chorus: Thou, O Jehovah, Abideth Forever - Rather Fast 4. Motets (4), for Chorus:...

If there is one Swedish composer in the early 20th century who in some way can compare with Sibelius and Nielsen, it is Wilhelm Stenhammar - incidentally a personal friend of both these towering figures in Nordic music. And in Stenhammar's production -...

If the Baroque period may be regarded as a golden era for trumpet virtuosos, the centuries that followed proved far less glorious. Apart from it's uses in military contexts, the trumpet was largely relegated to a secondary role, 'confined', as described...

If one tries to characterize Russian music, then one almost involuntarily finds descriptions such as "soulful", "melancholic" or even "emotionally charged", attributes that could also apply to the sphere of sound of the violoncello. Benjamin Kruithof and...

Ibn Battuta had the same significance in the Muslim world as Marco Polo in the Western countries. A relentless traveler, he deeply changed the perception of the Orient among his contemporaries and the following generations. Morocco, Mali, Egypt, Yemen,...

I think in terms of the instruments themselves - I sort of creep into their souls, said Carl Nielsen (1865-1931). His three solo concertos for violin, flute and clarinet concertos are highly characteristic and expressive works that show how Nielsen...

I like the way the world reveals itself in Chopin's music: Very pure, very subtle, lyrical, often even tragic, but sometimes light and cheerful, with a belief in something very good. I think that Chopin will always be a reason for me to love life even...

I hope you will knuckle down to a good symphony, wrote Samuel Barber in September 1944 to his fellow composer Aaron Copland: "We deserve it of you, and your career is all set for it." It was a strange thing to say given that Copland had already composed...

Hybrid-SACD pressing.

Hugely prolific as well as widely acclaimed, Kalevi Aho has composed 30 concertos to date. Many of them are available in recordings from BIS, and the present release features two works from the past decade. The Concerto for Trombone and Orchestra was...

Howard Blake, a living composer best known for his film scores (a.o. Snowman), presents his new classical compositions, all world premiere recordings. Sir Neville Marriner conducts.1. Allegro Cantando 2. Scherzo Con Spirito 3. Andante Espressivo 4...

How might one combine the worldly elegance of a Chopin with the so very "heavy" chromaticism of Wagner's Tristan? Felix Blumenfeld, today almost entirely forgotten as a composer, knew the answer to this question - as his Pr?lude op. 17, No. 19...