Few contemporary composers have enriched the choral repertoire quite like Gabriel Jackson, and this recording from the Choir of Canterbury Cathedral is a luminous testament to his singular voice. Rooted in the grand traditions of English sacred music yet infused with a distinctly modern harmonic palette, Jackson's writing revels in soaring treble lines, shimmering textures, and a deep affinity for space and resonance. Under the direction of David Newsholme, the Choir delivers these works with a compelling combination of precision and fervour, illuminating the rich polyphony of Ave maris stella, the jubilant energy of Praise ye the Lord, and the grandeur of the Coronation Canticles. The Cathedral's organ, resplendent in Canterbury Concertos, emerges as a protagonist in its own right. This is music that both honours tradition and expands its boundaries, performed with eloquence and authority.

Sir Arthur Bliss (1891 – 1975) was an excellent conductor of his own music, but he sadly made only a limited number of commercial recordings. SOMM celebrates the 50th anniversary of Bliss’s death with a 2-CD set of important archive performances, all but two of which he didn’t record commercially, making them of particular interest.These live performances, mostly recorded at the BBC Proms and not previously made available, are skilfully remastered by long-time SOMM collaborator and executive producer, Lani Spahr. At the invitation of Edward Elgar, Bliss wrote a new work for the Three Choirs Festival in 1920. He was inspired by a book on heraldry to compose a full-scale symphony incorporating symbolic meanings associated with primary colours. Hence, the four movements of A Colour Symphony are Purple, Red, Blue, and Green. The performance issued here is with Bliss conducting his 70th birthday concert at the Proms in 1961. For his 75th birthday concert at the Proms in 1966, Bliss conducted his Piano Concerto, commissioned by the British Council in 1939. Bliss and his younger brother served during World War I, and Kennard was killed at the Battle of the Somme.

SOMM Recordings is pleased to release Clarinet Concertos, four works for solo clarinet and wind orchestra, including two world-premiere recordings. The soloist is the English clarinettist, Peter Cigleris, who enjoys a wide and varied career and is in great demand as a soloist and chamber musician. His burgeoning career as a clarinet soloist has taken him to Festivals in Spain, France, the Netherlands, and the U.S. Recently, he was invited to perform in Győr, Hungary for the European Clarinet Festival, which led to a special invitation from the Győr Symphonic Band to record four hugely enjoyable concertos for clarinet and wind orchestra. These are conducted by László Marosi, the world’s foremost authority on Hungarian wind music, and Ferenc Szabó, the founder of the Györ Symphonic Band.

Following the chart-topping success of his Bach Sonatas and Partitas and equal acclaim for his recording of Walther's Scherzi da violino, Bojan Cicic now turns to Heinrich Ignaz Franz Biber's collection of sonatas from 1681 - among the most ambitious and inventive violin works of the seventeenth century.Using unorthodox tuning and bold harmonic invention, Biber expands the instrument's capabilities, and his improvisatory style, layered textures and intricate counterpoint demand of the player not only virtuosic technical brilliance but an acute sensitivity to affect and sonority.With his Illyria Consort, Cicic brings a clarity and depth to this music, uncovering the sonatas' rich interplay between intellect, devotion and instrumental theatre. Restless in imagination and profound in expression, the sonatas - here recorded complete - are illuminated by Cicic's unmistakable artistry.

Soft Cell’s second long-player was the groundbreaking mini-LP Non-Stop Ecstatic Dancing… the world’s first remix album and a huge influence on subsequent generations of clubbers, DJs and remixers. Reissue of the original album, remastered, and bolstered by the inclusion of extended versions of its two related hit singles – Torch and What! – and bring it up to date with a second disc of unreleased mixes and highlights from 2007’s long-deleted Heat – The Remixes.

A musical odyssey to celebrate summer & the 15th anniversary of Buddha-Bar Monte-Carlo, compiled by Ravin. Limited edition transparent coloured double vinyl (blue turquoise & red magenta).
Under the starry sky of the Riviera, lulled by the warm breeze, an invitation to travel rises. A beat, a melody… and the mind drifts away. Buddha-Bar, the temple of world music and sonic elegance, celebrates 15 years of magic in Monte-Carlo with an exceptional compilation: Buddha-Bar Summer Sessions Monte-Carlo by Ravin. Conceived as a musical odyssey, this double compilation weaves captivating atmospheres, blending ethereal lounge, organic electro, and world sounds, in an intimate dialogue between East and West, tradition and modernity. Each track (including more than a dozen unreleased tracks) has been carefully selected by Ravin, who creates a captivating and chic experience, a true invitation to dance and escape.

CD free with fanclub orders of Good Humor 25th Anniversary vinyl. Recorded live 1999-06-05 House of Blues, Los Angeles, CA.

Comes in 'Long Box' (28x15x3cm). Complete with 12 page glossy booklet. The Live Box (1965-1968).

On the path to true faith and its practice to please God, there have been regular heated debates over the role of music. Reactionaries repeatedly closed the lid on excessive cheer. This was also the case in the Netherlands of the 17th century. The reformist spirit of the Frenchman John Calvin led to an almost complete ban of music during worship services, despite the fact that the psalms of David ("Sing unto the Lord") provide unassailable proof to the contrary. Shortly before 1600, the great Dutch composer Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck discovered how these psalms could be, and were permitted to be, set to new music. The "Orpheus of Amsterdam" succeeded in transforming imposed restrictions into acoustic wonders. Our small selection of psalms, alternating with several organ works, proves once again the victory of the spirit over heavy subject matter.

On 5 September 1723, Emperor Charles VI, the father of his legendary successor Maria Theresia, was crowned King of Bohemia in St. Vitus Cathedral in Prague. After this magnificent ceremony had already gone on for several hours, the Golden City held a series of festivities that one can hardly imagine today. Among other things, a new work by the Vienna court composer Francesco Conti was performed. The serenata Il Trionfo della Fama, in which the goddess of fame (and rumour) celebrates the ruler of the world together with all parts of the earth known at the time. His Majesty was surely greatly pleased by the one-act opera. With timpani and trumpets, sprinkled with glorious arias for the allegorical figures representing the emperor’s character traits, the "Triumph of the Goddess of Fame" has not lost anything of its entertaining impact even three hundred years after its premiere.

Live At University of Notre Dame, South Bend, Indiana, USA May 3rd 1972. Elton John’s fifth studio album was released in May 1972, and was titled after the 18th century French chateau where it was recorded, Château d'Hérouville. The album reached number one in the US, the first of John's seven consecutive US number one albums. In the UK, the record reached No.2 on the album charts. On April 26th ’72, Elton - and his band, featuring EJ regulars Dee Murray, Nigel Olsson and Davey Johnson - began their 1972 US Tour, performing in Dallas, TX to begin the jaunt. The tour spiralled across the US, and on May 3rd were in Indiana, where they performed at the University Of Notre Dame, in the charmingly named South Bend, IN. The quartet put on a stunning show at Notre Dame, and the entire proceedings were recorded for FM Radio Broadcast, and transmitted live across the mid-west. Featuring a handful of numbers from the new album, plus a fine selection of back catalogue tunes, this previously unreleased show is now available on this new CD for the first time.

Having completed the entire trilogy of Handel’s Concerti grossi, the Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin presents a recording of the first six Concerti grossi, Op. 6 by the composer, ensemble leader and violin virtuoso Arcangelo Corelli, who received the almost cult-like reverence during his lifetime. The composer had been experimenting with this one of the most distinctive forms of instrumental music of the Baroque era since the late 1670s, but it was only towards the end of his life that he sought to publish these compositions and selected only twelve exemplary pieces from what was probably a much larger collection. He laid the foundations of this instrumental form for future composers such as the before mentioned Georg Frederic Handel, who paid tribute to the Italian Baroque master with his two opuses. The Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin and its two concertmasters, Mayumi Hirasaki and Georg Kallweit, who demonstrate their extraordinary virtuosity, only prove why they are regarded as one of the most influential period-instrument ensembles of today.

Ophélie Gaillard offers an eclectic repertoire, ranging from Baroque to contemporary music. She performs as a soloist, with her ensemble Pulcinella, as well as with renowned artists, depending on the works being presented. Highly dedicated to musical transmission, she regularly leads orchestra academies from her cello and shares the stage with prestigious ensembles such as the Swiss Cellists and the Young Talents of the Ponticello-Genève festival. Her varied programs, such as "Napoli!" and "A Night in London", reflect her commitment to bridging different eras and styles.

Pablo Heras-Casado, the Freiburger Barockorchester and the RIAS Kammerchor Berlin present this music absolutely complete, joined by Max Urlacher as a wonderfully ebullient narrator. Their historically informed interpretation offers a delightful plunge into this world of dreams and enchantment.

This is Edward Gardner's sixth release on LPO Label, and the third that celebrates the 20th anniversary of the label in 2025. This Britten program was recorded at London's Royal Festival Hall (Sinfonia da Requiem and The Prince of the Pagodas) and Saffron Hall (Winter Words). A bold, early masterpiece written at just twenty-six and originally commissioned to commemorate Japan's 2600th imperial anniversary, Britten's Sinfonia da Requiem was rejected for being too solemn, but emerged as his only major purely orchestral work and a powerful response to the growing threat of war. Winter Words Britten's poignant song cycle originally for tenor and piano, set to texts of 8 poems by Thomas Hardy is presented here in a new orchestration by Robin Holloway-a world premiere recording. The Prince of the Pagodas, Britten's ballet with Edward Gardner's distilled concert suite from The Prince of the Pagodas-another world premiere recording-fulfils Britten's unrealised ambition to arrange his full-length ballet into a dramatic orchestral suite.