24 Bit Hi Res

The Tallis Scholars and Peter Phillips started their incomparable service to the 15th-century composer Josquin des Prez in 1986. And with this, the ninth volume, they conclude their journey magnificently. The “Missa Hercules Dux Ferrariae,” written for Duke Ercole I d’Este of Ferrara, is a work of extraordinary complexity and compositional virtuosity, but its sheer emotional power is remarkable.

Pianist Rochelle Sennet says in her introduction that this third volume of Bach to Black: Suites for Piano, represents her continuing interest in performing suites and multi-movement works by Black composers in combination with the suites of Johann Sebastian Bach. This volume contains world premiere recordings of suites by Adolphus Hailstork and James Lee III as well as Black women composers Margaret Bonds, Montague Ring, Nkeiru Okoye, and Betty Jackson King, as well as a suite by William Grant Still.

The pianist Jonathan Fournel, recent prizewinner of the prestigious 2021 Queen Elisabeth Competition (where he won not only the Queen Elisabeth Grand Prix, but also the Queen Mathilde Prize, the Musiq3 Audience Prize and the Canvas-Klara Award) has joined the Alpha label for several recordings, starting with a Brahms programme recorded in the superb acoustic of the music room at La Chaux-de-Fonds just before the Competition: ‘Over the years, for me Brahms has become a figure I admire so tremendously, a composer I can never tire of.

Icelandic bass-baritone Andri Björn Róbertsson, and pianist Ástríður Alda Sigurðardóttir, perform Robert Schumann’s Liederkreis op. 24 and Liederkreis op. 39, along with seven songs by the Icelandic composer Árni Thorsteinson. The two Liederkreise were composed during Schumann´s Year of Song in 1840.

This debut album, from Germany based ensemble Conceptus, features music for tenor and ensemble by Butterworth, Warlock, Holst and Bridge, in addition to Timothy Collins’ Sea Song. Collins has composed and arranged extensively for the ensemble.

Edward Cowie is considered by many to be the greatest living composer directly inspired by the Natural World. His post-impressionist works, from the gigantic orchestral Leviathan (his first Proms commission) to his cycles of Bird Portraits and other chamber and instrumental pieces are drawing gasps of admiration from critics and audiences alike. Originally recorded for the University of Hertfordshire’s UHR label, this recording has been restored to the catalogue as part of the quickly-growing Cowie collection on Métier Records.

Church Street Blues is the 1983 album from bluegrass legend Tony Rice. Featuring Rice alone on all but four tracks, the album showcases Rice’s guitar prowess and eclectic musical style. Church Street Blues features standards as well as songs written by Bob Dylan, Gordon Lightfoot and more. Noting the album’s intimacy, Bluegrass Today wrote “It’s like you become closer to Rice as a person with every note that is sung or played.” The album is now available in hi-res audio.

The compositions on this CD mark the final forays of Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco into expansive works crafted for concert guitarists, bound together by a cohesive concept and a consistent unity of inspiration. Most importantly, they stand as the ultimate pieces for solo guitar that the Italian composer managed to fully complete. “Appunti” op. 210, his final composition for solo guitar, commissioned by Ruggero Chiesa, remain unfinished, albeit of notable merit: Castelnuovo-Tedesco’s death precluded their completion, with just the initial two notebooks fulfilled. Moreover, these notebooks were expressly designed for a student audience, since they are characterised by their approachability and mechanical simplicity.

Introducing The Smoothies, a divine collection of sounds that pays homage to the golden era of 70's soul music. Step into the sacred confines of a vintage recording studio, where the warmth of analog equipment and the soulful melodies of yesteryear converge to create an unforgettable sonic experience. This sample pack is your golden ticket to that sanctuary. We've meticulously captured the essence of 70s soul, from the heart-stopping wail of vintage guitars to the soulful grit of dusty drum breaks. You'll find fire-forged one-shots, infectious grooves, and unique song starters that spark instant inspiration.

A composer inextricably linked with London’s Covent Garden, Thomas Arne’s greatest opera, Artaxerxes, was premièred at the Theatre Royal, the predecessor of the Royal Opera House, on 2 February 1762 and remained in the Covent Garden repertory until the late 1830s, where it received a documented 111 performances before 1790. The young Mozart almost certainly attended a performance when he came to London in the mid1760s and Haydn was also acquainted with the work, enthusiastically exclaiming that he “had no idea we had such an opera in the English language.”