Bianca Van Der Veeke

The label début of the Exclusive Chandos Artist Laura van der Heijden explores the rich musical heritage of Bohemia. She was born in England to Dutch-Swiss parents, and her career highlights already include winning the BBC Young Musician competition (aged just fifteen), the Edison Klassiek Award 2018 (for her début album) and BBC Music Magazine's Newcomer Award in 2019. Laura writes: 'Jâms and I first met in 2017, when I was mesmerised by the sensitivity of his musicianship and the colours he managed to create on the piano. Our first concert together took place in the summer of 2018 and included Janácek's Pohádka. Both of us felt incredibly drawn to this piece and also to Janácek's musical language. One of the reasons we were particularly enamoured of Pohádka (a Czech word which loosely translates as 'A Tale') was the focus of the piece on storytelling and how that invited us to let our creativity and imagination flow. This is the common thread spun throughout the repertoire that we have selected for this album; all the pieces embody the notion of passing on ancient folk tales, tales which have lived amongst peoples and across lands for centuries.

"Alt" is a 2012 studio project by the legendary Van Der Graaf Generator and follows on from the release of "A Grounding In Numbers” in 2011. "Alt” is no ordinary Van Der Graaf Generator album (if the term "ordinary” could ever be applied to this visionary group). Peter Hammill explains: "Instrumental Improvs & Experiments - Most of the music on "Alt” was made while we weren't really looking, or perhaps only while the left side of our collective brain was engaged. The album is a mixture of improvisations recorded at sound checks and in the studio and more considered sonic creations which often verge on Musique Concrete. The fourteen pieces here offer a fascinating glimpse into an alternative Van der Graaf Generator sound world. Perhaps the closest comparison would be with the second CD of "Present", but even the link with those recordings is tenuous. Even by Van der Graaf Generator standards, this stuff's at the wacky end of the scale!” This instrumental album is another side of Van Der Graaf Generator, a truly unique listening experience.