Duncan Honeybourne

Premiere recordings of piano cycles by Sadie Harrison and Cecilia McDowall, plus shorter works by Ruth Barrett, Andrew Downes, Richard Francis, Richard Pantcheff and Jenni Pinnock.

Bincombe is “a tiny place, comprising a few cottages, fields, farms and an ancient church nestled against a verdant hillside in sight of the sea. The lush meadows provide an inviting backdrop whilst, on the sightline, the English channel sparkles in the summer sunshine and shimmers mysteriously at night.” (Duncan Honeybourne). Part of the church dates from the twelfth century, with most of the remainder having been constructed in the fifteenth. The single manual organ was built by the London firm of Bevington and Sons in 1873 and supplied at a cost of £105 to the neighbouring parish of Broadwey. It was moved to Bincombe in 1903. (Bincombe is famous for its “bumps”, a cluster of round barrows which are visible from the Weymouth Relief Road.)

William Baines is one of those exceptionally gifted composers whose music still remains little known to the general music-loving public.

This album restores to the world the solo piano and chamber music of a long-forgotten, enigmatic figure.

This album restores to the world the solo piano and chamber music of a long-forgotten, enigmatic figure.

This album restores to the world the solo piano and chamber music of a long-forgotten, enigmatic figure.

This disc is dedicated to the memory of a very fine composer and good friend, Peter Reynolds. His unexpected death in 2016 was felt far and wide amongst his friends and colleagues, and has left a gap not only in the world of contemporary classical music, and in the academic realms of music education, but also in many peoples' lives. This exceptionally unassuming man was a very fine composer and an avid supporter of other musicians, both as a teacher and as a champion of performances and recordings of new and neglected works.

There has been a flurry of recording activity in recent years around British works for cello and piano, with the repertoire finally receiving the attention it deserves from artists, critics, and record labels alike. New light has been cast on familiar pieces and neglected treasures have been heard for the first time. Yet despite these endeavours, much remains to be done to bring the full range of this music to audiences. Long-time colleagues Joseph Spooner and Duncan Honeybourne, two of Britain’s foremost exponents of this repertoire, have now collaborated to bring together the known, the neglected and the new in a generous selection of works.

This album restores to the world the solo piano and chamber music of a long-forgotten, enigmatic figure.