György Ligeti

The ensemble London Winds, praised by BBC Music for its 'technical accomplishment, expressive commitment and warmth of timbre', presents in this recording great twentieth-century works for winds. It features music by Hindemith, Nielsen, and Janáček, and, from the next generation, Barber and Ligeti. Although not equally prolific (Kleine Kammermusik is Hindemith's single contribution to that genre while winds are generally more prominence in Nielsen's music), all these composers brought the wind repertoire back to prominence, after a quiet period of more than a century. The music is full of playfulness and European folk colours.

Zoltán Kodály’s later years were dominated by a series of choral works but his early reputation centred upon chamber music, notably two string quartets, a Cello Sonata (8.553160) and the two masterpieces heard on this recording. The Duo for Violin and Cello, Op. 7 combines Classical form with folk influence, while the Sonata for Solo Cello, Op. 8, with its expanded harmonies and tone colours, is one of the greatest solo cello works since Bach’s Cello Suites. György Ligeti continued the Hungarian lineage with his Sonata for Solo Cello, a succinct but pivotal work in his compositional development. Gabriel Schwabe has established himself among the leading cellists of his generation.

The Chaos String Quartet, named BBC Radio 3 New Generation Artist for 2023-2025, was founded in 2019 based on the principles of chaos in art, science and philosophy. Having won such prestigious international competitions as ARD (2022), Bordeaux (2022), Bad Tölz (2023) and Haydn (2023), the ensemble is rapidly gaining prominence on the international stage, most notably performing at the Musikverein Vienna, Elbphilharmonie Hamburg, Wigmore Hall, Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Bozar (Brussels) and Philharmonie de Paris.

Pierre-Laurent Aimard has for decades acted as the foremost contemporary exponent of modern piano music, building a reputation for profound musicality across the works of widely varied composers and even further-ranging techniques. In an immensely satisfying traversal of the genre, this 6 disc set of Debussy, Ravel, Boulez, Berg, Ives, Messiaen, Ligeti, and Carter works is a snapshot of Aimard doing some of the best work of his storied career.

The legendary DG Avantgarde vinyl series (1968-1971) is turning 55! In order to celebrate this occasion, the series is now released on 21 CDs for the first time. The Avantgarde series serves as a historical document for a time of radical change in musical thinking and the breaking of artistic boundaries. The question "What is music?" confronted many of the composers and musicians involved in the series, and the anti-authoritarian spirit of the 1960s and 1970s was a palpable influence. Deutsche Grammophon's Avantgarde Series reflects all the currents that thus arose, without aesthetic demarcations and across genres and instrumentations: large orchestral works stand alongside chamber music and solo forms, electronic music and improvisations.

Wonderland is full of magic and myth. Containing exclusively works commissioned by The King’s Singers across their 55 years; the album celebrates their trademark musical storytelling; with no shortage of comedy. György Ligeti’s six Nonsense Madrigals; each setting playful children’s poetry or extracts from Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland; provide a musical spine to the album; commemorating 100 years since the composer’s birth in 1923.