Lawo Bach

Little Organ Book, in which a beginning organist is given instruction in performing a chorale in a multitude of ways, and also in mastering the use of the pedal, since in the chorales offered here the pedal is used to its full extent. Glory be to God alone, thereby may we our knowledge hone.

Bach composed ten partitas – three for solo violin, one for solo flute and six for keyboard. As the term partita may mean, to quote from the Oxford Composer Companion to Bach, “a suite of dances or a set of variations” – it is no more precise than many other musical terms. If there is no obvious difference between the partita and the suite, there seems to be no justification for two separate terms. In the sixteenth century partita indicated one of a sequence of variations, but this meaning evolved, coming to signify a collection of movements and later – by the time of Bach's keyboard partitas – a suite of dances.

Tine Thing Helseth releases her new album Magical Memories on Friday 28 May on LAWO Classics. It is her first UK release in eight years. The first of three digital singles, Prelude from Charpentier’s Te Deum, is out today on Apple and Spotify.

The story of Mary Magdalene has been a source of comfort for many women, and research has shown that medieval ballads about Mary Magdalene are often sung by single mothers. Young women who were out¬casts must have found some measure of consolation in the songs about Mary, who bore children with her father, her brother and a priest, but was cleansed of sin after doing penance in the wilderness for many years.

When four friends create an ensemble where their biggest love is playing Baroque music on recorders, one has to get creative. There is a serious lack of original Baroque repertoire for this combination, and that's how our concept 'Borrowed, not Stolen…' was brought into being. Woodpeckers' journey began 17 years ago while they were all living in Stockholm, Bach's wonderful 'Art of Fugue' being an integral part of the programming in their first concerts. The idea has developed over the years into the format that you find on this recording.

In a letter to his father Leopold, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart wrote of his relationship to the organ: "In my eyes and ears, the organ is the queen of instruments." In spite of his enthusiasm for the instrument and the fact that Mozart himself liked to play the organ, he did not compose much music for "the queen of instruments". The organists of the day improvised when they played for mass, and the organ at that time was not a concert instrument in need of a wide-ranging repertoire.

Anders Eidsten Dahl presents a new programme entitled Exultate, featuring the organ works of Knut Nystedt. Nystedt was one of Norway’s most important composers and was responsible for the spreading of contemporary choral music in Norway and worldwide. His musical language showed his understanding of developments in the avant-garde of his time while remaining true to conventions of his forefathers.

Eva Knardahl Freiwald (10 May 1927 – 3 September 2006) was a Norwegian pianist, with a noted career both as a child prodigy and adult performer.