With 17 symphonies in his list of works, not to mention operas and concertos, it is easy to forget that Kalevi Aho also composes chamber music. He has in fact written some ten quintets alone, for various combinations of instrument. Two are ‘normal’ wind quintets and it is these that the Berlin Philharmonic Wind Quintet (BPWQ) perform on the present disc. The ensemble came into contact with the Finnish composer’s Wind Quintet No. 1 in 2010, and was immediately struck by the qualities and challenges of the score. The composer himself has described the difficulties in writing for wind quintet, in terms of achieving a balanced and homogeneous sound and soft dynamics.

The promised British flute concertos are in somewhat short supply on this Chandos release, with only The Magic Flute Dances of contemporary composer Jonathan Dove and the Flute Concerto, Op. 36, of Lennox Berkeley starting life as such a thing. The Poulenc work included is not, of course, British at all, but was arranged by Berkeley for flute and orchestra from a sonata for flute and piano, and the William Alwyn work, although titled Concerto, was originally for the unusual ensemble of flute and eight wind instruments.

Guitarist, composer, and bandleader Bill Frisell, an artist who has been called, “the most significant and widely imitated guitarist to emerge in jazz since the beginning of the 1980s” (New York Times), has been widely acknowledged for his restless eclecticism. He moves in yet another musical direction with Gone, Just Like a Train. Recorded in Burbank in 1997, it features Frisell with renowned drummer Jim Keltner and bassist Viktor Krauss in a jam-oriented rock-inflected set that reflects the wide emotional range of Frisell’s compositions.

This 20-track collection from PolyGram compiles every one of Jacques Brel's most popular songs, all in their most famous versions. From his first hit "Quand On N'a Que l'Amour" to early peaks like "La Valse à Mille Temps," "Les Vieux," and "Mathilde," Quinze Ans d'Amour picks the best of his early material, with only one song recorded after 1968.