Limited 34 CD set. Active in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, the composers of the Franco-Flemish School included such brilliant and diverse figures as Binchois, Dufay, des Prez, Obrecht, de La Rue, Isaac, Roland de Lassus, Willaert and de Wert. Spanning two hundred years of Western music history, the School flourished throughout the Renaissance as the language of music underwent the gradual shift from ancient modality to the tonality that signalled the dawn of the Baroque aesthetic. As well as commemorating the central figure of Josquin des Prez (1440-1521), this set includes many other major works of the Franco-Flemish School, encompassing the various genres illustrated and developed by it's members - secular songs in fixed or free form, motets, polyphonic Masses, psalm settings, and so on. These compositions are captured in all their striking beauty by such renowned performers as the Ensemble Gilles Binchois, Taverner Consort, The Hilliard Ensemble and The King's Singers. Polyphony at it's peak, the proximity of the sacred and the profane and an astonishing modernity of thought - all these qualities explain why this music still has such immediacy for us today.

The Fourth is probably the best of Rubinstein’s Symphonies. Written in 1874 it’s a deeply uneven and ultimately unconvincing work but contains enough perplexing turbulence to elevate it far beyond the merely decorative, beyond the post Mendelssohnian symphonic statement. If it never reaches the heights of a genuine Romantic crisis symphony it contains intriguing material sufficient to warrant more than a second hearing and this Naxos issue, first issued on Marco Polo 8.223319 in 1991, provides just such an opportunity.

The Symphony No. 3 in A major Op. 56 (1855) makes a useful introduction to Anton Rubinstein's complete set of six. It's less inflated and rhetorical than its siblings, having a directness to its thematic material that's immediately appealing. And because No. 3 is abstract in content, and therefore far less reliant on descriptive effect than Rubinstein's later programmatic symphonies, the orchestration is more conservative–just pairs of woodwinds, four horns, two trumpets, timpani, and strings.

Born in the vicinity of Cologne, only two years after and some sixty km distant from Beethoven, Johann Wilhelm Wilms was once a musical force to be reckoned with. In Amsterdam, where he lived from the age of 19, his music was actually performed more frequently than Beethoven’s at one period, and his orchestral works were played in such musical centres as Leipzig. Besides chamber music and solo sonatas Wilms composed several symphonies and solo concertos (for flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon and cello) as well as piano concertos for his own use, five of which were published between 1799 and 1820. (Two more have been lost.) He also appeared regularly as soloist in concertos by other composers.

Crepuscolo is the final song in Ottorino Respighi’s song cycle Deità silvane (‘woodland deities’), but as an album title it also stands for the twilight during the interwar years of everything that Respighi represented, as various trends such as atonality, spiky neoclassicism and futurism flourished. In reaction to these developments, Respighi in 1932 famously signed a manifesto calling for music with a ‘human content’ – something which his songs certainly live up to: as Elsa Respighi, the composer’s wife, once said it was to his songs that he ‘entrusts his heart’s hidden secrets, when he lets his soul sing freely.’

The works on this album were written between 1935 and 2019 by four Hungarian composers: Béla Bartók, who was the teacher of Sándor Veress, who taught György Ligeti, who in turn was an early but formative influence on Péter Eötvös. Their compositions all share the idea of a dialogue between cultured and popular elements, between a Western music tradition and folk music, particularly of Eastern Europe. This idea was formulated in the early 20th century by Bartók himself, who considered the use of folk elements in a piece of art music not only as a tool to revitalize the Classical tradition but also as a mean to unite different cultures.

During the second half of the 19th century, a French school of trumpet playing was established, with French musicians and composers at the forefront of the instrument’s musical and technical development. As a result, it was entrusted with a more prominent role within the orchestra and soon also as a solo instrument. On the present disc, Håkan Hardenberger – who like so many other leading trumpet players studied in Paris – presents some of the fruits of this development: five important French works composed between 1944 and 1977. With the support of the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra and conductor Fabien Gabel – who incidentally began his career as a trumpet player – he opens the disc with Henri Tomasi’s Trumpet Concerto. Often performed and recorded, it here appears on disc for the first time with its original, longer ending, reconstructed from a newly discovered manuscript.

Joe Gibbs: Scorchers From The Early Years 1967-73, available everywhere on April 14, 2009, is an amazing collection of Rocksteady & Reggae hits from the late 60’s and early 70’s, that helped break reggae internationally.
This essential jam packed 2 CD anthology, produced mainly by Lee ‘Scratch’ Perry & Niney The Observer for Joe Gibbs, features the genre’s most influential icons and marks a momentous time in musical history.
This 17 North Parade release from the Reggae Anthology series contains many special edits only available on this album.

In the work of American songwriter Tom Waits, swampy blues, Beat poetry, West Coast jazz, Tin Pan Alley, country, 1930s-era cabaret, and post-Civil War parlor songs meet neon-lit carnival music and the wheezing, clattering, experimental rhythms (often played by makeshift musical instruments from car radios to metal pipes and tin cans, hence his love of Edgard Varese and Harry Partch) form a keenly individual musical universe. It has often been imitated but never replicated.

The Everly Brothers five classic original albums plus bonus singles and radio show tracks on 4 CDs.
The original recordings, digitally remastered for superior sound quality.
Featuring the albums The Everly Brothers (1958), Songs Our Daddy Taught Us (1958), It's Everly Time (1960), A Date With The Everly Brothers (1961), Both Sides Of The Evening (1961) + singles and radio shows recordings.

There are the fortunate few who really encountered Chris Whitley's music during his brief lifetime (he passed away from cancer in November of 2005); for everyone else, recordings like this are gifts. Whitley's last official offering was Reiter In, recorded as he was dying – he was a pauper, an imperfect businessman who had been deeply exploited by unscrupulous labels and "handlers." The record was a way to leave something for his daughter, Trixie, a brilliant singer, pianist, and songwriter in her own right, and was the last we thought we'd get from him. On Air was recorded on September 8, 2003 at Radio Bremen. It showcases the artist many of us remember best: a guy with a beat vintage National Steel guitar with a stompbox for his foot, playing his songs with all the revelatory passion and pathos he'd written them with.

Govi is a spirited guitarist with a recognizable style that incorporates elements from flamenco, Caribbean and jazz influences to create his musical statements. With no shortage of passion or virtuosity, Govi has a memorable sound that ranges from airy, tropical tempos to slower pieces to lively south-of-the-border rhythms. Other musicians such as Anugama, Karunesh and tabla player Daniel Paul make solid contributions to this fine effort from a superb instrumentalist with an obvious flair for the guitar.

The Essential Movies - The Cool, The Cult And The Classic, a Various Artists Compilation. Released 2011 on Rhino UK / EMI TV.

He was the king of the piano, and his homeland was the land of poetry: Frederic Chopin. And a new GENUIN CD by Viacheslav Apostel-Pankratowsky is dedicated to his compositions. The young pianist has chosen a fine selection of nocturnes and waltzes, prefacing them like an overture, so to speak, with the famous Military Polonaise. The carefully thought-out program takes us on a poetic journey through Chopin's world; tonal relationships create new perspectives and approaches to seemingly well-known works. Apostel-Pankratowsky's fine piano playing traces the intricacies of these incredible miniatures with extreme precision and detail!

This new album release by the Latvian Radio Choir and conductor Sigvards Klava on Ondine is devoted to choral works by the legendary American composer and music pioneer John Cage (1912-1992), one of the most iconic figures in 20th Century Avantgarde music.