25 HIGHLIGHTS ACROSS 25 YEARS ‘The label of choice for every aficionado of contemporary British music’ The Times
CELEBRATING 25 YEARS OF NMC RECORDINGS DISCOVER · CONNECT · CHALLENGE · INSPIRE
Celebrating 25 Years of It gives me great pleasure, as one of NMC’s Founding Patrons, to join the celebrations for what has been achieved over the last quarter of a century! Because recordings have been such an important part of my own career, I know how much value recorded music has for audiences across the world, and – as in the case of NMC with its commitment to never deleting titles – across the years. The service NMC provides to British music is unparalleled. The opportunities it gives composers, artists and audiences to discover and share such a wealth of music is something to be treasured. I hope you will join with me both in celebrating what has been achieved so far and in looking to the future of this bold and adventurous organisation with confidence. I hope and believe it will inspire and challenge us for many years to come. Sir Simon Rattle OM CBE NMC Patron
25 highlights across 25 years Julian Anderson Book of Hours
NMC D121
Eden · Four American Choruses · Imagin’d Corners · Symphony · Book of Hours
BCMG · City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra and Chorus · Sakari Oramo, Oliver Knussen, Martyn Brabbins, Simon Halsey, conductors ‘One of the most admired British composers of his generation. Here’s why’ The Observer Gramophone award finalist & EDITOR’S CHOICE 2007 · PizzIcato Supersonic award 2007
Richard Ayres NONcertos
NMC D162
No.37b for Orchestra · No.36: NONcerto for Horn · No.31: NONcerto for Trumpet
Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra · Wim Timmermans, french horn · ASKO Ensemble Marco Blaauw, trumpet · musikFabrik · Roland Kluttig, conductor ‘Would that all musical postmodernism were as intriguing and provocative as this!’ Gramophone ‘Some of the wackiest music this side of Charles Ives on acid’ NZ Herald Gramophone Editor’s Choice & Critics’ Choice 2010
Richard BARRETT Dark Matter NMC D183 ELISION · CIKADA · Christian Eggen, conductor · Deborah Kayser, mezzo-soprano · Carl Rosman, clarinets Daryl Buckley, electric guitar ‘This is certainly one of the most adventurous and compelling discs of recent years. Come to it with open ears and an open mind, and you are sure to be rewarded’ Europadisc 5:4 Best Albums of 2012 Gerald BARRY The Importance of Being Earnest NMC D197 Barbara Hannigan, soprano · Katalin Károlyi, mezzo-soprano · Hilary Summers, contralto Peter Tantsits, tenor · Joshua Bloom, bass-baritone · Alan Ewing, bass · Benjamin Bevan, bass Joshua Hart, speaker · BCMG · Thomas Adès, conductor ‘The world now has something rare: a new genuinely comic opera and maybe the most inventive Oscar Wilde opera since Richard Strauss’s ‘Salome’ more than a century ago’ The Los Angeles Times NEW RELEASE Richard Rodney BENNETT Songs Before Sleep
NMC D155
A Garland for Marjory Fleming · Songs Before Sleep · A History of the Thé Dansant Dream-Songs · Tom O’Bedlam’s Song · this is the garden · Voyage · A Song at Evening Sophie Daneman, soprano · Susan Bickley, mezzo-soprano · Benjamin Hulett, tenor Roderick Williams, baritone · Oliver Coates, cello · Iain Burnside, piano ‘Performances are uniformly excellent; this is a beautifully judged and planned disc, an undiluted pleasure’ The Guardian Gramophone award finalist 2011
Harrison Birtwistle The Mask of Orpheus NMC D050 Jon Garrison, tenor · Peter Bronder, tenor · Jean Rigby, mezzo-soprano · Alan Opie, baritone · BBC Singers Anne-Marie Owens, mezzo-soprano · BBC Symphony Orchestra · Sir Andrew Davis, Martyn Brabbins, conductors ‘Unquestionably the greatest achievement by a British composer in our time. Now, with the arrival of this magnificent recording, there is at last a chance to explore it carefully … the performance is beyond praise’ The Guardian Gramophone Award Winner 1998 Harrison BIRTWISTLE Night’s Black Bird Night’s Black Bird · The Shadow of Night · The Cry of Anubis
NMC D156
Owen Slade, tuba · Hallé · Ryan Wigglesworth, conductor ‘No one does deep, dark, elemental brooding quite as profoundly and convincingly as Harrison Birtwistle ... an invaluable disc’ The New York Times Gramophone Award Winner 2011 · Time Out New York, Best Classical Recording of 2011 The Sunday Times, Top 100 Albums of 2011 · BBC Music Magazine Award Winner 2012
Benjamin BRITTEN Unknown Britten
NMC D140
Movements for a Clarinet Concerto (orch. by Colin Matthews) · In memoriam Dennis Brain · Les Illuminations (incl. 3 previously unpublished songs) · Rondo Concertante
Michael Collins, clarinet · Sandrine Piau, soprano · Rolf Hind, piano · Northern Sinfonia Thomas Zehetmair, conductor ‘Seriously beautiful … buy it for Les Illuminations; savour it for those new discoveries’ Radio 3 CD Review GRAMOPHONE EDITOR’S CHOICE & CD OF THE MONTH 2009 · INTERNATIONAL RECORD REVIEW OUTSTANDING RECORDING
Joe CUTLER Bartlebooth
NMC D134
Buckley’s Hot Licks · Bartlebooth · Archie · In Praise of Dreams · Music for Cello & Strings Fidelio Trio · Sarah Leonard, soprano · Robin Michael, cello · Orkest de Ereprijs BBC Concert Orchestra · Charles Hazlewood, conductor ‘The titles of Joe Cutler’s pieces seem designed as smokescreen … behind their jokey references and diverse cultural allusions lurks beautifully crafted music of great energy and creative imagination’ The Guardian Gramophone Critics’ Choice 2008 · Music Web ‘Record of the Month’
Tansy DAVIES Spine
NMC D176
Iris · Static · Dark Ground · Loure · Falling Angel · This Love · make black white · Loopholes and Lynchpins · spine
BCMG · Azalea · Christopher Austin, conductor · Concordia · Samuel Boden, tenor · Huw Watkins, piano Joby Burgess, percussion · Simon Haram, saxophone · Darragh Morgan, violin ‘As this disc shows, her music is at its most compelling when it creates vivid textures, drawing on rock and pop idioms to give it edge and pungency’ The Guardian
Donnacha DENNEHY Elastic Harmonic
NMC D133
Glamour Sleeper · Junk Box Fraud · Paddy · Elastic Harmonic · pAt · Streetwalker
Joanna MacGregor, piano · Darragh Morgan, violin · Tatiana Koleva, percussion · Crash Ensemble ensemble Intégrales · RTé National Symphony Orchestra · Gavin Maloney, conductor ‘The leading voice of the Dublin new music scene, Donnacha Dennehy has a soundworld all of his own’ Wire ‘Giddy, visceral urban techno avant-gardism’ Gramophone
James DILLON The Book of Elements NMC D091 Noriko Kawai, piano ‘The book teems with subtle cross-references, like the sudden reappearance in the last volume of the amazingly Debussian gesture that launched the whole cycle. There are other echoes, too, from Schumann, Bartók, even folk music and rock. It adds up to something rich, strange and utterly riveting’ BBC Music Magazine Gramophone Editor’s choice 2004 Edward ELGAR elab. by Anthony Payne Symphony No.3 NMC D053 BBC Symphony Orchestra · Sir Andrew Davis, conductor ‘A triumph … Payne has caught the composer’s instantly recognisable palette to perfection and Davis demonstrates his own faith in the work in the sense of control he brings to his performance’ BBC Music Magazine Classic CD Award Winner 1998 · Gramophone Award FINALIST 1998 · The Times pick of 1998 BBC Music Magazine Critics’ Choice 1998 · The Independent pick of 1998 Brian FERNEYHOUGH Shadowtime NMC D123 Nicolas Hodges, piano · Mats Scheidegger, guitar · Neue Vocalsolisten Stuttgart · Nieuw Ensemble Jurjen Hempel, conductor ‘This is the best possible recording of Shadowtime that one could wish for and with a clarity of detail within all aspects of the performance that aids understanding more of the libretto than anticipated: not just the fantastic rhythmic narration of that extraordinary pianist Nicolas Hodges, but the complex vocal settings’ Classical Source
Michael Finnissy Mars + Venus Enek · Mars+Venus · Traum des Sängers · WAM
NMC D043
Ixion · Charles Mutter, violin · Michael Finnissy, conductor ‘A vital addition to the catalogue and perhaps the best possible introduction to the music of one of Britain’s most distinctive compositional talents’ Gramophone gramophone critics’ choice 1998
Alexander GOEHR Colossos or Panic Colossos or Panic · The Deluge · Little Symphony
NMC D165
Claire Booth, soprano · Hilary Summers, contralto · BCMG · BBC Symphony Orchestra ASKO Ensemble & Schönberg Ensemble · Oliver Knussen, conductor ‘A force to be reckoned with in British music … an impressive musical span, which Knussen energises quite wonderfully’ The Guardian ‘Profound and original’ The Times
Jonathan HARVEY Body Mandala
NMC D141
... Towards a Pure Land · Timepieces · Tranquil Abiding · Body Mandala · White as Jasmine
Anu Komsi, soprano · BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra · Ilan Volkov, conductor ‘This impressive selection of Jonathan Harvey’s orchestral pieces deal in different ways with Harvey’s deep fascination with eastern religions ... All are striking, beautifully achieved pieces’ The Guardian GRAMOPHONE AWARD WINNER 2008 · NEW YORKER (Alex Ross) BEST TEN CLASSICAL DISCS OF 2008 KLARA MUZIEKPRIJZEN NOMINATION 2008 · MUSIC WEB ‘RECORD OF THE MONTH’
Robin HOLLOWAY Second Concerto for Orchestra
NMC D015
BBC Symphony Orchestra · Oliver Knussen, conductor · Stefan Asbury, assistant conductor ‘A fascinating disc. The Concerto isn’t quite like anything else I know ... Holloway can swerve from lush, late romanticism to strident modernism and back again with the alarming quickness of an opium dream’ Gramophone GRAMOPHONE AWARD WINNER 1994
Oliver KNUSSEN Autumnal
NMC D178
Choral Op.8 · Autumnal Op.14 · Whitman Settings Op.25 · Violin Concerto Op.30 Requiem – Songs for Sue Op.33 · Ophelia’s Last Dance Op.32
Claire Booth, soprano · BCMG · Leila Josefowicz, violin · BBC Symphony Orchestra · Huw Watkins, piano Alexandra Wood, violin · Ryan Wigglesworth, piano · Oliver Knussen, conductor ‘Superb. Much of the music ranks among the finest composed in this country in recent decades’ The Guardian Gramophone Award Finalist & Editor’s Choice 2013 · International Record Review Outstanding Recording · WQXR (New York Radio) ALBUM OF THE WEEK 2012
Elisabeth LUTYENS Choral and Chamber Works
NMC D124
Fantasie Trio · Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis · Motet (Excerpta Tractati Logico-Philosphici) Présages · String Trio · The Country of the Stars · Verses of Love · Wind Trio
EXAUDI · James Weeks, director · Endymion ‘Her stature in British music went unappreciated for much of her composing career. This mixture of a cappella choral and instrumental works from the 1950s and 1960s is a timely and beautifully performed tribute’ The Guardian
Peter MAXWELL DAVIES Taverner NMC D157 Fiona Kimm, mezzo-soprano · Michael Chance, countertenor · Martyn Hill, tenor · Stephen Richardson, bass David Wilson-Johnson, baritone · BBC Symphony Orchestra · Oliver Knussen, conductor ‘This is seminal. I don’t see how anyone with even the smallest interest in music as a living, breathing art and not as mere museum culture could fail to be seriously interested in this release ... a twentiethcentury operatic masterpiece’ International Record Review The Sunday Times Pick of 2009 · Gramophone Award Finalist 2010 Thea MUSGRAVE Turbulent Landscapes
Turbulent Landscapes · Songs for a Winter’s Evening · Two’s Company
NMC D153
BBC Symphony Orchestra · Jirí Belohlávek, conductor · Lisa Milne, soprano · Evelyn Glennie, percussion Nicholas Daniel, oboe · BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra · Osmo Vänskä, conductor ‘This latest disc, featuring a triptych of Thea Musgrave’s works in wonderful performances from all concerned, is typical of what makes NMC important’ BBC Music Magazine V
V
Howard Skempton Lento NMC D005 BBC Symphony Orchestra · Mark Wigglesworth, conductor ‘Lento, by the British miniaturist Howard Skempton, must surely be heading for cult status … It is captivating in its simple wistfulness’ BBC Music Magazine ‘The simple truth about this quietly miraculous piece is that it contrives to sound completely timeless: once heard, it’s music you’ve always known.’ Hi-Fi News & Record Review BBC Music Magazine PICK OF 1992
Mark-Anthony TURNAGE UNDANCE UNDANCE · Crying Out Loud · No Let Up
NMC D194
UNDANCE Band · Tim Murray, conductor · Rambert Orchestra · Paul Hoskins, conductor ‘The sheer rhythmic quality of Turnage’s music makes it surprising he had not been writing ballet music from the outset of his career. The warmest of recommendations’ Gramophone
Judith WEIR A Night at the Chinese Opera NMC D060 Gwion Thomas, baritone · Frances McCafferty, soprano · Timothy Robinson, tenor · Michael Chance, countertenor · Adrian Thompson, tenor · Michael George, baritone · Scottish Chamber Orchestra Andrew Parrott, conductor ‘It is brilliantly funny but alarming, disarmingly simple but rich, tuneful but not nostalgic. The performance is a fine one … One of the most entertaining and approachable operas of recent years’ International Record Review The Guardian PICK of the Week 2000
Series SPOTLIGHT Charlotte BRAY At the Speed of Stillness
NMC D203
At the Speed of Stillness · Caught in Treetops · Replay · Oneiroi · Yellow Leaves Fire Burning in Snow
Aldeburgh World Orchestra · Sir Mark Elder, conductor · Alexandra Wood, violin · Claire Booth, soprano Lucy Schaufer, mezzo-soprano · BCMG · Oliver Knussen, conductor · Andrew Matthews-Owen, piano Huw Watkins, piano NEW RELEASE
Dai FUJIKURA Secret Forest
NMC D172
Secret Forest · Rubi(co)n · Phantom Pulse · Eternal Escape · Okeanos: Touch of Breeze Okeanos · Art Respirant · Ken Takaseki, conductor · Lucerne Percussion Group · Michel Cerutti, conductor ‘Exceptionally striking pieces, combining mastery of texture and form with a marvellous sense of compositional pacing and gesture. Secret Forest is especially sublime’ BBC Music Magazine the Guardian Best Classical Recordings of 2012 · 5:4 Best Albums of 2012
Helen GRIME Night Songs
NMC D199
Virga · Near Midnight · Night Songs · Everyone Sang · Clarinet Concerto · A Cold Spring Into the faded air
Lynsey Marsh, clarinet · Hallé · Hallé Soloists · Jamie Phillips, conductor · Sir Mark Elder, conductor NEW RELEASE
Harrison Birtwistle Gawain NMC D200 Marie Angel, soprano · Anne Howells, mezzo-soprano · Francois Le Roux, baritone · John Tomlinson, bass-baritone · The Royal Opera Chorus · Orchestra of the Royal Opera House · Elgar Howarth, conductor ‘Howarth and his fine cast provide a definitive experience’ The Financial Times GRAMOPHONE AWARD WINNER 1996 (Previously available on Collins Classics)
John CASKEN Golem NMC D113 Adrian Clarke, baritone · John Hall, bass-baritone · Patricia Rozario, soprano · Christopher Robson, countertenor · Paul Wilson, tenor · Richard Morris, baritone · Mary Thomas, mezzo-soprano Music Projects London · Richard Bernas, conductor ‘All the players respond to Richard Bernas’ vigorous direction with nothing short of virtuosity … This really deserves success, and no-one interested in British opera should miss it’ MusicWeb gramophone award WINNER 1991 (Previously available on Virgin Classics) Judith WEIR The Vanishing Bridegroom NMC D196 Ailish Tynan, soprano · Anna Stéphany, soprano · Andrew Tortise, tenor · Owen Gilhooly, baritone Jonathan Lemalu, bass-baritone · BBC Singers · BBC Symphony Orchestra · Martyn Brabbins, conductor ‘On CD it emerges with real vitality and it is hard to imagine this performance being bettered. Not a bad way of introducing yourself to the new Master of the Queen’s Music’ BBC Radio 3 CD Review BBC Music Magazine Critics’ Choice 2014
Harrison BIRTWISTLE Secret Theatre
ANCORA
Carmen Arcadiae Mechanicae Perpetuum · Secret Theatre · Silbury Air
NMC D148
London Sinfonietta · Elgar Howarth, conductor ‘No more exciting recording of contemporary music than this has appeared for many a day. It celebrates the virtues, and the virtuosity, of the London Sinfonietta and also celebrates the Sinfonietta’s long association with Harrison Birtwistle’ Gramophone GRAMOPHONE AWARD WINNER 1988 (Previously available on Etcetera)
Colin MATTHEWS Machines & Dreams
NMC D101
Cello Concerto No.1 · Hidden Variables · Machines and Dreams · Memorial · Quatrain
Alexander Baillie, cello · London Sinfonietta · London Symphony Orchestra · Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra · Michael Tilson Thomas, John Carewe, conductors ‘This set offers a rounded portrait of a restlessly questing composer … big architectonic pieces in performances of impressive might under Carewe’ The Sunday Times
David MATTHEWS Symphony No.4 Cantiga · Introit · September Music · Symphony No.4
NMC D084
Jill Gomez, soprano · Bournemouth Sinfonietta · John Carewe, conductor · East of England Orchestra Malcolm Nabarro, conductor ‘Beautiful, individual things in all four pieces … Matthews is at his best when he’s most unashamedly Romantic’ BBC Music Magazine
SPECIAL RELEASE THE NMC SONGBOOK
NMC D150
To mark NMC’s 20th anniversary in 2009, nearly 100 composers, ranging from highly regarded figures to the younger generation of emerging talents, each wrote a song on the theme of ‘Britain’, for single voice or duet and a range of accompanying instruments.
‘The performances are uniformly superb ... The more one listens, the more one gains from this set’ The Guardian ‘An invaluable overview of British music’ The Observer Gramophone Award Winner 2009 · BBC Music Magazine ChoicE 2009
Visit www.nmcrec.co.uk for our complete catalogue
FREE NMC SAMPLER
Including a reconstruction of Dowland, hypnotic minimalism and electric bassoon: 8 tracks from UK composers Harrison Birtwistle, Judith Weir, Anna Meredith, Howard Skempton, Christopher Fox, Richard Rodney Bennett, Tansy Davies and Richard Barrett.
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