Freda Swain: A Composer Unboxed

The composer David Hackbridge Johnson reacts with surprise to the piano music of the unknown Freda Swain (1902–85) – whose music, after her death, spent… 

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Noah Max in Conversation with Martin Anderson

In March 2022 Toccata Classics released an album of music by Noah Max (b. 1998) – painter, poet and conductor as well as composer. Since… 

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Download Our Catalogue!

[pdfcatalog slug=”recordings”]Download the Toccata Classics catalogue as a PDF[/pdfcatalog] [pdfcatalog slug=”books”]Download the Toccata Press catalogue as a PDF[/pdfcatalog]

Support Martin’s Sponsored Slim

Martin Anderson, the founder of Toccata Classics, is – not to put too fine a point on it – quite a big bloke. And over… 

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Comrades in Art: The Correspondence of Ronald Stevenson and Percy Grainger, 1957-61, with Interviews, Essays and other Writings on Grainger by Ronald Stevenson

Ronald Stevenson, Percy Grainger
Edited by Teresa R. Balough
Extent: 300 pages
Composition: Royal octavo
Illustrations: 45 b/w

Vissarion Shebalin: Complete Music for Violin and Piano

This first recording of the works for violin and piano by the Russian composer Vissarion Shebalin (1902–63) – a close friend and colleague of Shostakovich – reveals a surprisingly high number of unsuspected gems: music immediate in its melodic appeal but plumbing real depths of feeling. The integrity of the music reflects the integrity of its composer, as Shostakovich made clear: ‘His kindness, honesty and absolute adherence to principle always amazed me. His enormous talent and great mastery immediately earned him burning love and authority with friends and musical community’.

Sergey Kostylev, violin
Olga Solovieva, piano

Pure Sound International Award for best audio recording of Russian academic music
2nd Prize Chamber Instrumental Music

Richard Flury: Four Song-Cycles

The output of Richard Flury (1896-1967), one of Switzerland’s most prolific composers, ranges from operas and ballets to symphonies, instrumental concertos, sacred and secular vocal works, chamber music and no fewer than 181 songs with piano accompaniment. These four song-cycles, written between 1920 and 1946, contain 45 of them, their concision nonetheless embracing an expansive, Romantic style of which Schumann himself might have approved. The prevailing mood is one of an open-hearted sincerity, occasionally enlivened by a dash of humour.

Stephanie Bühlmann, soprano
Margaret Singer, piano

William WORDSWORTH: Orchestral Music, Volume Two

The music of William Wordsworth (1908–88) – a great-great-grandson of the poet’s brother Christopher – lies downstream from that of Vaughan Williams and Sibelius; like that of his contemporary Edmund Rubbra, Wordsworth’s music unfolds spontaneously, as a natural process. This second volume brings two concertos, both major works – though long forgotten, and contrasted in their approach: the gritty and muscular Piano Concerto is cast in a single, tightly argued span, whereas the lyrical Violin Concerto is expansive and unhurried – and deeply touching. They are complemented by the Three Pastoral Sketches, which grow gently from understated autumnal hues to a dignified and moving climax. All three scores show an extraordinary command of orchestral colour.

Arta Arnicane, piano (Tracks 1-5)
Kamila Bydlowska, violin (Tracks 9-11)
Liepāja Symphony Orchestra
John Gibbons

Franz Liszt: Songs for Bass Voice and Piano

Throughout Liszt’s long career, his songs – perhaps the most neglected part of his enormous output – took a radical approach to form, eschewing convention in search of a sincere musical response to each text. His free-spirited creativity meant that a single song would often call on a range of stylistic devices, among them bel canto vocal lines, unaccompanied recitative, orchestrally conceived piano textures and audacious harmonic procedures. This first recording of Liszt songs by a bass voice brings out both the power and poetry of his remarkable imagination.

Jared Schwartz, bass
Mary Dibbern, piano

Hendrik Andriessen: Piano Music

Although much of the music of the Dutch composer Hendrik Andriessen (1892–1981) has now been explored in recordings, his works for piano largely remain to be discovered. This first conspectus of his piano music covers fifty years of composition, showing how early influences – among them Bach, Brahms, Franck, Hindemith and Ravel – were subsumed into a musical language distinguished by its textural clarity and harmonic warmth.

Jacob Nydegger, piano

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1HecUSA1TLQ

David Maslanka: Music For Wind Ensemble

Although the American composer David Maslanka (1943–2017) wrote in a wide range of genres, it is for his generous output of music for wind band that he is best known. Three of the works heard here are in effect symphonic poems, all three infused with that big-hearted sense of space found in the best of American music and the quiet dignity of those endless open landscapes, but also energised by a powerful sense of freewheeling drama. The fourth piece is a charming and hugely engaging presentation of the instruments of the symphonic wind ensemble, a latter-day Peter and the Wolf – likewise intended for children and similarly bubbling with good tunes. The composer himself was closely involved in the preparation for these recordings – the last major project involving his music before his death – which now stand as a testament to a man much-loved in American musical circles.

Middle Tennessee State University Wind Ensemble
Michael Fleming, narrator (Track 2)
Reed Thomas, conductor (Track 1)
Rubén Darío Gómez, conductor (Track 2)
C. Allen Kennedy, conductor (Track 3)
Manuel Monge-Mata, conductor (Track 4)
Martin Gaines, conductor (Track 5)

Sir Roger Gifford, former Lord Mayor of the City of London, joins Toccata Classics as Patron

We’re delighted to announce that Vladimir Ashkenazy and Osmo Vänskä, treasured Patrons of Toccata Classics, have been joined by a third luminary, Sir Roger Gifford,… 

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Maxim Vengerov, new Patron of Toccata Classics

I am delighted to announce that, hot on the heels of Sir Roger Gifford (see the blog posting on 24 January), now Maxim Vengerov joins… 

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A Visit to Elsa Respighi: Rome, May 1984

  In May 1984 I was invited on holiday with some friends who had rented a villa in the hills outside Viareggio in Tuscany, were… 

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Hans Gál’s Chamber Music for Clarinet : A Joyful and Important Discovery

Read More For us in the Ensemble Burletta, a chamber-music group exploring chamber music for clarinet in various combinations, the music of Hans Gál is… 

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Sponsored Slim Update

Two weeks ago brought the end of October and thus the mid-point of my sponsored slim. The good news for your wallets is that I… 

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