2014 NMC Mini Catalogue

CELEBRATING 25 YEARS OF NMC RECORDINGS

DISCOVER · CONNECT · CHALLENGE · INSPIRE

25 HIGHLIGHTS ACROSS 25 YEARS

‘The label of choice for every aficionado of contemporary British music’ The Times

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 D121Eden · Four American Choruses · Imagin’d Corners · Symphony · Book of HoursBCMG · 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 D162No.37b for Orchestra · No.36: NONcerto for Horn · No.31: NONcerto for trumpetFrankfurt 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 HeraldGrAMOpHONE EDItOr’S CHOICE & CrItICS’ CHOICE 2010

Richard BARRETT Dark Matter NMC D183ElISION · 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’ Europadisc5:4 BESt AlBuMS OF 2012

Gerald BARRY The Importance of Being Earnest NMC D197Barbara 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 TimesNEw rElEASE

Richard Rodney BENNETT Songs Before Sleep NMC D155A 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 EveningSophie 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 GuardianGrAMOpHONE AwArD FINAlISt 2011

Harrison BIRTWISTLE Night’s Black Bird NMC D156Night’s Black Bird · the Shadow of Night · the Cry of AnubisOwen 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 TimesGrAMOpHONE 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 D140Movements for a Clarinet Concerto (orch. by Colin Matthews) · In memoriam Dennis Brain · les Illuminations (incl. 3 previously unpublished songs) · rondo ConcertanteMichael 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 ReviewGrAMOpHONE EDItOr’S CHOICE & CD OF tHE MONtH 2009 · INtErNAtIONAl rECOrD rEVIEw OutStANDING rECOrDING

Joe CUTLER Bartlebooth NMC D134Buckley’s Hot licks · Bartlebooth · Archie · In praise of Dreams · Music for Cello & StringsFidelio 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 GuardianGrAMOpHONE CrItICS’ CHOICE 2008 · MuSIC wEB ‘rECOrD OF tHE MONtH’

Tansy DAVIES Spine NMC D176Iris · 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, pianoJoby 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 D133Glamour Sleeper · Junk Box Fraud · paddy · Elastic Harmonic · pAt · StreetwalkerJoanna 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 D091Noriko Kawai, piano‘The book teems with subtle cross-references, like the sudden reappearance in the last volume of the amaz-ingly 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 MagazineGrAMOpHONE EDItOr’S CHOICE 2004

Edward ELGAR elab. by Anthony PAYNE Symphony No.3 NMC D053BBC Symphony Orchestra · Sir Andrew Davis, conductor‘A triumph … Payne has caught the composer’s instantly recognisable palette to perfection and Davis demon-strates 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 D123Nicolas 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

Harrison BIRTWISTLE The Mask of Orpheus NMC D050Jon 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

Alexander GOEHR Colossos or Panic NMC D165Colossos or panic · the Deluge · little SymphonyClaire 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 JasmineAnu 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 GuardianGrAMOpHONE 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 D015BBC 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’ GramophoneGrAMOpHONE AwArD wINNEr 1994

Oliver KNUSSEN Autumnal NMC D178Choral Op.8 · Autumnal Op.14 · whitman Settings Op.25 · Violin Concerto Op.30 requiem – Songs for Sue Op.33 · Ophelia’s last Dance Op.32Claire 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 D124Fantasie Trio · Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis · Motet (Excerpta Tractati Logico-Philosphici) présages · String trio · the Country of the Stars · Verses of love · wind trioExAuDI · 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 D157Fiona 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 twentieth-century operatic masterpiece’ International Record ReviewtHE SuNDAY tIMES pICK OF 2009 · GrAMOpHONE AwArD FINAlISt 2010

Thea MUSGRAVE Turbulent Landscapes NMC D153turbulent landscapes · Songs for a winter’s Evening · two’s CompanyBBC 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

Michael FINNISSY Mars + Venus NMC D043Enek · Mars+Venus · traum des Sängers · wAMIxION · 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

Howard SKEMPTON Lento NMC D005BBC 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

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SERIES SPOTLIGHT

Mark-Anthony TURNAGE UNDANCE NMC D194uNDANCE · Crying Out loud · No let upuNDANCE 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 D060Gwion 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

Charlotte BRAY At the Speed of Stillness NMC D203At the Speed of Stillness · Caught in treetops · replay · Oneiroi · Yellow leavesFire Burning in SnowAldeburgh 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, pianoNEw rElEASE

Dai FUJIKURA Secret Forest NMC D172Secret Forest · rubi(co)n · phantom pulse · Eternal Escape · Okeanos: touch of BreezeOkeanos · 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 MagazinetHE GuArDIAN BESt ClASSICAl rECOrDINGS OF 2012 · 5:4 BESt AlBuMS OF 2012

Helen GRIME Night Songs NMC D199Virga · Near Midnight · Night Songs · Everyone Sang · Clarinet Concerto · A Cold SpringInto the faded airlynsey Marsh, clarinet · Hallé · Hallé Soloists · Jamie phillips, conductor · Sir Mark Elder, conductorNEw rElEASE

Harrison BIRTWISTLE Gawain NMC D200Marie 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 TimesGrAMOpHONE AwArD wINNEr 1996 (previously available on Collins Classics)

John CASKEN Golem NMC D113Adrian 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’ MusicWebGrAMOpHONE AwArD wINNEr 1991 (previously available on Virgin Classics)

Judith WEIR The Vanishing Bridegroom NMC D196Ailish 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 ReviewBBC MuSIC MAGAzINE CrItICS’ CHOICE 2014

THE NMC SONGBOOK NMC D150to 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 ObserverGrAMOpHONE AwArD wINNEr 2009 · BBC MuSIC MAGAzINE CHOICE 2009

ANCORAHarrison BIRTWISTLE Secret Theatre NMC D148Carmen Arcadiae Mechanicae perpetuum · Secret theatre · Silbury Airlondon 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’ GramophoneGrAMOpHONE AwArD wINNEr 1988 (previously available on Etcetera)

Colin MATTHEWS Machines & Dreams NMC D101Cello Concerto No.1 · Hidden Variables · Machines and Dreams · Memorial · QuatrainAlexander 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 NMC D084Cantiga · Introit · September Music · Symphony No.4Jill 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

FREE NMC SAMPLERIncluding 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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