What are you listening 2 now?

[Harry]

Arnold Bax (1883–1953)
Spring Fire – Complete Music for Cello and Piano
Alexander Baillie, cello · John Thwaites, piano
Recorded: The Bradshaw Hall, Royal Birmingham Conservatoire, 2023
Streaming: 192kHz/24 bit
See back cover for full details.

In a world increasingly impatient with beauty, the music of Arnold Bax remains a quiet sanctuary—never plain, never fashionable, yet always intensely felt. This latest offering from SOMM brings together his complete music for cello and piano, interpreted with sincerity and deep understanding by Alexander Baillie and John Thwaites.

We begin with the Folk-Tale (1918), a brief but potent miniature in which the cello sighs in long, haunted lines over shadowy chords from the piano. It opens like a field shrouded in dusk. The wind has ceased, and something of the soul remains suspended in the air. Written in the immediate aftermath of the Great War, it is a musical epitaph to a vanished world—its elegiac restraint not far from the stillness of Edward Thomas or the melancholic clarity of Ivor Gurney. The cello does not plead, but rather remembers, and memory can be the loneliest thing.

The Sonata for Cello and Piano (1923) is the structural and emotional anchor of the programme—a work of bitter introspection, tangled lyricism, and thorny harmonic texture.  The instruments argue their positions, drifting between moments of unresolved disquiet and rare intervals of accord. The slow movement (Poco lento) is pure English landscape—wild heath, windswept hills, and distant bells—while the finale (Molto vivace ma non troppo) clears the clouds with an almost defiant vitality. One hears a determination not to retreat into despair, but to give it voice and thereby render it bearable.

The Sonatina (1930s) is slighter in scope but no less telling. Here, Bax leans closer to his Celtic muse, his love of Ravelian colour, and even a touch of wry wit. It feels more intimate, more domestic, as if overheard in a quiet room. The central Andante flows like slow water—graceful, unhurried, reflective.

Finally, the Legend-Sonata (1943), written during the Second World War, has a taut nobility—less impressionistic, more sculpted, as if Bax, now older and more withdrawn from public life, had decided to refine rather than expand. There are no wasted gestures here, only distilled emotion. The second movement (Lento espressivo) stands as one of Bax's most heartfelt utterances, where the cello speaks as if from the threshold of grief, but with dignity intact.

The recording captures the interplay between Baillie's burnished tone and Thwaites' sensitive pianism with great fidelity. The acoustic breathes naturally, as if recorded in a high-windowed studio kissed by late afternoon light. The flow of emotions never feels forced. Rather, one is drawn inward, gently, toward a music that still believes in the private, poetic truth of things.

In all, this is a deeply satisfying traversal of Bax's cello works—introspective, lyrical, occasionally defiant, and always sincere. A must-have for admirers of British music, and for anyone who still seeks moments of quiet revelation amidst the noise.

I always think of a few of my favourite WW1 poets, Wilfred Owen, or Siegfried Sassoon, and remember a poem that would fit my thoughts and the music, at least the first three compositions

"Greater Love" by Wilfred Owen

Red lips are not so red
As the stained stones kissed by the English dead.
Kindness of wooed and wooer
Seems shame to their love pure.
O Love, your eyes lose lure
When I behold eyes blinded in my stead!

Your slender attitude
Trembles not exquisite like limbs knife-skewed,
Rolling and rolling there
Where God seems not to care;
Till the fierce love they bear
Cramps them in death's extreme decrepitude.
 

[brewski]

Ligeti: Etudes (Han Chen, piano). Recalling when these etudes first appeared, and how astonishing they were. They remain astonishing (and difficult), but now many pianists have tackled them, and Chen not only does a beautiful job technically but finds the poetry.

[Mister Sharpe]

Arnold Bax (1883–1953)
Spring Fire – Complete Music for Cello and Piano
Alexander Baillie, cello · John Thwaites, piano
Recorded: The Bradshaw Hall, Royal Birmingham Conservatoire, 2023
Streaming: 192kHz/24 bit
See back cover for full details.

Some of the finest Bax-related writing I've ever read. Thanks, Harry, you convinced me I need this disc. I'd disagree only with Bax as a "quiet sanctuary." He can be, certainly. But he can also be a stormy tumult.
 

[brewski]

Josef Rheinberger: Abendlied (The Gesualdo Six). From their forthcoming album, this gorgeous glimpse. PS, not sure I have ever heard anything by this composer.

[vandermolen]

Arnold Bax (1883–1953)
Spring Fire – Complete Music for Cello and Piano
Alexander Baillie, cello · John Thwaites, piano
Recorded: The Bradshaw Hall, Royal Birmingham Conservatoire, 2023
Streaming: 192kHz/24 bit
See back cover for full details.

In a world increasingly impatient with beauty, the music of Arnold Bax remains a quiet sanctuary—never plain, never fashionable, yet always intensely felt. This latest offering from SOMM brings together his complete music for cello and piano, interpreted with sincerity and deep understanding by Alexander Baillie and John Thwaites.

We begin with the Folk-Tale (1918), a brief but potent miniature in which the cello sighs in long, haunted lines over shadowy chords from the piano. It opens like a field shrouded in dusk. The wind has ceased, and something of the soul remains suspended in the air. Written in the immediate aftermath of the Great War, it is a musical epitaph to a vanished world—its elegiac restraint not far from the stillness of Edward Thomas or the melancholic clarity of Ivor Gurney. The cello does not plead, but rather remembers, and memory can be the loneliest thing.

The Sonata for Cello and Piano (1923) is the structural and emotional anchor of the programme—a work of bitter introspection, tangled lyricism, and thorny harmonic texture.  The instruments argue their positions, drifting between moments of unresolved disquiet and rare intervals of accord. The slow movement (Poco lento) is pure English landscape—wild heath, windswept hills, and distant bells—while the finale (Molto vivace ma non troppo) clears the clouds with an almost defiant vitality. One hears a determination not to retreat into despair, but to give it voice and thereby render it bearable.

The Sonatina (1930s) is slighter in scope but no less telling. Here, Bax leans closer to his Celtic muse, his love of Ravelian colour, and even a touch of wry wit. It feels more intimate, more domestic, as if overheard in a quiet room. The central Andante flows like slow water—graceful, unhurried, reflective.

Finally, the Legend-Sonata (1943), written during the Second World War, has a taut nobility—less impressionistic, more sculpted, as if Bax, now older and more withdrawn from public life, had decided to refine rather than expand. There are no wasted gestures here, only distilled emotion. The second movement (Lento espressivo) stands as one of Bax's most heartfelt utterances, where the cello speaks as if from the threshold of grief, but with dignity intact.

The recording captures the interplay between Baillie's burnished tone and Thwaites' sensitive pianism with great fidelity. The acoustic breathes naturally, as if recorded in a high-windowed studio kissed by late afternoon light. The flow of emotions never feels forced. Rather, one is drawn inward, gently, toward a music that still believes in the private, poetic truth of things.

In all, this is a deeply satisfying traversal of Bax's cello works—introspective, lyrical, occasionally defiant, and always sincere. A must-have for admirers of British music, and for anyone who still seeks moments of quiet revelation amidst the noise.

I always think of a few of my favourite WW1 poets, Wilfred Owen, or Siegfried Sassoon, and remember a poem that would fit my thoughts and the music, at least the first three compositions

"Greater Love" by Wilfred Owen

Red lips are not so red
As the stained stones kissed by the English dead.
Kindness of wooed and wooer
Seems shame to their love pure.
O Love, your eyes lose lure
When I behold eyes blinded in my stead!

Your slender attitude
Trembles not exquisite like limbs knife-skewed,
Rolling and rolling there
Where God seems not to care;
Till the fierce love they bear
Cramps them in death's extreme decrepitude.
 

Great to see a new Bax recording - on my list!

[Mister Sharpe]

Why volume 2 today? For the very practical reason that I cannot for the life of me find my vol. 1.  Or you could say that vol. 1 is indisposed at the moment. This would be annoying in and of itself, but making it worse is something Telemann once said, "The notes always found me as soon as I looked for them." Doesn't apply to me, sadly.  Sure would like to like to hear the Jolly Podger in these. 

[Selig]

My (very early) impression is that she excels in the shorter pieces. Just listen to that first gigue!

[Harry]

Why volume 2 today? For the very practical reason that I cannot for the life of me find my vol. 1.  Or you could say that vol. 1 is indisposed at the moment. This would be annoying in and of itself, but making it worse is something Telemann once said, "The notes always found me as soon as I looked for them." Doesn't apply to me, sadly.  Sure would like to like to hear the Jolly Podger in these. 

I find these series with the music of Telemann deeply satisfying. When I wanted to play the whole series again, I came as far as volume 4, and then new recordings took over, as so often with me.

[Mister Sharpe]

I find these series with the music of Telemann deeply satisfying. When I wanted to play the whole series again, I came as far as volume 4, and then new recordings took over, as so often with me.

I think CPO is up to vol. 7 now, I should check.  You count yourself a Telemann fan, do you not? He has taken an unfortunate Bachseat (sic) to his contemporaries, in my view.  Proof of this is when Schweitzer and Philipp Spitta found fault with some of Telemann's Cantatas and praised some they thought were Bach's but were actually Telemann's.  He had a sense of humor, he'd have loved that! 

[DavidW]

Are they the complete concertos?

Yes, and the adagio and rondos as well.

[hopefullytrusting]

The Dover String Quartet playing Beethoven's Op. 132 (live):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z1NBrmpcPvo

I probably shouldn't be listening to this so early in the morning, as I find string quartets tend to lull me into a state of relaxation (almost or to the point of sleeping = very asmr), but I was feeling this piece as I almost bought a disc of it last night (I may still), but this particular performance is nice.

If you like string quartets, you'll like this.

[Irons]

Arnold Bax (1883–1953)
Spring Fire – Complete Music for Cello and Piano
Alexander Baillie, cello · John Thwaites, piano
Recorded: The Bradshaw Hall, Royal Birmingham Conservatoire, 2023
Streaming: 192kHz/24 bit
See back cover for full details.

In a world increasingly impatient with beauty, the music of Arnold Bax remains a quiet sanctuary—never plain, never fashionable, yet always intensely felt. This latest offering from SOMM brings together his complete music for cello and piano, interpreted with sincerity and deep understanding by Alexander Baillie and John Thwaites.

We begin with the Folk-Tale (1918), a brief but potent miniature in which the cello sighs in long, haunted lines over shadowy chords from the piano. It opens like a field shrouded in dusk. The wind has ceased, and something of the soul remains suspended in the air. Written in the immediate aftermath of the Great War, it is a musical epitaph to a vanished world—its elegiac restraint not far from the stillness of Edward Thomas or the melancholic clarity of Ivor Gurney. The cello does not plead, but rather remembers, and memory can be the loneliest thing.

The Sonata for Cello and Piano (1923) is the structural and emotional anchor of the programme—a work of bitter introspection, tangled lyricism, and thorny harmonic texture.  The instruments argue their positions, drifting between moments of unresolved disquiet and rare intervals of accord. The slow movement (Poco lento) is pure English landscape—wild heath, windswept hills, and distant bells—while the finale (Molto vivace ma non troppo) clears the clouds with an almost defiant vitality. One hears a determination not to retreat into despair, but to give it voice and thereby render it bearable.

The Sonatina (1930s) is slighter in scope but no less telling. Here, Bax leans closer to his Celtic muse, his love of Ravelian colour, and even a touch of wry wit. It feels more intimate, more domestic, as if overheard in a quiet room. The central Andante flows like slow water—graceful, unhurried, reflective.

Finally, the Legend-Sonata (1943), written during the Second World War, has a taut nobility—less impressionistic, more sculpted, as if Bax, now older and more withdrawn from public life, had decided to refine rather than expand. There are no wasted gestures here, only distilled emotion. The second movement (Lento espressivo) stands as one of Bax's most heartfelt utterances, where the cello speaks as if from the threshold of grief, but with dignity intact.

The recording captures the interplay between Baillie's burnished tone and Thwaites' sensitive pianism with great fidelity. The acoustic breathes naturally, as if recorded in a high-windowed studio kissed by late afternoon light. The flow of emotions never feels forced. Rather, one is drawn inward, gently, toward a music that still believes in the private, poetic truth of things.

In all, this is a deeply satisfying traversal of Bax's cello works—introspective, lyrical, occasionally defiant, and always sincere. A must-have for admirers of British music, and for anyone who still seeks moments of quiet revelation amidst the noise.

I always think of a few of my favourite WW1 poets, Wilfred Owen, or Siegfried Sassoon, and remember a poem that would fit my thoughts and the music, at least the first three compositions

"Greater Love" by Wilfred Owen

Red lips are not so red
As the stained stones kissed by the English dead.
Kindness of wooed and wooer
Seems shame to their love pure.
O Love, your eyes lose lure
When I behold eyes blinded in my stead!

Your slender attitude
Trembles not exquisite like limbs knife-skewed,
Rolling and rolling there
Where God seems not to care;
Till the fierce love they bear
Cramps them in death's extreme decrepitude.
 

Seriously tempted after reading this -

https://landofllostcontent.blogspot.com/2025/07/spring-fire-arnold-bax-complete-music.html

Now you have piled on the pressure!

[Iota]

Beethoven: Symphony No. 9
Patrick Power (tenor), Petteri Salomaa (bass-baritone), Sarah Walker (mezzo-soprano), Yvonne Kenny (soprano)
Schütz Choir of London, London Classical Players, Roger Norrington (conductor)

It may be nearly 40 years old now, but this is still a pretty revelatory recording imo. The way the music springs off the page as if only just written and raring to go, gives it an energised and illuminated quality I find very exciting. I feel Norrington's handling of the final movement is the least successful, the choral parts in particular, but nonetheless, for me this is a memorable recording.

RIP Roger Norrington

[SonicMan46]

New JPC arrival of 'on sale' items, just showing two below:

Rontgen, Julius - latest symphony release (9 & 21) (although recorded in 2005) - he wrote 25 Symphonies according to Wiki HERE, others say a few less - this puts my collection up to 17 owned; these works are quite variable in length (9:34 to 32:46 mins of the ones I have).

Beethoven, LV - Flute Chamber Works w/ Christoph Huntgeburth & Christine Schornsheim on period instruments on an obscure label (for me at least) with notes only in German. Op. 41 is from 1803; Sonata B flat Major about 1790; and Variations (Op. 105/107) from 1818-19.  Dave

 

[hopefullytrusting]

From asmr to the heart of rhythm: The Bugallow-Williams Piano Duo play Nancarrow, Reich, and Ligeti (live)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I_QGDZPHmvU

This music sounds impossible to play, but it is very musical, as Amy Williams said - Nancarrow's notes don't simply fall into the hand when playing them.

The amount of practice it would take to play this piece on your own is crazy, and to have to play it with a partner seems like a magic trick.

I can tell you one thing - you won't fall asleep listening to it, but this is the kind of concert where I am half-listening and half trying to follow their fingers.

High, high recommend from me.

The music is so bright.

[Harry]

Violin Odyssey, volume I.
Grażyna Bacewicz (1909–1969).
Solo Violin Works: Polish Caprice, Il Capriccio, 4 Caprices (Nos.1–4), Caprice No.24(Paganini/Bacewicz arrangement, with piano accompaniment) Scherzo, Partita (Allegro · Andante · Vivo),  Sonata No.1 (Allegro · Adagio · [third movement title] · Variazioni), Sonata for violin solo No. 2 (Adagio–Allegro · Presto), all works save for one are solo,
Violin Concerto No.7.
Janusz Wawrowski – Violin.
Lithuanian National Symphony Orchestra, Modestas Pitrėnas.
Recorded: at the Paliesius Studio Residence, 2024 – Karol Szymanowski Music Academy Concert Hall in Katowice, 2023 – Lithuanian National Philharmonic Hall, 2024.
Streaming: 96kHz/24 bit. Reference recording, SOTA sound.
Download only, or streaming, no PDF file. Could not find a back cover.

This disc took my breath away, for the system had a field day with an absolute reference recording. Janusz Wawrowski delivers a performance that left me astonished and awash with admiration—not just for his superb artistry, but for the bold, intricate brilliance of Grażyna Bacewicz herself. This is no idle praise: I consider this recording mandatory for anyone who holds her music dear. Whether drawn by the intellectual spark of her writing or the raw electricity of performance, here is a recording to live with, return to, and marvel at.

Bacewicz—composer, violinist, and pioneer—wrote deeply and prolifically for her own instrument. Her solo violin works, spread across decades, are bracing affairs: taut, angular, urgent. The demands are fierce—her music asks for fire and accuracy in equal measure. Fast, needlepoint passagework is offset by sweeping phrases with dramatic contour. But it's not all fevered bow-work: there is wit, elegance, and that peculiarly Polish lyricism—daring, but never sentimental. The performer here is equal to every turn. Wawrowski's tone is silvery and strong, his articulation diamond-cut, and the 1755 Guadagnini violin he plays sings with glorious brilliance.

And then—after all the architectural filigree of the solo pieces—comes the emotional and sonic weight of the Violin Concerto No. 7, composed in 1965, just four years before her death. It is a colossal achievement. In this final concerto, Bacewicz draws on a lifetime of idiomatic knowledge and expressive range, and casts it in glowing, modernist form. Here we find both power and introspection, tension and radiance. The orchestration is daring but always transparent—no detail is swallowed—and Wawrowski rides its tides with expressive eloquence. There are echoes of Bartók and hints of Szymanowski, but make no mistake: this is music of a wholly original voice, rooted in Poland, reaching far beyond it.

And all of it rendered in sound that can only be called state-of-the-art. The violin's presence is almost tactile, floating in an acoustic that is natural and airy. Strings shimmer, wind phrases unfold in three dimensions, and every dynamic bloom feels true and alive. My system opened up fully, responding with a sense of space, breath, and layering that left no doubt: this is reference material.

In sum—if you admire Bacewicz, this recording is not just a fine tribute, but a standard-bearer. Wawrowski's musicianship is commanding, the sound is ravishing, and the music... oh, the music. It is the work of a woman who knew the violin from the inside, who lived through war and Stalinism, who composed with fearless integrity. That such a voice was almost forgotten makes this rediscovery all the more vital.

On my head be it if you disagree.

[Harry]

Seriously tempted after reading this -

https://landofllostcontent.blogspot.com/2025/07/spring-fire-arnold-bax-complete-music.html

Now you have piled on the pressure!

I am so sorry........not    

[AnotherSpin]

[Linz]

Malcolm Arnold Symphony No. 5, Op. 74
Peterloo Overture, Op. 97
Four Cornish Dances, Op. 9
City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Malcolm Arnold

[Roasted Swan]

Malcolm Arnold Symphony No. 5, Op. 74
Peterloo Overture, Op. 97
Four Cornish Dances, Op. 9
City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Malcolm Arnold

Such a great LP - I remember exactly when and where I bought this - W H Smiths on Bold Street in Liverpool!