CDs

•• OUR FEATURED ALBUM FOR JULY 2025 •• Click here to read our blog about this release! Recorded live in concert in October 2024, this release marks the Monteverdi Choir's 60th birthday and the 200th anniversary of Bruckner's birth with an album that combines his celebrated a cappella motets with the sacred motets of Carlo Gesualdo (1566 - 1613). Performed in 2024 by the Monteverdi Choir in Ely, Oxford and the Old Royal Naval College in Greenwich under conductor Jonathan Sells, the album brings alive both the tormented passion and the exultant beauty of both composers' music. Track Listing: Palestrina arr. Wagner Stabat mater Gesualdo Illumina faciem tuam Bruckner Christus factus est WAB 11 Gesualdo Ave dulcissima Maria Bruckner Ave Maria WAB 6 Lotti Crucifixus a 8 Gesualdo Tribulationem et dolorem Bruckner Os justi WAB 30 Gesualdo O vos omnes Bruckner Salvum fac populum tuum WAB 40 Gesualdo Peccantem me quotidie Bruckner Vexilla regis WAB 51 Gesualdo Laboravi in gemitu meo Bruckner Locus iste WAB 23 Monteverdi Choir Jonathan Sells conductor SDG736 • Released 2025

•• 'CHAMBER MUSIC WITH RECORDER' WAS OUR FEATURED ALBUM FOR MAY 2025 •• Click here to read our blog about this release! Having made five previous albums of Telemann on Brilliant Classics, Erik Bosgraaf has demonstrated a special affinity with this landmark figure of the German Baroque. For his latest recording, the Dutch virtuoso has turned to sonatas, quartets and concertos which feature the recorder alongside the oboe, creating a unique survey of Telemann’s chamber output. As Bosgraaf remarks in his own booklet essay for the album, Telemann played the recorder himself (as well as a host of other instruments) and understood from intimate practical experience both the technical limitations and possibilities of the instrument. According to Bosgraaf, Telemann is ‘the Baroque composer who wrote the most idiomatically for the instrument.’ Central to the album is a collection of six trio sonatas, four of them cast in minor keys, exploiting the melancholic timbre of the Baroque oboe. In the same contemplative vein is an A minor Concerto a 7 for pairs of recorders, oboes and violins plus basso continuo. The D minor Quartet TWV 43:d1 is drawn from Telemann’s effervescent collection of Tafelmusik. Lightening the mood is a sparkling G major Quartet, TWV 43:G6, alongside several other quartets from TWV:43, all featuring the lively interplay that makes Telemann so satisfying to play as well as listen to. In making this album, Bosgraaf has been reliving his youth, and his introduction to Telemann’s music at the age of 10: his aim was to recover a high-spirited vitality to the music in performance, which complements the remarkable invention and imagination of his approach to Telemann on his previous albums. "One of the most interesting and versatile recorder players on the scene, and indeed one known for his Telemann" – Gramophone ERIK BOSGRAAF recorder & direction with ENSEMBLE CORDEVENTO BC97411 • Released 2025

NEW RELEASE! Farinelli's Violin, the new CD by baroque violinist Jorge Jiménez , is dedicated to the music written for the great Farinelli, the most famous castrato of all time - the Freddy Mercury, the Lady Gaga of the 18th century...! With this programme, Jorge Jiménez creates a sound fiction in which Farinelli's most famous arias are freed from their words and brought back to their essence: the music. Even though the arias have been 'stripped' of their text (using the historical techniques of transcription, of course, which were very fashionable at the time), they showcase Farinelli's artistry and evoke the noble sound and his open-throated messa di voce that inspired composers such as his brother Riccardo Broschi to write such charming arias as Ombra fedele or Son qual nave. And the arias that Hasse and Porpora wrote for Farinelli also bring us very close to his seductive supernaturalism. PC10458 • Released 2024

Handel’s arrival in Rome seems to have had a miraculous influence on his development as a composer. Something about the eternal city ignited the most productive period of his entire career: there Handel worked with some of the greatest musicians of the age and enjoyed the favours of major patrons of the arts. There he also witnessed the clerical aristocracy’s sensual enjoyment of those very luxuries, excesses, and trappings of beauty that they professed to deny in their sermons. In Handel in Rome , Dunedin Consort and its director John Butt set out to convey Handel’s response to this stimulating and somewhat paradoxical environment with three Italian cantatas. Winner of the Rising Talent award at the 2022 International Opera Awards, Nardus Williams is the star soprano. Dunedin Consort Nardus Williams soprano John Butt director CKD747 • Released 2024

Under Henry VIII, royal progresses were both journeys and sonic experiences. Solemn polyphony accompanied the king’s devotions; jubilant songs rang out in great halls; charming miniatures were shared in the intimacy of the privy chamber. Made in collaboration with the Henry on Tour research project that brought together Historic Royal Palaces and specialists from the universities of Newcastle and York, and recorded in the Rutland village of Lyddington where the king himself stayed during two progresses, this album journeys with Henry from palace to province. Gramophone Award-nominated Ensemble Pro Victoria, under the direction of Toby Ward and guided by Professor Magnus Williamson, vividly capture these Tudor soundscapes in a programme of glorious but often little-known music, including a number of premiere recordings. Ensemble Pro Victoria Toby Way director DCD34335 • Released 2025

•• 'THE ART OF FUGUE' WAS OUR FEATURED ALBUM FOR JUNE 2025 •• Click here to read our blog about this release! The Art of Fugue is Bach’s final composition and one of his most challenging. In this album Phantasm and its director Laurence Dreyfus showcase all the hidden beauties of the composer’s magnum opus, arguably the pinnacle of the fugue genre. Printed in open score, the format allows a rendition on viols, as recorded here. Brimming with rich counterpoint and dynamic conversation among the parts, the work can legitimately claim a place within the consort repertoire. Bach manages to paint a finely delineated set of contrasting musical portraits full of revelations and surprises. Far from an academic encyclopaedia of arcane musical techniques, The Art of Fugue thus embarks on a (unfinished) voyage of discovery shared by an inveterate explorer whose thirst for invention knows no bounds. Organist Daniel Hyde performs four movements in this welcome follow-up to Phantasm’s acclaimed Well-Tempered Consort series. PHANTASM Laurence Dreyfus treble viol, director Emilia Benjamin treble viol Jonathan Manson tenor viols Markku Luolagan-Mikkola bass viol with Daniel Hyde organ CKD759 • Released 2025

NEW RELEASE! Deluxe Edition 128 Page Book with CD The forgotten figure of a 17th-century Dutch recorder virtuoso, illuminated by a unique synthesis of art history, scholarship and modern musicianship. Der Fluyten Lust-hof (The Recorder's Pleasure Garden, or Garden of Delights) is a famous collection of music for recorder composed by Jacob van Eyck and published in Amsterdam by Paulus Matthijsz. The same Matthijsz published a parallel recorder edition in 1644 that he dedicated to a certain Adriana vanden Bergh: Der goden fluit-hemel (The Gods’ Recorder Heaven). Her identity remained obscure for centuries, until the musicologist Thiemo Wind discovered that she was portrayed as the muse Euterpe by the painter Jacob Backer, an illustrious contemporary of Rembrandt. In his dedication, Matthijsz compared Adriana to the muse Euterpe in a four-line poem: ‘Euterpe’s spirit was reborn, or so it did appear, / Whene’er the sound of ADRIANA’s Fluyt I chanced to hear: / A wonder of our century, that such a youthful lass / Wears in the name of all the maidens laurels on Parnas.’ Who was Adriana vanden Bergh? This book and CD tells the full and fascinating story, shedding light along the way on many aspects of culture, religion and everyday life in Amsterdam during the 17th century. As both a musicologist and art historian, Thiemo Wind is uniquely placed to tell this story. He has identified Adriana as the subject of a famous painting by Jacob Adriaensz Backer (1608/09–1651), hitherto anonymous but considered one of the most beautiful portraits of the Dutch Golden Age. Through original research, Thiemo Wind has assembled an eventful biography, which moves in short and lively chapters, each of them illustrated with a telling image, from Adriana’s family background to her birth in 1631, her complex religious inheritance of both Protestant and Catholic observance, her apparently rapid mastery of the recorder, her participation in Amsterdam’s lively performing culture and her status as a musical celebrity even as a teenager, to her marriage in 1650, which probably occasioned the commission of Backer’s portrait. Thereafter the story turns darker, with a tale of bankruptcy, child-birth and -death, family splits and reconciliations, obscurity and ultimately Adriana’s death in 1668, having given birth to her ninth child. The accompanying CD takes its cue from Der goden fluit-hemel, and from the music publications featured in Backer’s portrait, to present new recordings of music with which Adriana would have delighted audiences in her time. There are tunes and hymns adapted by Van Eyck, an air by Matthijsz, sonata movements by Dutch and Italian masters such as Sweelinck, Rossi, Merula and Uccellini, and more besides. Performed by the internationally renowned virtuoso Erik Bosgraaf, in company with his ensemble Cordevento, the recording complements Thiemo Wind’s scholarship to present Adriana’s life and music in the round. THIEMO WIND text ERIK BOSGRAAF recorder ENSEMBLE CORDEVENTO BC97188 • Released 2024

Pearl in the Egg Historical Musicians is a celebrated ensemble that brings history to life through their captivating performances. Specialising in Mediaeval, Tudor and Elizabethan music, their repertoire also extends to Anglo Saxon, Norman, Victorian, Edwardian and 1940's eras. Clad in authentic costumes and playing on meticulously crafted copies of original instruments, their presence is a striking homage to the past. Their contributions to Shakespearean productions and events further highlight their versatility. With prestigious performances at Hampton Court Palace, The Tower of London, The Latitude Festival, and on BBC Radio, Pearl in the Egg offers an unforgettable journey into the musical traditions of bygone eras. This disc contains 19 tracks, including music from the 13th-15th centuries including material by Guillaume de Machaut, Giovanni da Florentia, and from the Cantigas de Santa Maria. PITE2012 • Released 2012

The Comic Muse: The Theatrical World of Kitty Clive Kitty Clive, a captivating figure of 18th-century London theater, was renowned for her versatility, wit, and powerful voice. This recording delves into her world, exploring the diverse musical landscape that shaped her performances. From the lively instrumental interludes of spoken plays to the soaring arias of Handel’s operas, Clive’s artistry transcended boundaries. Her ability to seamlessly transition between dramatic and comedic roles, often incorporating improvised elements, captivated audiences and solidified her status as a theatrical icon. Through a selection of works by composers such as Robert Woodcock, Johann Christoph Pepusch, Thomas Arne, and George Frideric Handel, this album offers a glimpse into the vibrant musical culture of the era. It celebrates Clive’s enduring legacy and the rich tapestry of sound that enriched the London stage during her time. Jonatan Bougt theorbo, baroque guitar Harry Buckoke viola da gamba Thomas Pickering harpsichord, traverso, recorder Teresa Wrann recorder Ella Bodeker soprano Malachy Frame baritone Pretty Little Lyres Apollo’s Community Choir PRIMA066 • Released 2025

"As the progenitor of a style whose influence more or less came to define the in- strumental music of the High Baroque, Arcangelo Corelli (1653 - 1713) occupies a position in music history as unenviable as it is to his great credit. Just what made Corelli’s style seem strikingly novel to his contemporaries is a tricky question. To be sure, his standardization and popularization of certain formal tropes – most notably the succession of movement types in Sonate da Camera and Sonate da Chiesa – was a significant part of what his followers considered the ‘Corellian’ manner. But Corelli’s actual compositional style, his way of organizing musical thoughts into phrases and motives, is fundamentally derived from the expressive capabilities of his chosen instrument, the violin. Certain melodic patterns used to modulate and to effect sequences (e.g., chains of sevenths and fifths) basically derive from specificities of violin technique that amplify an instrument with origins primarily in dance music into one that in Corelli’s hands, could imitate the rise and fall of the sung and spoken human voice. This tension between idiomatically in- strumental techniques and the evocation of the voice is the defining characteristic of Corelli’s style throughout all his surviving works and would establish the “Roman School” as the supreme measure of musical taste for generations. For this exploration of the 18th century’s Corelli Craze, the dynamic star trio of Mahan Esfahani, Hille Perl and Michala Petri unite to trace the Roman’s influence, (sometimes in name only...) on the musical legacies of Bach, Händel and Telemann, and of course two works from the pen of the celebrated Italian Master, himself. Michala Petri recorder Hille Perl viola da gamba Mahan Esfahani harpsichord OUR6220682 • Released 2023

Jan Pieterzoon Sweelinck: The Orpheus of Amsterdam •• 'THE ORPHEUS OF AMSTERDAM' WAS OUR FEATURED ALBUM FOR NOVEMBER 2024 •• Click here to read our blog about this release! If there is one name in the history of music in the northern Netherlands that is etched in the collective memory, it is undoubtedly that of Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck - a composer of impressive vocal and instrumental works of exceptionally high quality. He is celebrated as the "Orpheus of Amsterdam", as he was organist of the Oude Kerk between 1577 and 1621, and the Amsterdam city council knew how to patronise the popular musician in their city and help him to prosper. Sweelinck's vocal works were widely distributed thanks to the flourishing publishing industry, but his organ works also had a great influence on the North German organ school, right up to Johann Sebastian Bach. The Royal Wind Music is a consort of Renaissance recorders of all pitches, from soprano down to sub-contrabass. The ensemble is often compared to a "walking organ" because of its even and polyphonic sound possibilities. In their choice of four programme sections, the musicians contrast a vocal work and an organ work by Sweelinck with variation pieces by Sweelinck himself or two new compositions written especially for this programme and the ensemble. Orpheus' voice thus resounds in a wonderfully cohesive sound, sometimes interrupted by the echo of new soundscapes. PC10462 • Released 2024

The Orange Tree Courtyard Renaissance Music in and around the Cathedral of Seville •• THE ORANGE TREE COURTYARD WAS OUR FEATURED ALBUM FOR MAY 2023 •• Click here to read our blog about this release! An array of international musicians perform repertoire from the golden age of polyphony on an impressive collection of renaissance recorders: together they are The Royal Wind Music . The group was founded in 1997 by Paul Leenhouts and has captivated a steadily-growing worldwide audience ever since with its performances of instrumental music from the period 1520-1640. Playing entirely from memory and without a conductor, The Royal Wind Music is also known for its engaging performances and ability to communicate with the audience. The Cathedral of Seville is a gigantic building even by today's standards - in 1401, the city's ecclesiastical superiors decided to build a huge church in place of the former mosque, which future generations would still marvel at, and is one of the largest churches in the world. From the former mosque, the magnificent tower "La Giralda" remains, as well as the courtyard planted with orange trees, which also gives the name to the new CD by The Royal Wind Music. The flute consort, consisting of 11 recorders of all sizes, takes the listener on a walk around and into the cathedral and lets Renaissance works created for this place sound at each station. The walk begins in the famous orange tree courtyard, goes to the magnificent altar of the Virgin Mary, looks out over the city from the tower, visits the tombs of the musicians Francisco Guerrero and Francisco Peraza as well as Christopher Columbus' son, the scholar Hernando Colon, until the path ends again in the courtyard. The music gathers the who's who of the Spanish Renaissance: Pedro de Escobar , Francisco Guerrero , Cristobal de Morales , Miguel de Fuenllana , to name but a few. PC10448 • Released 2023

NEW RELEASE! •• "FATHER & SON" WAS OUR FEATURED ALBUM FOR JUNE 2024 •• Click here to read our blog about this release! Cellist George Ross studied at Royal College of Music in London where he encountered the baroque cello, receiving lessons from Richard Tunnicliffe, then pursued a Masters in historical cello at the Royal Conservatory of The Hague with Jaap ter Linden. In 2013, he founded the Consone Quartet which became the first period instrument string quartet to be selected as BBC New Generation Artists. Most recently, George has enjoyed returning to the English Haydn Festival as a soloist to perform concertos by C. P. E. Bach and Schumann. He has worked with such groups as the English Concert, Academy of Ancient Music, Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, Arcangelo, and the Hanover Band. Alastair Ross was a chorister at Christ Church, and later an organ scholar at New College, Oxford. As a freelance organist and harpsichordist for fifty years, Alastair has played for The Sixteen and the Academy of Ancient Music, appearing on all their award-winning recordings for most of that time. For twenty years, with his wife Gilly, he directed Concerto delle Donne , a three-soprano group specialising in music from 17 th – and 18 th -century Italy and France. They made two recordings for Signum Records, the first one of music by Carissimi, and a visit to a historic organ outside Paris resulting in a further CD of Charpentier’s church music. Geminiani Sonata No. 4 in B-Flat Major Geminiani Sonata No. 5 in F Major Scarlatti Folia, from Toccata VII Geminiani Sonata No. 2 in D Minor Geminiani Sonata No. 1 in A Major Duphly Chaconne in F Major Geminiani Sonata No. 6 in A Minor Geminiani Sonata No. 3 in C Major GEORGE ROSS cello ALASTAIR ROSS harpsichord DXL1199 • Released 2024

New release! Maciej Skrzeczkowski , the winner of the MA Competition in Bruges in 2023, devotes his new album to John Bull (1562 – 1628), an English composer who fled his country to take refuge in the Netherlands not only because of his Roman Catholic faith but also because of charges of immorality. There could be nothing more logical in this context than to use copies of English virginals as well as of a typical Dutch adaptation of the instrument known as the moeder en kind (mother and child). This association between English style and Dutch musical practice is clearly evident in John Bull’s works, as he had also been in contact with the Amsterdam organist Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck. MACIEJ SKRZECZKOWSKI virginals RIC462 • Released 2024

We know that key influences on Flamenco date back to Islamic Iberia or the Al- Andalusian era of Spain between the 8th-15th centuries. Yet the first mention of Flamenco by name is not until 1774, where it appears in an epistolary novel, Cartas Marruecas, by the playwright and soldier, Jose de Cadalso y Vazquez. What happened in these intervening centuries? In collaboration with soprano Victoria Couper, kanun player, Konstantinos Glynos, and oud/Flamenco guitarist, Ignacio Lusardi Monteverde, this album seeks to explore this question by tracing the influences on Flamenco through Arabic music alongside Sephardic song and the Spanish composers of the late-16th to 18th centuries. Lux Musicae London Sophie Creaner, Mirjam-Luise Münze l recorder * Roberta Diamond soprano Daniel Thomson tenor Aileen Henry baroque harp Toby Carr baroque guitar, lute Harry Buckoke viola da gamba with ** Victoria Couper soprano Konstantinos Glynos kanun Ignacio Lusardi Monteverde flamenco guitar, oud Press Quotes ‘An enjoyable excursion through Southern Spain across three hundred years – The singers are perfect for this repertoire… The instrumental work is neat and full of character.’ (MusicWeb International) FHR157 • Released 2025

•• 'A GIFT FOR YOUR GARDEN' WAS OUR FEATURED ALBUM FOR JANUARY 2025 •• Click here to read our blog about this release! Countless wealthy people in eighteenth-century Europe developed a passion for botany. This passion went far beyond the simple pleasure of gardens, reflecting rather a growing fascination with the natural world. German composer Georg Philipp Telemann shared this passion and energetically cultivated his collection, often begging friends and correspondents to send him specimens. The creative landscape of Telemann’s life was undoubtedly filled with floral and musical colour. Ensemble Hesperi , a period ensemble based in London, presents a programme that celebrates Telemann’s botanical passion. His published correspondence shows that he often wrote to his musician friends abroad, asking them to send him plant specimens. Among these friends were George Frideric Handel and Johann Gottlieb Graun, each of whom is represented here by a trio sonata, and there is also music by Telemann himself: one of his difficult ‘Paris Quartets’, a raucous sonata in G minor and a haunting fantasia for solo recorder. In a letter to a friend, Telemann spoke of his passion for hyacinths, tulips, ranunculi ‘and especially for anemones’. The composer of four instrumental collections containing floral musical miniatures, James Oswald had to be part of this programme, and so we are treated to ‘The Hyacinth’, ‘The Anemone’ and ‘The Tulip’ from his ‘Airs for the Spring’. MARY-JANNET LEITH recorders MAGDALENA LOTH-HILL baroque violin FLORENCE PETIT baroque cello THOMAS ALLERY harpsichord BIS2508 • Released 2024

•• 'A LOVER'S DEATH' WAS OUR FEATURED ALBUM FOR FEBRUARY 2025 •• Click here to read our blog about this release! The eleventh and final release in The Orlando Consort's comprehensive Machaut survey easily maintains the standards of its predecessors. The closing couplet of the final track - 'Their singing will be sublime/ Harmoniously will they render him praise' - might well serve as a motto for the Orlandos' achievement, not only in this album but throughout an illustrious career. CDA68430 • Released Jan 2025

Baroque Alchemy is the realisation of a long held dream. Ever since the explosion in popularity of synth-led bands and ‘new age’ music in the 1980s, recorder virtuoso Piers Adams has nurtured a vision to combine the simple beauty of the recorder - and the drama of baroque music - with the extraordinary, expansive sound-world of the electronic era. Now, following a 25-year international career as front-man of the acoustic baroque super-group Red Priest, Piers presents a stunning new project with his keyboardist partner Lyndy Mayle which turns the traditional early music recital on its head, transporting it into a new dimension for the 21st century. By replacing the familiar 'continuo' sound of the harpsichord with the universe of possibilities offered by modern-day synthesiser technology Piers and Lyndy are able to expand upon the musical dreams of composers of the past. The scientific wizardry of the synth is balanced by the simplicity and natural expressive power of the recorder, thereby creating a perfect blend of ancient and modern in a truly dazzling and moving performance. Baroque Alchemy is a beacon for our changing musical times and aims to introduce an entirely new audience to music of the past, as well as taking traditional classical music lovers on an exciting journey of discovery. With just two musicians - travelling with a keyboard, a quiver of recorders, a Macbook and a state of the art Bose PA - this self-contained show is perfect for all situations, from intimate chamber venues to large festival stages. At the heart of everything Piers and Lyndy do is a genuine love of the music, a depth of knowledge of baroque performance practice and a truly open-hearted, adventurous approach to performance which draws in the audience and makes the music fresh and accessible to everyone. Whether you are a classical concert society looking to programme something a little different or an eclectic music promoter wanting to introduce your audience to the classics in a way which will genuinely engage and surprise them, Baroque Alchemy is guaranteed to fill the bill! Piers Adams recorders Lyndy Mayle keyboards RP016 • Released 2024

NEW RELEASE! The album ‘Foreign Masters’ by recorder player Max Volbers and harpsichordist Alexander von Heißen could also be compared to an exciting historical novel. The story takes place in bustling 18th century London. Even then, it was one of the largest cities in the world, a centre of trade, a place of nobility and the rich, but also of the hard-working and underpaid population. People from many up-and-coming industrialised nations come together in London and a wide variety of languages are spoken on the streets. At the same time, London is also the cultural capital of Europe with a rich and lively music scene. In the evenings, people come together at the opera, in the concert halls, but also in the many private salons and theatres. You can hear new music by George Frideric Handel, Arcangelo Corelli, Alessandro Scarlatti and Giuseppe Matteo Alberti. These cultural highlights were widely reported in the first daily newspapers of the time, which did not go unnoticed abroad and attracted even more musicians and composers to London. For this is the story of the foreign masters. London was then, as it is today, a melting pot of the European cultural scene. Anyone who thought highly of themselves, or who - to put it bluntly: wanted to earn money - went to London and presented their music there. Max Volbers and Alexander von Heißen have compiled music from ten composers and one anonymous source in this novel - oh, sorry: on this album - that turned the London music world of the 18th century on its head. All of them, apart from a certain William Babell, did not come from England, but from Italy, France and Germany. Without the continent's skilled musicians and composers, this important music scene would not have existed. Many of them are still regarded as masters today, while a few have unfortunately been forgotten. But this is another reason why this excellent compilation offers added value. Some of the pieces became so well known that today they would be described as ‘hits’. For example, Corelli's Violin Sonata op. 5, which was written and published in Italy but triggered a Corelli hype in England that lasted for more than 50 years. Yet Arcangelo Corelli never set foot on English soil. We owe this hype to the resourceful music publisher John Walsh, who gathered the European composer elite of the time around him, published their works, printed them and had them performed. He turned some composers into stars in the cosmopolitan city of London. MAURICE STEGER recorder ALEXANDER VON HEIßEN harpsichord 0303407BC • Released 2024

NEW RELEASE! •• 'BENEATH A PALE MOON' WAS OUR FEATURED ALBUM FOR AUGUST 2024 •• Click here to read our blog about this release! Beneath A Pale Moon is the debut album from BLOCK4. Formed in 2012, BLOCK4 is a British-European professional recorder quartet, presenting a dynamic approach to contemporary consort music as well as offering a captivating interpretation of music from the Renaissance and Baroque periods. BLOCK4 is passionate about sharing the recorder’s diverse repertoire with a wide audience, and performs in all types of venues – in recent years the ensemble has been spotted in concert halls, museums, churches, schools, pubs, clubs, and libraries, among many others. In addition to concerts, BLOCK4 leads outreach work throughout the UK and frequently gives workshops for young recorder players, for those new to the instrument, and for both mainstream and SEND schools. Beneath A Pale Moon features music by Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina, Matthew Olyver, Francisco Guerrero, Michael Praetorius, Andrew Crossley, Tarquino Merula, Michiel Mensingh, Wojtek Blecharz and arrangements of anonymous folk and medieval tunes. The CD booklet contains an accompanying story by Essa Flett. Emily Bannister, Verena Barié, Rosie Land & Daniel Scott recorders TTK0109 • Released 2024

•• 'MOZART: REQUIEM' WAS OUR FEATURED ALBUM FOR MARCH 2025 •• Click here to read our blog about this release! The sublime reflection of a human being facing the end of life and what comes afterwards, Mozart’s Requiem reaches beyond the realm of music to attain universal resonance.The sublime reflection of a human being facing the end of life and what comes afterwards, Mozart’s Requiem reaches beyond the realm of music to attain universal resonance. Raphaël Pichon’s interpretation of this testamentary work, nurtured by a seminal experience with stage director Romeo Castellucci and punctuated by earlier sacred pieces of Mozart, is overwhelmingly moving.’s interpretation of this testamentary work, nurtured by a seminal experience with stage director Romeo Castellucci and punctuated by earlier sacred pieces of Mozart, is overwhelmingly moving. Pygmalion Raphaêl Pichon director Ying Fang soprano Beth Taylor contralto Laurence Kilsby tenor Alex Rosen bass-baritone Chadi Lazreq treble HMM902729 • Released 2024

NEWLY REISSUED • PRESSED ON VINYL FOR THE FIRST TIME The LP issue of a favourite Brilliant Classics recording: Recorder Concertos by J.S. Bach played by Erik Bosgraaf and Ensemble Cordevento . Although Bach clearly felt at home composing for the recorder, featuring it in major works including the Brandenburg Concertos and several cantatas, he never composed a concerto for solo recorder – in fact, he only wrote original solo concertos for harpsichord and violin. However, an examination of Bach’s compositional practices reveals that it was customary during his era to adapt or reuse musical material in new compositions. Taking this into consideration, the creators of this recording have drawn on a range of sources to answer the question of how a solo recorder concerto by Bach might have sounded. Presented here are the four full recorder concertos, based on material taken from existing harpsichord concertos and cantata movements, which Bach himself often reused or transcribed for different instrumentation. The music is played by Erik Bosgraaf and Ensemble Cordevento , performed on a range of recorders and period instruments. Gramophone writes about this recording: “Erik Bosgraaf’s recorder-playing is fluent and lively in fast music, and his five colleagues (single strings and harpsichord) provide accompaniments that are lean, stylish and precise. His rapid passagework is impressive and Ensemble Cordevento’s playing of fast music is joyful and accomplished.” ERIK BOSGRAAF recorder & direction with COLLEGIUM MUSICUM RIGA ZEFIRA VALOVA violin IVAN ILIEV violin ZDENKA PROCHAZKOVA viola LINDA MANTCHEVA cello ALESSANDRA PIANU harpsichord 180g vinyl • 33 ⅓ rpm BC90012 • Released 2023

FIVE-DISC CD BOX SET: 100 TRACKS! “That man can do anything!” exclaimed the late, legendary recorder player and conductor Frans Brüggen when asked by Tijdschrift Oude Muziek about his young colleague Erik Bosgraaf . “He had an upcoming concert of the music of Van Eyck at the Amsterdam Amstel church and sent me an invitation. His playing was superb, so inspired and technically impeccable.” It was Brüggen’s birthday, but that didn’t stop him attending. When soon afterwards Brüggen conducted Bach’s Actus tragicus (Cantata BWV106) in the Amsterdam Concertgebouw, he invited Bosgraaf to play the first recorder part. Erik Bosgraaf’s quick rise to fame is directly attributable to his debut on Brilliant Classics: a three-disc box devoted to Jacob van Eyck’s (1589/90–1657) “Der Fluyten Lust-hof” (The Recorder’s Garden of Delight). Released in 2007 on the 350th anniversary of the Utrecht composer’s death, the recording was made at the request of the Van Eyck scholar Thiemo Wind who said he had never before come across a recorder player with so much understanding of this virtuoso solo repertoire and such a capacity for playing it: the sprezzatura, the casual ease and spontaneity this music, originating in improvisation, demands. The set was a worldwide hit, even winning over some diehard recorder haters. Erik Bosgraaf was clearly one of the instruments greatest players. This 5-disc set offers a sample of Erik Bosgraaf’s achievements in the field of baroque music, beginning with Van Eyck and embracing his milestone recordings of Bach, Handel, Vivaldi and Telemann. DISC ONE: Jacob Van Eyck: Der Fluyten Lust-Hof (selection) - 2006 DISC TWO: J S Bach: Solo Concertos - 2008 DISC THREE: G F Handel: The Recorder Sonatas - 2009 DISC FOUR: A Vivaldi: Recorder Concertos - 2011 DISC FIVE: G P Telemann: The Recorder Sonatas - 2015 ERIK BOSGRAAF recorder & direction with FRANCESCO CORTI harpsichord IZHAR ELIAS baroque guitar ENSEMBLE CORDEVENTO BC96440 • Released 2021

Recorder virtuoso Erik Bosgraaf was personally granted permission to arrange for recorder Boulez’ “ Dialogue de l’ombre double ”, originally for clarinet and electronics. Bosgraaf says: ‘I noticed that Mr Boulez liked the texture right away. And he told me why. It reminded him of the origin of the piece, which was a rain song in South East Asia, where they applied a similar kind of melody technique with the human voice.’ The result is a dynamic interplay between Bosgraaf’s recorder and the fascinating electronic timbres and colours. The second work on this release is a musical dialogue between Bosgraaf and electronic wizard Jorrit Tamminga , creating unheard-of sounds of the recorder interwoven in electronic sound tapestries. A great addition to the Boulez discography! And a testimony of the versatility of Erik Bosgraaf, equally at home in Baroque as in contemporary music, always curiously finding new expression possibilities for his instrument. ERIK BOSGRAAF recorder JORRIT TAMMINGA electronics BC94842 • Released 2015