The Passing of the Year; In beauty may I walk; My love is Mine; Who killed Cock Robin?; It sounded as if the streets were running; I am the day; Wellcome, all Wonders in one sight!; The Three Kings

The Passing of the Year is dedicated to the memory of his mother and sets seven texts with moving directness and a beguiling sense of the seasons’ passing. It sounded as if the streets were running also celebrates nature, his setting of the storm imagery in Emily Dickinson’s poetry rich in surging climaxes. Vivid characterisation, this time of animals, suffuses Who killed Cock Robin? which, like all Dove’s music, is hugely approachable, varied and exciting.

Jonathan Dove is one of the most approachable of contemporary composers, prizing communication above obscurity, something his choral works demonstrate so well. These settings are intimate, rousing, beautifully crafted and lyrical.

Ballet Music from Otello, Macbeth, Jérusalem, Don Carlo, Aida, Il trovatore and I vespri siciliani

Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, José Serebrier

This unique programme is the first time that all the ballet music from Verdi’s operas has been brought together in a single recording. Although The Four Seasons from I vespri siciliani (The Sicilian Vespers) and the ballet scenes from Aida and Otello have survived, substantial pieces from Il trovatore and Don Carlo are more often cut, while the ballet from Jérusalem is all but unknown.

José Serebrier’s recordings with the Bournemouth Symphony have resulted in some great successes with unusual repertoire. This release will be of interest both to opera enthusiasts and to those eager to explore Verdi’s neglected and relatively small body of concert music.

GRAMMY®-winner conductor and composer José Serebrier is one of today’s most recorded classical artists. He has received 39 GRAMMY® nominations in recent years.

Boléro Op. 30; Zortzico d’Iparraguirre Op. 39; Sérénade andalouse Op. 10; Adiós montañas mias – Danse espagnole Op. 37; Le Sommeil Op. 11; Rêverie Op. 4; Introduction et fandango Op. 40; Fantaisie-Caprice; Prière et berceuse Op. 17; Confidences – Romance sans paroles Op. 7; Caprice sur Mireille de Gounod Op. 6; Airs ecossaise Op. 34; Los pájaros de Chile; Les Adieux Op. 9

Tianwa Yang (violin), Markus Hadulla (piano)

Tianwa Yang’s admired and revelatory Sarasate series continues with a volume of captivatingly melodic compositions. Given Sarasate’s prodigious status in the violin pantheon, technical demands on the performer are often – but not universally – constant. But so too is his unfailing gift for lyricism, whether in the elegant Boléro, the balletic Sérénade andalouse or the aria-like Rêverie. The dazzling bowing difficulties in the Fantaisie-Caprice are thrilling, and so are the bird call harmonics of Los pájaros de Chile, written during a South American tour and only very recently published.

BBC Philharmonic, Peter Maxwell Davies

Peter Maxwell Davies’s visionary music has gained him a knighthood, the prestigious position of Master of the Queen’s Music and a leading position among the foremost composers of our time.

The two works on this disc, authoritatively conducted by the composer, show two sides of his remarkable musical imagination. The First Symphony is permeated by the presence of the sea and the haunting landscape of his home in the Orkney Islands, while the vibrant theme and variations Mavis in Las Vegas is an exuberant ‘tribute’ to the glitzy gambling capital of the world, in all its hyper-reality.

Universally acknowledged as one of the foremost composers of our time, Sir Peter Maxwell Davies has made a significant contribution to musical history through his wide-ranging and prolific output. He lives in the Orkney Islands off the north coast of Scotland, where he writes most of his music. His substantial chamber and instrumental catalogue includes the landmark cycle of ten string quartets, the Naxos Quartets, described in the Financial Times as ‘one of the most impressive musical statements of our time’.

Truls Mørk (cello), Colin Currie (percussion), Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra, John Storgårds

Einojuhani Rautavaara is recognized as one of the most notable Finnish composers after Jean Sibelius. His recordings on Ondine have been bestsellers and garnered numerous awards including a recent GRAMMY® nomination for his opera Kaivos.

Under their chief conductor John Storgårds, the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra builds on long-time pedigrees of performing their compatriot’s music.

This new recording couples Finnish composer Einojuhani Rautavaara’s latest concerto works with an orchestral piece from his early Modernist period – Modificata.