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Although Carl Friedrich Abel (1723–87) is known as one of the last and greatest virtuosos of the viola da gamba, his instrument declined in popularity towards the end of the 18th century, leading him to compose for other instruments; some of his most successful results can be heard in the music recorded on this disc. Abel’s ability to compose particularly fine music for the flute can be traced back his time working at the Dresden court, which possessed one of the greatest orchestras of the era .Among the musicians working there were the flautists Buffardin and Quantz - the latter a prolific composer of flute concertos and sonatas for Frederick the Great, a notable patron of the arts. It is likely that Abel himself was a skilled flautist, and the instrument’s popularity at the time created a great demand for new compositions. The works featured on this disc are less well known than Abel’s music for viola da gamba, and are performed less often. However, they provide an insight into 18th century music’s transition from Baroque complexity to the melody-driven Classical style, and are illuminated through performances by flute soloist Georgia Browne and the ensemble Nordic Affect, specialists in historical performance.

This unusual collection is dedicated to a very popular style: minimalist music. The style has evolved from austere, almost strict repetition to a more varied and free approach to material and technique.

The set includes works for solo piano by most of the famous ‘minimalist’ composers covering three generations from Cage, through Riley and Glass to Adams and Nyman.

In his short life (1911-40) Jehan Alain composed some of the most fresh and original music for organ. The influences of composers such as Duruflé and Dutilleux mingle with Gregorian Chant and jazz and the exotic – the latter Alain discovered at the Colonial Exposition of 1931. Interestingly, many of the organ works were conceived for other forms – orchestra in the case of the Trois Dances, String Quintet for the Suite for Organ: Introduction and Variations for example. Many of the works started life as piano pieces, or for small chamber ensemble.

This 3CD set contains recordings made in the 1930s of the composer performing his Les Fetes de l’annee Israelite and Synagogue Music – fascinating historical documents.

Isaac Albeniz (1860-1909), along with de Falla and Granados, is considered to be not only one of Spain’s leading composers, but one of the founding fathers of modern Spanish music. He began his musical career as a virtuoso pianist, producing a concerto that shows the influence of Liszt, and many short brilliant display pieces.

He studied at the Leipzig Conservatory, and looked set to become a pianist composer in the central European tradition – until he met and studied with Felipe Pedrell (1841 -1922) who awakened in him an interest in traditional Spanish music.

Albeniz combined his mastery of classical form gained from his studies in Germany with the colour and honest simplicity of folk music to create his unique form of what can be considered very high quality salon music for guitar.

The two works on this CD consist in their original form of eight and five movements respectively of characteristic, picturesque miniatures of high skill and great charm. It has become the norm for guitarists to create their own ‘favourite’ selection from such suites to form their own arrangement, which is what Giuseppe Feola has done.

Young Italian composer Giovanni Albini has an impressive résumé. After gaining full marks in his Composition degree at the Giuseppe Verdi Conservatory in Milan, he later obtained a Masters degree, as well as a BS and MS in Mathematics, and a Diploma in Classical Guitar. Much of his work has been for digital media and his theoretical research explores the relationship between mathematical music theory and composition.

This collection showcases a variety of works from Albini's oeuvre, many of which have been praised for their mathematical significance. Strong links to Western Classical music can be heard in each of these pieces, but mathematical theory is also employed in a variety of ways:

Una teoria della Prossimità is completely determined by mathematics, from its structure to its continuity and notation, and Estatica is formed around the single tone of E and expanded outwards. The collection also features three of the string quartets; with String Quartet No.5 -- a rapidly changing piece constantly underpinned by the G minor scale -- followed by the strict motion of No.6 and the innovative No.7, which is based on Albini's own specific system of triadic cycles.

This disc boasts a wealth of performers, including the acclaimed string ensemble Le Cameriste Ambrosiane conducted by Dario Garegnani, Quartetto Indaco and Duo Bonfanti, as well as soloists Fabio Mureddu, Davide Alogna and Giorgio Mirto.

New recording, recorded in Milan and Grugliasco, Turin, in 2012.

Giovanni Albini (born 1982) is one of the most interesting composers of the young Italian generation. His music, firmly rooted in Western musical tradition, explores the endless possibilities of developing small musical elements (a scale, a triad) into a vast musical edifice, held together by the unifying laws of mathematics.

Excellent, dedicated performances by young Italian musicians, closely working together with the composer of this fascinating music.

Contains notes on the music as well as biographies of each ensemble/soloist.

The Venetian late Baroque composer Tomaso Albinoni had a long career in the theatre, and his prolific output included fifty-three operas. However, these stage works were lost and are now largely forgotten, and he is remembered chiefly for his concertos. The Sonate da Chiesa or ‘church’ sonatas, were four-movement concertos and fairly solemn in nature as they were written to be performed in church. However, Albinoni’s Sonate da Chiesa are less traditional, incorporating a range of dance forms, and displaying his elegant style and considerable melodic talents to great effect. The slow movements, such as the Adagio of Op.4 No.6 are particularly appealing. Albinoni’s lyrical ‘church sonatas’ are not what they seem though.

There are two works by the composer which are assigned ‘Op.4’: the Cantate a voce sola, and the Sonate da Chiesa. The latter, or ‘second’ Op.4, were not originally put together by Albinoni himself but collected under that opus number, by the French publisher Éstienne Roger, who borrowed it from the Cantate a voce sola, which he didn’t intend to republish. The Sonate da Chiesa was widely circulated in Europe, and achieved far greater success than the Cantate a voce sola. However, the commercially-minded Roger had a growing number of customers, and needed to keep the flow of new publications going at low cost. This led him to put together unauthorised collections, including this set of Sonate da Chiesa. In fact it contained inauthentic material, possibly by other composers. The authorship of the third sonata in particular is debated by music scholars. Albinoni’s Sonate da Chiesa are performed on this recording by Baroque expert Luca Scandali (organ and harpsichord) and early music specialists Alessandro Ciccolini (violin), Alberto Guerrero (cello), Maurizio Piantelli (theorbo), Miguel Rincón (archlute) and Francesco Baroni (harpsichord).

Adventurous piano Music of the composer in whose presence even Franz Liszt was afraid to play. Piano music ranging from the miniaturist to the gigantic.

Both modern Steinway and period Erard piano are used in this set, a fascinating way of comparison. Charles-Valentin Alkan, often called ‘the Berlioz of the piano’, that mysterious, reclusive genius of the Romantic epoch, will forever be linked in our imagination to Chopin and Liszt, both of whom caught the Parisian public’s attention to a greater extent than did Alkan.

Were they and their music more acceptable to the public due to the greater accessibility of many of their works, neither so uncompromisingly ‘difficult’ as Alkan can be in his music? These demands on the listener take the form of extending a musical idea to the limit of its development – often, in the most extreme cases (e.g. the climax of ‘Quasi-Faust’), leaving the listener feeling as if he or she had been through a hurricane. Might this tendency be traceable to his strictly orthodox Jewish heritage and schooling in Talmudic logic? With Alkan, that extraordinary pianist before whom it is said that Liszt himself felt nervous to perform, the exception, compositionally speaking, becomes the rule.

Famed for its distinctive sound, the viola d’amore – literally meaning ‘viola of love’ – is one of the more unusual members of the string family, an instrument that appeared towards the end of the 17th century and which owes its silvery, angelic tones to the symbiotic vibrations between its two sets of strings, one gut‐ and one wire‐based.

This release celebrates the d’amore’s versatility of sound by bringing together some of its finest Baroque repertoire. Beginning with the Ave Maris Stella, an ancient hymn dedicated to the Mother of God, the compilation takes the listener on an absorbing journey that combines the famous with the not so widely known; from Petzold’s illustrious two partitas – which are considered to be on the same level of importance for the d’amore as Bach’s partitas and sonatas are for the violin – to Morigi’s Capriccio and Menuetto, the compilation also touches on various anonymous works, including the delightful Partita in D.

Dance movements abound, reflecting the Baroque period’s predilection for all things French.

Performing these works is the acclaimed young talent Valerio Losito, who uses a 1775 Gagliano on kind loan from the Fondazione Elsa Peretti. Losito is one of today’s most accomplished d’amore players, and it’s easy to hear why; combining a flawless technique with vivid imaginative detail, this release marks his second recording for Brilliant Classics (the first of which, dedicated to Domenico Scarlatti’s ‘melobass’ sonatas, received rapturous reviews) and strengthens the argument as to why this instrument deserves to be better known.