Bach, J S: Cantata BWV147 'Herz und Mund und Tat und Leben': Jesu, bleibet meine Freude (Jesu, joy of man's desiring)

Martin Hegel’s original arrangements for guitar of some of Bach’s best known works are framed by two of the great composer’s most beautiful compositions for lute and allow the listener to experience the timeless nature of his music when performed on the concert guitar.

SAN FRANCISCO -An outstanding new release from America’s premier professional wind band! The Dallas Wind Symphony has a worldwide legion of followers and this is their first recording of holiday music.

Horns For The Holidays showcases an exciting 12-track lineup including brilliant original arrangements of festive favorites with many first recordings. This sonic spectacular also features the huge Fisk pipe organ at the Meyerson Symphony Center in Dallas, and is faithfully captured by Reference Recordings’ world-renowned team of engineer Keith Johnson and producer Tam Henderson. A treat for wind band enthusiasts, audiophiles, and all who love great holiday music!

And the liner notes are informative and a real hoot, as they might say in Texas!

IRENE SCHARRER, though perhaps the least remembered of the major Matthay pupils, was the earliest to record, beginning in 1909 at the age of 21.That in itself is a credit to her early fame, which she established through an extrovert, but always musical, virtuosity.

She excelled in such works as the Chopin Etudes, nine of which she recorded, and in other brilliant pieces such as those here by Scarlatti and Liszt, but the poise and refinement of her Chopin nocture or the slow movement of the Mozart sonata reveal another side to her playing that is sadly underrepresented on disc. Her final recording, of the Litolff Scherzo, was also her most famous; in its day it was a best seller and was responsible for putting that work on the musical map. This set reissues for the first time all Scharrer’s electrical recordings and also an example of every work she recorded in the acoustic era (pre 1925) that was not later remade as an electrical recording. For completeness, a discography of all her other acoustic recordings is also included.

Andreas Grau and Götz Schumacher met in1981 at the ages of 15 and 16 and have worked together ever since. These transcriptions, mostly for two pianos, include Debussy’s Prélude à l’après-midi d’un faune, Saint-Saëns Introduction and Rondo capriccioso Op.28 and Rachmaninov’s Vocalise.

Heavenly Voices celebrates the tradition of music making at St. John’s College Cambridge. The varied repertoire featured on this Heritage disc not only showcases their versatility but confirms their reputation as one of the UK’s finest cathedral choirs.