Wigmore Soloists – Ferguson, Bliss & Holloway: Chamber Music (2023) [Official Digital Download 24bit/192kHz]

Wigmore Soloists – Ferguson, Bliss & Holloway: Chamber Music (2023)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/192 kHz | Time – 01:13:47 minutes | 2,29 GB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © BIS

Following their critically acclaimed albums of Schubert (BIS-2597), Mozart and Birchall (BIS-2647), works for clarinet trio (BIS-2535) and, more recently, Beethoven and Berwald (BIS-2707), the Wigmore Soloists now turn their attention to twentieth-century English chamber works which, while eschewing some of the continent’s modernist tendencies, are both deeply personal and supremely written, highlighting the specific colours of each of the instruments. Howard Ferguson’s Octet, a direct and engaging work, was the first of his works to attract attention. Ferguson’s skill is brilliantly demonstrated in this tonally ambiguous work, which takes its instrumentation from Schubert’s famous Octet. The main characteristic of Sir Arthur Bliss’s Clarinet Quintet, like those of Mozart and Brahms with the same instrumental line-up, is its intense, overtly emotional lyricism, but the sunny, extrovert aspects of Bliss’s character ultimately prevail in the brilliantly energetic finale. Robin Holloway’s Serenade in C for octet is the most recent work on this disc, and also features the instrumentation of Schubert’s Octet, which the composer acknowledges as a model. Few contemporary composers display as keen a sense of humour as Holloway who wished here to give “an affectionate twist to tonal common practice and light-music clichés all the way from Biedermeier Vienna to Southend Pier”.

Tracklist:
1. Wigmore Soloists – Ferguson: Octet, Op. 4: I. Moderato (05:28)
2. Wigmore Soloists – Ferguson: Octet, Op. 4: II. Allegro scherzoso (03:38)
3. Wigmore Soloists – Ferguson: Octet, Op. 4: III. Andantino (05:22)
4. Wigmore Soloists – Ferguson: Octet, Op. 4: IV. Allegro feroce (05:37)
5. Wigmore Soloists – Bliss: Clarinet Quintet, F. 20: I. Moderato (05:51)
6. Wigmore Soloists – Bliss: Clarinet Quintet, F. 20: II. Allegro molto (07:41)
7. Wigmore Soloists – Bliss: Clarinet Quintet, F. 20: III. Adagietto espressivo (08:24)
8. Wigmore Soloists – Bliss: Clarinet Quintet, F. 20: IV. Allegro energico (06:15)
9. Wigmore Soloists – Holloway: Serenade in C Major, Op. 41: I. Marcia (06:46)
10. Wigmore Soloists – Holloway: Serenade in C Major, Op. 41: II. Menuetto alla tarantella (03:22)
11. Wigmore Soloists – Holloway: Serenade in C Major, Op. 41: III. Andante (05:51)
12. Wigmore Soloists – Holloway: Serenade in C Major, Op. 41: IV. Menuetto – Trio (05:28)
13. Wigmore Soloists – Holloway: Serenade in C Major, Op. 41: V. Finale (04:00)

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