Reviews

A notable contribution to the British quartet repertoire… well worth getting to know. All I can do is to recommend these discs very strongly. The performances seem excellent as is the recording quality, and the booklet notes are splendid. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Sounds real, involved and borne by a living spirit..[No. 4] in particular has captured my unswerving attention. These masterful quartets are given here their world premiere recording by the distinguished Fitzwilliam String Quartet.

Ramsay’s quartets reveal a deep understanding of and admiration for the genre’s giants. Ramsay shies away from contemporary trends – his music is vastly more distinctive.

The playing is excellent and enthusiastic. All four of John Ramsay’s String Quartets are worthy examples of the genre and undoubtedly deserve a place in the repertoire. They form an impressive cycle.

While the music is intellectually challenging, it’s also very approachable, making for one of the most interesting chamber releases to appear in some time. The performances by the Fitzwilliam String Quartet are impeccable… razor sharp precision, confidence and emotional commitment. The sound is exceptionally clear.

Ramsay’s quartets are fundamentally tonal, with a good deal of chromaticism along the way .. typified by well-structured movements … they are deeply considered, individual, serious, sculptured works. Their self-evident intellectual grounding makes their instant approachability all the more gladdening. [The Fitzwilliams] perform John Ramsay with the same intensity and attentiveness they have previously accorded Shostakovich.

A notable new CD release. At a time when decoding is mandatory to separate spin from substance, it is refreshing to discover a CD release that does exactly what it says on the can. Totally committed performances are captured in excellent sound. John Ramsay comes to us as a fully formed composer with something important to say and the technique to say it.

This is a worthwhile and substantial body of work which convinces through the quality of its performances. John Ramsay is indeed fortunate to have the support of such a fine string quartet and with an excellent recording this is a release which deserves respect and attention.

John Ramsay is an interesting character. His music is essentially tonally based, appealing to the ear, but not without a more acerbic side and also capable of some depth. A spirited performance by the Fitzwilliam Quartet.

Christopher Redgate’s technical command is astonishing thoughout… well worth the attention of listeners in any hemisphere.

This new instrument meets the demands not only of adventurous players … but also by the imaginative demands of composers. [Roxburgh’s] is a carefully crafted work of sensitivity and consummate skill. Finnissy is so superbly inventive that the hour [of Awâz-e Niyâz] passes without undue stress. A monumental work. The research behind this remarkable CD is well rewarded by music that is as fascinating and challenging as it is revelatory.

[Finnissy’s piece] has a ritualistic, meditative quality… and then suddenly you fall into his fantasy… you lose your place and realise how liberating that is. Edwin Roxburgh’s soberer The Well-Tempered Oboe gives Redgate plenty of technical substance to chew on, but the Finnissy obliges him to play beyond himself.

Since [Edwin Roxburgh] is an oboist himself, his music is idiomatically written Both oboist Redgate and pianist Stephen Robbings play with the highest degree of artistry. [Finnissy’s work] is a fine composition. Oboist Christopher Redgate is a consummate virtuoso and composer-pianist Michael Finnissy plays with great precision. The sound is excellent.

The music on this disc is challenging with the striking microtones of the Well-Tempered Oboe and the repetitions of Awaz-e Niyaz. However, concentrated listening brings immense rewards with intriguing and unusual sounds many of which are very beautiful. Christopher Redgate’s playing is simply spectacular. The recording is excellent and there are informative notes on the instruments and the musicians by Christopher Redgate, as well as individual notes on the music by Edwin Roxburgh and Michael Finnissy.

Roxburgh’s Well Tempered Oboe [is] exceedingly well written. Finnissy’s 55-minute meditation [is] a hypnotic, eventually explosive unfolding.

It’s always a joy to hear Redgate play anything at all, but this coupling of works by Edwin Roxburgh and Michael Finnissy does fine justice to the Howarth-Redgate instrument.

Ed Hughes is a composer with an individual voice and a concise way of saying what he has to say. His music is compelling. The performance [of the chamber works] is remarkably assured. [Richard Casey] plays Hughes’ beautiful score [Orchids] with the utmost transparency. His myriad colourings are captured in the exemplary recording. The vocal piece A Buried Flame…demonstrates remarkably fine scoring… a powerful statement that reverberates long after the music finishes, A most stimulating release. I do urge you to hear this.

Three English composers who were unfashionably lyrical last century delight us now.

The [performers’] varied ensemble is typified by a pleasing, measured equanimity and innate sense of proportion: an ideal approach in music of pastoral character. Throughout the disc there’s balm to spare; truly a panacea for the stressed or troubled in spirit.

Sometimes I’m a bit slow to cotton on to the discoveries that my colleagues have made. In this case … I’m pleased that I’ve now made it. The download sounds very well. DISCOVERY OF THE MONTH OCTOBER 2012