Announcing A New Chamber Music Album for Composer Robin Stevens

Following the January 2022 release of the critically acclaimed album of his cello and piano music (DDA 25217), Manchester-based British composer Robin Stevens is currently recording a programme of his chamber music for mixed ensembles, entitled Chasing Shadows. The major work on the disc is Robin’s four-movement Clarinet Quintet, featuring Hallé Orchestra clarinettist Rosa Campos. This piece embraces, in a contemporary idiom, all the sweep and ambition of Brahms’ own famous work in the genre.

The remainder of the album demonstrates Robin’s penchant for writing for unusual and neglected combinations of instruments. His Romantic Fantasy for Harp Septet – employing the same forces as Ravel’s ground-breaking Introduction and Allegro – is a powerfully original composition encompassing an unbroken twenty-minute span. The Fantasy Trio for Flute, Cello and Classical Guitar explores the exciting sonic possibilities latent in this felicitous grouping of instruments, and a further dramatic contrast in timbres is provided by two miniatures for double bass and piano.

This project is blessed with a stellar cast of instrumentalists, including guitarist Craig Ogden, harpist Clifford Llantaff (BBC Philharmonic Orchestra), and Hallé Orchestra principals Amy Yule (flute) and Nicholas Trygstad (cello).

Chasing Shadows (DDA 25236)

Composer Robin Stevens

Works

• Quintet for Clarinet and Strings
  Rosa Campos (clarinet); Sophie Rosa  & Rosemary Attree (violins) ; Alistair  Vennart (viola) ; Nicholas Trygstad (cello)
• Fantasy Trio
  Clifford Llantaff (harp) ; Craig Ogden (guitar); Nicholas Trygstad (cello)
• Obsession
• Chasing Shadows
  Alex Jones (Double Bass); David Jones (piano)
• Romantic Fantasy
  Clifford Llantaff (harp); Rosa Campos (clarinet); Amy Yule (flute/piccolo) ; Katie Stillman & Rosemary Attree (violins); Christine Anderson (viola); Nicholas Trygstad (cello)