Castle Classics Weir, Judith (Scottish B.1954)

J Weir: On Buying a Horse - The Songs of Judith Weir - Ailish Tynan, soprano; Susan Bickley, mezzo; Andrew Kennedy, tenor; Iain Burnside, piano

Label - Signum

Cat. No. - SIGCD087

Including On buying a horse, Ox Mountain Was Covered By Trees, Songs from the Exotic, Scotch Minstrelsy, The Voice of Desire, A Spanish Liederbooklet, King Harald's Saga, Ständchen

Price: £13.70 (Including VAT at 15%)

Quantity:

J Weir: A Night at the Chinese Opera - Soloists; Scottish Chamber Orchestra; Andrew Parrott, conductor

Label - NMC

Cat. No. - NMCD060

2 CD Set

Judith Weir's colourful tale of 14th-century China is by turns comic, melodramatic and tragic. Set during the invasion of China by Genghis Khan, it tells the story of orphaned Chao Lin.

"What are those weird, slashing, wondrous orchestral chords? How did she do that?" New York Times 2002
Price: £25.44 (Including VAT at 15%)

Quantity:

J Weir: The Music of Judith Weir - Janice Felty, Soprano; Xak Bjerken, Piano; Judith Kellock, Soprano; Ensemble X

Label - Albany

Cat. No. - TROY603

Including The Consolations of Scholarship; Piano Concerto; King Harald's Saga

The Scottish-born Judith Weir began her career as an oboist and took composition lessons with John Tavener and Robin Holloway. Her music is performed in Europe and the United States. Her works reflect her diverse interests in narrative, folklore and theatre, with British folk music a strong influence. This release is an excellent sampling for those unfamiliar with her work: The Consolations of Scholarship is a highly-compressed opera, based on 14th century Chinese Yuan plays, where all the characters are played by one multi-voiced singer. The Piano Concerto, where the soloist is partnered by nine solo string players, emulates the scale of the early Mozart concerti; King Harald's Saga, is a “Grand Opera in Three Acts” for solo soprano voice, depicting the attempted invasion of England by Norway in 1066. Inspired by Emily Dickinson, Musicians Wrestle Everywhere is a one-movement concerto for ten instruments, reflecting the “street environment” of Weir's own urban neighborhood. You'll find Weir to be a highly original compositional voice
Price: £13.21 (Including VAT at 15%)

Quantity:

J Weir: Piano Concerto. Distance & Enchantment - Susan Tomes, piano; Domus; Schubert Ensemble; Williams Howard, piano

Label - NMC

Cat. No. - NMCD090

2 CD Set

Including Piano Concerto; Music for 247 Strings; Piano Trio; Arise! Arise! You slumbering sleepers; Piano Quartet; Distance & Enchantment; The Bagpiper's String Trio; The Art of Touching the Keyboard; I Broke off a Golden Branch; Ardnamurchan Point; El Rey de Francia; The King of France

Judith Weir's own choice of her chamber music featuring piano explore Weir's fascination with folk music: the sparkling Piano Concerto explores her Scottish roots.

"Small-scale and elusive... but they are anything but diminutive in their emotional power… she has the ability to make the most mundane of musical material seem surprising." - The Guardian Classical CD of the Week 2003
Price: £15.65 (Including VAT at 15%)

Quantity:

J Weir; Sir Edward Elgar; Sir Peter Maxwell Davies: “The British Book” – British String Quartets - The Reinhold Quartet

Label - Genuin

Cat. No. - GEN86065

Including WEIR String Quartet (1990); ELGAR String Quartet in E minor, op.83; MAXWELL DAVIES Little Quartet No.1; Little Quartet No.2

Completed between 1977 and 1990, the works of Judith Weir and Peter Maxwell Davies featured on this new Genuin release inspire a warm, glowing timbre from the Reinhold Quartet (members of the Gewandhaus Orchestra) whose performance is marked by an immediacy that is palpable to the listener. Edward Elgar's quartet written a good 70 years before hand, composed during the late autumn of the Romantic period, is very much in keeping with the other works recorded on this CD. In short, this is music for musicians and music for listeners
Price: £13.70 (Including VAT at 15%)

Quantity: