Oxford Bach Soloists, Choir
Tom Hammond-Davies, Conductor
Nick Pritchard, Tenor
Yu-Wei Hu, flute

Bach, in his time, could never have envisioned his music being recorded. When we first embarked on our journey with the Oxford Bach Soloists, our focus was not on recording. We were immersed in the live experience, discovering Bach’s vocal works chronologically, in real-time. It was about living the music as all those who performed and heard it did, tracing his steps through each note and phrase. Featuring two of our core Soloists, Nick Pritchard (tenor) and Yu-Wei Hu (flute), this album presents three of Bach’s Cantatas. These include possibly his earliest vocal work, Christ lag in Todesbanden (BWV 4), his only extant tenor cantata, Ich armer Mensch (BWV 55), and the much-beloved cantata, Ich habe genug, showcased here in its arrangement for high voice and flute (BWV 82.2). This recording is a celebration of our journey with Bach, and an invitation to experience his timeless music through our own journey of dedication and discovery.

“Auspicious Bach auspiciously performed!”
Paul Riley, BBC Music Magazine (Performance: ✭✭✭✭   Recording: ✭✭✭✭✭)

“Tom Hammond-Davies, with his ensemble Oxford Bach Soloists, frames the figure of the composer in his thoughts and ideas.”
Sonograma

“The choir sparkles in this performance … Throughout the three cantatas, choir, orchestra and soloists are all excellent”
CMQ Online.

Have a taste and listen here!

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Johan Helmich Roman: Chamber Works for Flute

Yu-Wei Hu, flute

Flauguissimo
Emily Atkinson, soprano
Magdalena Loth-Hill, violin
Henrik Persson, viola da gamba
Johan Löfving, theorbo & guitar

Flauguissimo duo, Yu-Wei Hu and Johan Löfving are joined by violinist Magdalena Loth-Hill, soprano Emily Atkinson, and viola da gamba player Henrik Persson for this recording of eighteenth-century sonatas, arias and trios by Johan Helmich Roman. Frequently hailed by later historians as the Father of Swedish Music, Roman started his career at the Royal Chapel of the Swedish Court, and also spent time studying and performing in London, where it is thought he received lessons in composition from Handel and Pepusch. This album features three contrasting sonatas, two arias from the composer’s cantatas containing flute obbligato parts, and an arrangement of a trio sonata in E minor, evoking a court salon concert in early eighteenth-century Stockholm.

Have a taste and listen here!

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Reviews

"Emily Atkinson, who has a lovely voice, and delivers stylish performances, with some fine ornamentation. The instrumental parts also receive splendid performances. Yu-Wei Hu’s play is differentiated, dynamically as well as in colour and tempo. ...Löfving’s realisation of the bass part is spot-on....It is one of those recordings that attest to the quality of the oeuvre of the composer, and make one want to hear more. It is a perfect case for a relatively little-known master."
Johan van Veen, Music Web International

 Period flute and guitar ensemble Flauguissimo Duo make their Resonus debut with this unique programme of works for flute and guitar, A Salon Opera.

Taking its inspiration from the Viennese salon music from the first half of the nineteenth century, when the music of the concert hall and opera was routinely brought into a more domestic setting, the Duo takes us on a journey through the rich repertoire both composed and arranged for the flute and guitar.

Have a taste and listen here!

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”Genuinely intimate and beautifully played. Worth seeking out.”

- Lark Reviews

“....With magical playing from (Johan) Löfving, the salon atmosphere created could be coming from the pages of Thackeray’s Vanity Fair itself....This album is a joy to listen to from start to finish.”

- TP, Classical Guitar Magazine, 2019

Arranged and adapted by William Hamilton Bird, the Oriental Miscellany is the first published transcription of Indian vocal music in Western notation, taken from live performance. Published in Calcutta in 1789 it was considered an important historical source, reflecting Western fascination with the East, and the vogue for Hindustani Airs.

There has already been a lot of interest in this unusual repertoire from the Centre of Indian Music Experience, Bangalore, a short film commissioned by Penguin India about the opium trade by Amitav Ghosh and BBC Radio 4's mega series Incarnations and went to number 16 in the Indian Classical Charts!

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“This is an intriguing recording…. a fascinating and agreeable collection.

Jane Chapman uses the harpsichord's features - machine stop, lute stop - to full advantage....a Sonata composed by Bird, which weaves at least eight Hindu airs into standard galant structures, played with flair and panache by flautist Yu-Wei Hu. “

- Noel O’Regan, Early Music Review ✭✭✭✭✭ (in all categories)

"(Jane Chapman) takes full advantage of the sonic effects and exotic possibilities of the restored 1722 Jacob Kirckman harpsichord she has chosen for the recording. The range of colours and textures is dazzling, and at sometimes wonderfully suggestive of an Indian sitar. Delicious improvised additions … The playing is smart, clean, refined and inventive."

- Gramophone

"Remarkably colourful performances…ornamental flourishes unlike anything found in European music of the time."

- Telegraph