Independent Classical Specialists

21/05/2015

Shop of the Month- Abergavenny Music
Abergavenny Music is Wales' premier record shop and was voted Best Classical Music Shop in the UK 2012. With very nearly 25 years of experience in selling and sourcing Classical Music, they can order any recording and any printed music currently available in the UK.

11/04/2015

Record Store Day is next Saturday and most of the shops in our organisation are taking part! In addition to stocking a huge range of limited edition vinyl many are also holding special events throughout the day. Below are some of the plans that our shops have and keep checking back for updates!

Les Aldrich have two local bands performing and free beer!

Heffers Sound have local bands performing throughout the day

Blackwell's Bookshop Oxford are offering 10% off all full priced recordings and discounts on a range of record players

P&C Music are offering a free coffee and croissant to the first 30 people in the queue

13/03/2015

La Oreja de Zurbaran by the Huelgas Ensemble- CD Review by Tony McGeorge (Heffers Sound)
"Divine Vertigo"
This project from Paul Van Nevel and the Huelgas Ensemble was inspired by the paintings of Franciso de Zurbarán, one of the masters of the Spanish Golden Age. His art was directed to a large extent by the then current obsessive goal of the mystical union of the self with the Church (acting as the embodiment of God). In the cloisters of Counter-Reformatory Spain, a ferment of religious zeal and a drive to achieve spiritual ecstasy was to be fuelled by powerful works in both art and music, uniting the temporal with the divine.

Spanish music of the period was of course heavily indebted to both Victoria and Palestrina, yet the old order was beginning to crack; the strict counterpoint of the Stile antico was under threat both from without - in the Seconda prattica which began in the early part of the century in Italy, driven by composers like Monteverdi and Caccini in their quest for heightened realism - and from within in the form of the villancico, very much the voice of the people. Both of these streams can be heard here, ratcheting up the intensity and allowing the visionary sparks to catch and ignite, moving the listeners closer to the experience of that great contemporary mystic, St Teresa of Avila.

Van Nevel has unearthed works by many hitherto unknown composers - mostly cathedral chapelmasters - whose music may well have been heard by Zurbarán, and what extraordinary music it is. Richly harmonic, melismatic and at times highly ornamented, one can well imagine the intoxication which might have resulted as the senses were elevated to a near trance-like state. Not all is sacred, there are some profane works here too, the voice of Lope de Vega by now clearly imprinted on Spanish poetry.

The Ensemble deliver performances in which the devotional focus is reflected with an unwavering resolve, the urgency and drive never seemingly compromised by technical or interpretative hesitations. Rich and visceral one moment, gauzy and minimal the next, the singers push ever onward, the occasional stab of chromatic contradiction only heightening the emotional ride.

Van Nevel's warning on the packet of his Eton Choirbook exhorted against breathing the music in too deeply, lest we too succumb. The same could be said, and possibly more so, of the contents of this quite extraordinary recording.

03/03/2015

Meet the staff: Andrew Cane (Owner of Prelude Records)
Andrew started the business from scratch in 1985, just after the launch of CDs. Dealing principally in Classical recordings, Prelude Records has become the largest classical specialist in the East of England. Andrew has a particular interest in Late Romantic / Twentieth Century Music and is a keen viola player. He has performed with numerous orchestras and chamber groups including the Academy of St Thomas, and whilst at school was lucky enough to play in the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain, under conductors including Pierre Boulez, Simon Rattle and Charles Dutoit.

03/03/2015

Shop of the month: Prelude Records.
Prelude are an independent Classical record shop based in Norwich, in the UK. Staffed by musicians, they have been in business since 1985, and have built up a specialist service driven by enthusiasm and a love of Classical music and Jazz. They have been trading successfully on the internet since 1997.

In 2000 they were recommended amongst the Top Ten Premier Retailers of Classical Music by Gramophone magazine, and in 2003 the shop was included in The Independent newspaper's Top 50 Best Independent Record Shops.

11/02/2015

Check out Ben Hogwood's new classical music site arcana. It does a great job of talking about classical music without jargon and fitting it in to the wider music scene. If you want an example of it's eclecticism the two latest posts are about Olena Tokar and Emika!
http://arcana.fm/

Emika Posted on February 9, 2015 by arcanafm Reply Emika picture © Katja Ruge Up until now, singer-songwriter Emika has been best known for her one-woman electronica, best witnessed on her Emika and DVA albums for Ninja Tune. Yet she has always carried a torch for classical music, and recently relea…

08/02/2015

Music of Solidarity- Tony McGeorge (Heffers Sound)

Orient Occident II: A Tribute to Syria- by Jordi Savall

Afghanistan, Serbia, Syria. Jordi Savall's introductory essay spells out his frustration at the apparent impotence and paralysis of governments in the face of both past and continuing human rights abuses throughout the world. His response is to attempt unification through music, both with his Pro Pacem project and through recordings such as this, which bring together musicians from inside and outside the areas of conflict in celebration (and sometimes lamentation) of a culture.

Orient-Occident II's accompanying book is an exquisitely illustrated companion to the recording. Alongside the pictures of 17c Ottoman ceramics, 14c Arab miniatures and 19c Syrian photographs we have a documentation of the recording itself. As in recent albums such as Balkan Spirit, Armenian Spirit and Orient-Occident 1200-1700 this took place high up in the hills beyond Barcelona at the Castle of Cardona, the ancient chapel providing a detailed yet warm acoustic. Virtuoso musicians from around the Mediterranean region join Jordi Savall in an intimate evocation of the essence of this antique Arabian land.

Music from Sephardic Spain, Renaissance Italy, Israel and of course Syria itself is intercut with Arabic chant and oud improvisations in a recital of myriad hues; the rebab, vielle and ney echoing age-old themes of devotion, love and loss. Instrumental music is balanced by vocal pieces, and it's in these particularly that the spectrum of sentiments is most fully realised, festivity and heartache often within touching distance of each other.

Despite possibly being conceived in a spirit of anguish and despair, Hommage à la Syrie is a reminder that an ancient heritage is bigger than any conflict, the qualities of resilience and hope inextinguishable by fundamentalist regimes of intolerance.

02/02/2015

Independent Music Shop Of The Week:
JG Windows- Newcastle Upon Tyne
Opening in 1908, JG Windows is one of the UK's longest established music stores. The flagship shop which covers three floors is located in the Central Arcade, an elegant Edwardian built shopping arcade based in the heart of Newcastle upon Tyne's city centre. The shop celebrated its one hundred year anniversary in 2008.