Toccata

Forgotten music by great composers, great music by forgotten composers. Toccata Press is an independent publisher of books on music.

u'll find here are Alkan, Alnæs, Ashton, Busch, Cotter Nixon, Elcock, Eller, Ernst, Farkas, Farwell, Glanville-Hicks, Lyatoshynsky, David Matthews, Oppel, Ornstein, Peyko, Pickard, Rameau, Ramey, Reicha, Röntgen, Schelb, Sekles, Shebalin, Shostakovich, Süda, Tartini, Alexander and Nikolai Tcherepnin, Telemann, Weinberg and many more. Brian Newbould's examination of the Schubert symphonies, amazingly, was the first full-length analysis in any language. Harold Truscott's book on the orchestral music of Franz Schmidt was the first to be written in English on that composer, nor had anyone written a book on Enescu in English before Toccata Press brought out Noel Malcolm's pioneering study of this great musician. Owen Toller's monograph on Pfitzner's opera Palestrina was likewise the first full-scale examination in English of this neglected masterpiece. Vol. 1 of Andrew Ashbee's examination of the life and music of John Jenkins was not only the first book on Jenkins but also the first on the viol fantasy; Vol. 2 is in preparation. Another of our numerous titles on British music, Ronald Stevenson: The Man and his Music was probably the largest book on any living composer when it came out. And our efforts on behalf of Stevenson continued with Comrades in Art, featuring his correspondence with Percy Grainger and complete writings on Grainger and his music. Recent titles are Tully Potter’s monumental biography of the violinist-composer Adolf Busch and Hans Keller’s collected writings on Stravinsky, coupled with Milein Cosman’s insightful drawings and prints of the composer, a life-and-works study of the major Norwegian composer Ludvig Irgens-Jensen, a study of Szymanowski's opera King Roger and a biography of the Swiss composer Richard Flury.

24/10/2025

The best way to guarantee you won't miss out on any of our November releases of first recordings by Richard Stöhr, Toiva Kuula, Ferdinand Thieriot, and David Matthews?!? Pre-ordering them all in our November Bundle!

Get yours today at toccataclassics.com/bundles

23/10/2025

“beautifully balanced and quite irrepressible, [the album] reveals the composer's fine inventiveness and skill. There is nothing here that would shame a much greater name. One can feel that the composer drew on his experiences as a cellist and chamber musician to produce this interesting and varied music.… I am full of admiration for [the Amadeus Chamber Musicians], presenting a disc of music which is largely unknown. They play so convincingly, and have truly uncovered the essence of this fine composer.” —Geoff Pearce, Classical Music Daily

21/10/2025

🎶 Listen to first movement from Thieriot's String Quartet in B-Flat Major when you pre-save the album to your library and more at listn.fm/thieriotchamberv4

20/10/2025

Listen now to Toivo Kuula's “Kevätlaulu” from Jenni Lättilä and Kirill Kozlovski's recording Kuula: Complete Solo Songs, Volume Two when you pre-add the album on and more: listn.fm/kuulacompletesongsv2

17/10/2025

Listen to the second movement from Richard Stöhr's Chamber Symphony in F Major, Op. 32 today on and more when you pre-add Ian Hobson and Sinfonia Varsovia's new Stöhr: Orchestral Music, Volume Four: listn.fm/stohrorchestralv4

16/10/2025

A look back into the studio with composer David Matthews and Peter Sheppard Skærved recording the Arctic Suite for Viola, Op. 172: V. Second Northern Song on the oldest surviving English viola, made in Southwark in 1641, by Jacob Rayman! Album out 7 November at listn.fm/matthewsviolinviolav3

15/10/2025

14/10/2025

On 7 November, the Amadeus Chamber Musicians present Ferdinand Thieriot: Chamber Music, Volume Four! Available for preview, pre-save, and pre-order via listn.fm/thieriotchamberv4

The Hamburg-born Ferdinand Thieriot (1838–1919) not only shared a teacher – Eduard Marxsen – with Brahms; both composers, who remained friends in later years, use a similar musical language, one which is richly melodic and effortlessly contrapuntal. The musicologist Wilhelm Altmann wrote that ‘Thieriot’s chamber music is without exception noble and pure. He writes with perfect command of form and expression’ – as the works on this fourth Toccata Classics volume prove, in their exquisite balance of depth and beauty, of Brahmsian richness and Schubertian spontaneity.

13/10/2025

November 7 brings the release of Jenni Lättilä and Kirill Kozlovski's Toiva Kuula Complete Solo Songs, Volume Two! Pre-order and pre-save on and more at listn.fm/kuulacompletesongsv2

Toivo Kuula (1883–1918) is one of the many composers who died at a tragically young age – 34 in his case: he was hit by a bullet fired after a brawl at a victory celebration at the end of the Finnish Civil War. The immediacy of the music he wrote during his short life points to the immensity of the loss not only to Finnish culture but to music more generally – as this second album of two, presenting his entire output of songs for solo voice and piano, makes abundantly clear. The range of moods captured here is striking; the most passionate of these songs generate an operatic intensity in their short span, in a style that balances directness of expression and rich late-Romantic harmonies.

10/10/2025

On 7 November Toccata Classics is delighted to release the third volume of David Matthews: Music for Solo Violin and Viola from Peter Sheppard Skærved! Available for pre-order now on toccataclassics.com

David Matthews and Peter Sheppard Skærved have been collaborating on a series of works for violin and viola for many years now, with Matthews setting Sheppard Skærved formidable technical challenges, and Sheppard Skærved surprising Matthews by finding a way to overcome the difficulties in his path. Behind all the pyrotechnics, this partnership is generating one of the largest, and most musically rewarding, body of compositions for violin and viola by any living composer. Many of Matthews’ pieces record his experience of nature or offer tributes to friends, with the works heard in this third volume also tracing a journey from darkness to light.

09/10/2025

On 7 November, Toccata Classics is thrilled to release the fourth volume in Sinfonia Varsovia and Ian Hobson's Richard Stöhr: Orchestral Music series! Available for pre-order now at toccataclassics.com

From the early days of the twentieth century until the Anschluss forced him into American exile, Richard Stöhr (1874–1967) was one of the more prominent personalities in Viennese musical life, as composer, teacher and author. Earlier releases in this series of recordings revealed him to have an individual voice, somewhere between Bruckner, Mahler, Korngold and Strauss. It can be heard in its full glory in his Chamber Symphony of 1912, a sunlit score modest in its orchestral demands but expansive in its ambit and generous in its ceaseless flow of gorgeous melody

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Our Story

At Toccata Classics we aim to bring you fresh classical music as it has never been heard before. We are dedicated to producing top-notch classical music -- ALL our albums bring you first recordings of music that you can’t find anywhere else. We now have nearly 500 albums in the Toccata Classics catalogue, with many more in the pipeline, releasing four new albums every month. Among the composers you'll find here are Alkan, Alnæs, Ashton, Busch, Cotter Nixon, Elcock, Eller, Ernst, Farkas, Farwell, Glanville-Hicks, Lyatoshynsky, David Matthews, Oppel, Ornstein, Peyko, Pickard, Rameau, Ramey, Reicha, Röntgen, Schelb, Sekles, Shebalin, Shostakovich, Süda, Tartini, Alexander and Nikolai Tcherepnin, Telemann, Weinberg and many more.

Our sister label Toccata Next continues along the path of exploration, but with more varied, often multi-composer programmes. Toccata Press is an independent publisher of books on music. Brian Newbould's examination of the Schubert symphonies, amazingly, was the first full-length analysis in any language. Harold Truscott's book on the orchestral music of Franz Schmidt was the first to be written in English on that composer, nor had anyone written a book on Enescu in English before Toccata Press brought out Noel Malcolm's pioneering study of this great musician. Owen Toller's monograph on Pfitzner's opera Palestrina was likewise the first full-scale examination in English of this neglected masterpiece. Vol. 1 of Andrew Ashbee's examination of the life and music of John Jenkins was not only the first book on Jenkins but also the first on the viol fantasy; Vol. 2 was recently published to complete the set. Another of our numerous titles on British music, Ronald Stevenson: The Man and his Music was probably the largest book on any living composer when it came out. And our efforts on behalf of Stevenson continued with Comrades in Art, featuring his correspondence with Percy Grainger and complete writings on Grainger and his music. Other titles include Tully Potter’s monumental biography of the violinist-composer Adolf Busch and Hans Keller’s collected writings on Stravinsky, coupled with Milein Cosman’s insightful drawings and prints of the composer, a life-and-works study of the major Norwegian composer Ludvig Irgens-Jensen, a study of Szymanowski's opera King Roger and a biography of the Swiss composer Richard Flury. David Cairns’ collected writings on Berlioz and William Melton’s life-and works of Humperdinck are among the most recent titles.