LATEST NEWS    LATEST RELEASES    
FUTURE RELEASES

LATEST NEWS from Brandon Music and Divine Art worldwide:

September 4: We are very sorry indeed to note the death on September 3rd of composer John Jeffreys, only a few days after the passing of his wife Pauline whom he had nursed for 30 years. The musical world especially in England has lost a composer whose traditional style, folowing Delius, Finzi, Warlock and Moeran, seemed obsolete to some, but is enjoyed and appreciated for its unalloyed lyricsm and beauty.

At the time of his death John was looking forward despite ill health to the recording of his Cello Concerto, with the Philharmonia Orchestra under Paul Bateman, which it is planned will take place later this month, and we hope to have further news in due course of what will be a fine and suitable tribute. Meanwhile, our three current CDs of Jeffreys' music remain a lasting testament to a highly talented but much under-rated figure.

September 1: All of the new releases for autumn (including those due in the stores up to late October) are available here now. Also we are pleased to offer through our associate Brandon Music Publishing sheet music of two pieces by John Williamson - The Ploughman (song) and the lovely piano piece Lament for Sarah

July 18: The first release from our Heritage Media label will be issued in digital download only around November, with a CD version possibly early in 2011. Heritage Media owns a fascinating and extensive catalogue of vintage radio dramas which have proved popular with three generations - and is now being completely re-launched for the digital age. The first release will be the 16 classic episodes of 'Sherlock Holmes' stories, starring Sir John Gielgud and Sir Ralph Richardson - in fact you can find these now on Audible.com - and full worldwide digital release November. PLEASE NOTE - Heritage Media Limited has remastered and edited these old tapes and owns the copyright. We are aware that another company has issued unauthorised pirate copies on Audible - even copying our artwork. Only the Heritage Media version is legal.....

July 16: For some time we have been represented in the Czech Republic by Europe RCD of Prague (also known as Russian CD Shop). RCD are now appointed as our distributors to the Russian Federation also.

July 4: Our new 'disc of the month' at special low price is in fact two discs: both to honour the bicentenary of Robert Schumann: click 'special offer' in the menu panel to get two extraordinary performances at bargain price. Three more new releases now available, which will not be in the shops until September: click 'latest releases' above for details.

June 10: As ever, our new releases are made available here well before thier offical launch in the high street and external mail order sites. You can now order our new contemporary free jazz album (see Latest Releases below for details). This is a release of our USA branch.

June 1: Lovers of visual art - please visit our associate Brandon Music site Gallery page - we now host an exhibition of paintings by world renowned artist Warren Kimble; no longer working in his folk-art style, his new work is bold and beautiful.

May 17:Two new releases, 'Idylls and Elegies' and 'Composes par Mr. Hayden' are now available - in high street stores July. See details in the 'Latest Release' section below.
We have appointed a distributor for the People's Republic of China (including Hong Kong) and will be pleased to be working the Shun Cheong Record Co. which is based in Hong Kong. They will be promoting one of our CDs at a major concert this month.

May 8: We have just heard that composer John Ellis died on 26 April after a year-long illness. Our condolences and sympathy go to his family. It is fitting that the very fine recording of Ellis' organ music by Robin Walker (dda25087) should have been released only a week before his passing and we hope it stands, along with the previous CD by Ronald Frost, as a fitting tribute to a composer of exquisite music for organ.

MAJOR CHARITABLE PROJECT
If there is any charitable organisation in the UK which above all commands respect and gratitude, it is Macmillan Cancer Support. The work of the Macmillan nurses is legendary as we know personally. Divine Art is honoured and delighted to be able to support Macmillan with the issue of a splendid new CD by Carol Jarvis, a brilliant young trombonist (and sufferer from Hodgkin's Lymphoma) and perfect role model for those afflicted. The CD is for obvious reasons aimed at the mass easy listening market, with new arrangements of jazz and Broadway classics, and four new pieces written specially for the album; Carol is accompanied by a fine session orchestra under the direction of Roderick Dunk (regular conductor of the BBC Concert Orchestra). We hope that the quality of the music will appeal also to hardcore classical enthusiasts. The project has attracted the very generous support of many people, not least Australian artist and TV presenter Rolf Harris, who has donated a splendid portrait of Carol for the cover. "Smile" is on Diversions DDV64150 - a digital download version can be obtained from our digital store, iTunes, Amazon, Verizon Wireless and most other providers. An export version will be released worldwide in June.

December 18: New in stock in our gallery at Brandon Music, not strictly music-related but of interest to all art lovers, a small series of limited edition signed lithographs, and also 'Voice of the Artist' CDs - all very hard to come by and serious collectors' items. Artists include Andy Warhol, Connie Beckley, Daniel Johnston and more from the contemporary New York scene See them at our Gallery page

November 27: NEW eight most unique CDs featuring the wonderful music boxes from the Porter Music Box Museum. These are not desktop music box toys but wonderful new machines in the 'Symphonion' or Polyphon' style so popular at the end of the 19th century - sound to resonate around your home.There are five Christmas discs - ideal and perfect gifts . In the catalogue and online store now - click here
ALSO NEW: The new CD from Vermont pianist and composer Cody Michaels, "Winter Suite" is now available from us together with two of his earlier CDs. The first is almost sold out and we hope to be able to stock it early in 2010.

November 15: Our shop in Vermont is setting up a section for CDs by the best of local musicians (and there are many fine artists in the area). We have begun with four CDs by award-winning and multi-talented composer, singer and violinist Derrik Jordan, whose new orchestral work has recently been premiered to great acclaim. Derrik is a master of many styles and his CDs vary from pop-soul music inspired by Stevie Wonder among others, World-fusion music inspired by Africa, and Latin rhythms. Details here.

John Garth Cello Concertos: as well as the highly acclaimed (and only) recording of these seminal early concertos, we now offer the score in cello/piano reduction and the solo cello part (separately). Unfortunately the owners of the new performing edition have not agreed to make the orchestral score available to purchase as yet.

You can now buy the novel Sacred Hearts by Sarah Dunant (to which is related our CD 'Sacred Hearts, Secret Music' ) here at less than list price and with cheap shipping - and save 15% by buying the CD and book together! HERE. The CD has attracted several rave reviews and has been awarded the Gramophone Magazine "Editor's Choice" award for October 2009 in the choral category.

OUR SHOP AND MUSIC CAFE: Brandon Music, the American branch of Divine Art, is open for business in Brandon, Vermont. All of our CDs (most are usually in stock) can be browsed, sampled and purchased in-store, and we will in future also house a 'Collector's Corner' for historic record fans, with recitals of vintage recordings. Great music playing all day, so please visit! Our English tea-room is now open and we will have an art gallery - opening 1 July. Details at the Home Page

Brandon Music, 62 Country Club Road, Brandon, VT 05733 (see Brandon home page for map) tel: 1-802 465 4071
Divine Art group CD store, art gallery and gift shop stocking vintage English fine china, local artists' paintings, handstiched antique linens, prints etc, teawares and novelties. OPEN 10-6 DAILY (except Tuesday) HARMONY ENGLISH TEA-ROOM NOW OPEN 2-5pm DAILY (except Tuesday)

MOVE RECORDS OF AUSTRALIA: Until now supplied from England and priced in pounds, we are transferring the Move label to our US office so gradually during July-August these will appear with dollar prices and US shipping rates.

Pay by PayPal
As well as most major credit and debit cards, you can also use PayPal in both our British and American webstores, though not for phone orders.

OUR OWN DIGITAL DOWNLOAD SHOP OPENS. As well as buying our music through iTunes etc you can now go direct to our dedicated digital store at http://divineartdigital.downloadcentric.net

MUSIC PUBLISHING:
We have also set up a new music publishing company, Brandon Music Ltd, as a joint venture with the renowned and highly regarded popular music producer and publisher Peter Knight. The company will specialise in classical/contemporary "serious" music of all genres, including original compositions, arrangements and transcriptions, and new performing editions of previously unpublished manuscripts. Our first publication is of the six Cello Concertos of John Garth (our best selling CD) in cello and piano version.

DISCOUNT ON 2-CD SETS
For the last year we have discounted many 2CD sets to the price of one CD - almost a lossmaking venture - and as planned, the prices have gone back up but only to $21.99, not to the original price of $24.99. Many of these are brand new award winning recordings and at the equivalent of $11 per CD are exceptional value.

DUNELM RECORDS:
Dunelm was set up for musicians to produce small quantities of recordings for private sale but soon attracted artists of international repute and has received glowing reviews for several releases. Dunelm became part of the Divine Art group in 2008.  Some of the Dunelm titles will be re-issued on Metier or Diversions over a period of time - some are already available   The few recordings made by Dunelm but not actually released are being published on Diversions. 
We do not have individual catalog pages for each Dunelm CD - you can browse the catalogue list but track lists are given on the CD pages in the UK online store. Please note that an order for a Dunelm disc will be processed through our UK webstore.

WEBSITE and NEWSLETTER
Our e-newsletter is published every 2 or 3 months, with details of new releases.  This will contain discount vouchers so to avoid the newsletter ending up in your spam folder, make sure that you clear mail from us and add our address to your "whitelist".  To subscribe to the newsletter, please click here

FUTURE RELEASES:   See below for details - we have some delights in store for you and see the Forthcoming Page.

For quick reference, you can now download our catalogues in pdf format or browse the listings.

LATEST RELEASES (last 12 months - click on catalogue number for more info)

SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2020 - available exclusively here NOW!
A magnum opus indeed is the new 3 CD set of Romantic music for Flute and Piano, all written, inspired by or commissioned by the great Paul Taffanel.. Most of these pieces are recorded here for the first time, so this is a real treasure trove of material - with a few well known gems too! 'A Song Without Words - The Legacy of Paul Taffanel' by Kenneth Smith and Paul Rhodes is on dda21371 For lovers of rare piano music, don't miss the latest in our series of music by Erik Chisholm, performed by Murray McLachlan. Volume 6 (ddv24149) retains the high standard of performance and composition which led a major critic to vouch that the Chisholm series was 'one of the musical discoveries and revelations of the 21st century' (John France, MusicWeb). A fine disc of English song features rare items by Moeran, Warlock and Geoffrey Stern. "Strings in the Earth and Air" is on ddv24152 performed by tenor Paul Martyn-West and Pianist Nigel Foster.

Goldstone & Clemmow continue to make superb and remarkably entertaining albums of music for piano duo. Their latest is astonishingly brilliant... music of the roaring twenties by Gershwin, Milhaud, Hill, Seiber and Moyzes is on "The Jazz Age" - dda25089. From early pioneering jazz to the latest from New York on 'Borderlands' the superb new album from Jonathan Lorentz and his trio... a name to watch out for. On MJ0404.

And rather earlier music, but also the epitome of style and fashion in its time, is the organ music of J S Bach. A fine new recital of bacjh organ music is played by David Hamilton at the organn of Canongate Kirk, Edinburgh on dda25088.

JUNE/JULY 2010
Our series of orchestral and chamber music by Charles Avison concludes with the splendid, recently discovered and never before recorded harpsichord sonatas, opus 5 and 7 on a 2 CD set (dda21215) Performed by Gary Cooper, with violin/cello accompaniment provded by Pavlo Beznosiuk,Caroline Balding and Robin Michael. Moving to the 20th century, we have a new disc of music by John Jeffreys, including a piano suite of variations, three songs )one orchestral and two with piano) performed by the excellent Jonathan Veira, and four orchestral works, which we have to say are of exquisite beauty in the English pastoral style of Vaughan Williams and Delius. One was recorded by the Orchestra da Camera under the late Kenneth Page and three by the Philharmonia Orchestra under Paul Bateman. 'Idylls and Elegies' is on dda25082. Back to chamber music but of the classical period and Joseph Haydn - two famous late quartets (Op. 71/2 and Op. 77/2) and an early work which Haydn named 'Divertimento' (Op. 1/6) are played by the world-renowned Fitzwilliam String Quartet (ddv24151). FInally a quartet of a very different kind, from the leading edge of New York free jazz. 'Macroscopia' is the album of free improvisation featuring the legendary Daniel Carter (reeds, trumpet), Claire DeBrunner (bassoon), Ken Silverman (guitar) and Tom Zlabinger (bass) on Mieter Jazz mj0403

APRIL/MAY 2010
The fifth in our Russian Piano Music series is devoted to the fabulous Romantic music of Anton Arensky. A fine pianist himself who made several recordings in the 1890s, his music is in our view the equal of Chopin's and will appeal to all, Played by Anthony Goldstone on dda25085. The Russian series will be resumed in the near future with several planned CDs of rare and familiar music. Goldstone also completes another series this month - his trilogy of arrangements and transcriptions of stage and celebration music. 'The Piano at the Ballet' (dda25073) has some well loved meloides presented in new and facinating arrangements. We are also delighted to present another very fine young pianist for his debut CD - Christopher Langdown. His celebrated Wigmore Hall recital of June 2009 is released on a 2-CD set at midprice (dda21218). Our fourth CD is also another sequel but on a different keyboard instrument. Our first disc of organ music by English composer John Ellis was critically praised, and Volume 2 (dda25087) contains some exquisite music and Ellis's Organ Symphony.

MARCH 2010
As mentioned above, the major project from our British branch this month is the release of Carol Jarvis's CD "Smile". This has been produced for the benefit of Macmillan Cancer Support which will receive substantial and much needed funds from sales. Almost every family in the UK has been given support by Macmillan and its devoted army of nurses, so do spread the word and help us to make a difference. "Smile" is on ddv24150 (Must be ordered from the UK for legal reasons due to charity law!). No less important musically are two tremendously good piano recordings, both of which we are very honoured to have released. On dda25084 we have the next issue in our Russian Piano Music series with pianist Anthony Goldstone, featuring Sergei Lyapunov, a composer almost forgotten in the West but whose rich romantic music is as good as it gets. And speaking of Romantic music, there is no better than Gustav Mahler. In his centenary year we bring you a superb piano transcription of the Tenth Symphony. Awesome. Christopher White on dda25079.

FEBRUARY 2010
A CD of music for piano duo, mainly jazz-inspired pieces, is provided by the astonishing 20-year old identical twins Rachel and Vanessa Fuidge - surely a pair with a bright future ahead. From pieces as popular as 'Rhapsody in Blue' and 'Carnival of the Animals' to some much less familiar works all of which are lively and exciting. 'A Touch of Class' is on Diversions ddv24146. Our Russian Piano Music series continues with some wonderful high Romantic music by Reinhold Glière, better know for big orchestral works, but showing a brilliance in piano writing matched by the performances by Anthony Goldstone on dda25083. Our third disc is very different in style but equal in quality, featuring music by contemporary British composer David Gorton, one of the several exceptional musicians on the staff of the Royal Academy of Music who grace our roster! The CD includes the Sonata for Solo Cello and the Trajectories String Quartet and other works, and is on msvcd92104.

JANUARY 2010
Just two piano discs, very different from each other. Volume 2 of the Russian Music Series (dda25081)has Anthony Goldstone presenting the quite amazing piano music of Vladimir Rebikov. mostly first recordings, this needs to be heard - splendid easy-to-listen-to and often humorous pieces from the 'father of Russian Modernism' . From Metier, the world premiere of three extended major works by British composer Keith Barnard are played by American pianist Jeffrey Grossman. "Cosmic Light" is on msv28516

OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2009:
Three CDs - all very different. The first is a most remarkable semi-dramatic contemporary work by leading British composer Christopher Fox. 'Catalogue Irraisoné' is performed by the Exaudi Vocal Ensemble on Meter msvcd92103. Two more traditonal programmes: On divine art dda21216, (2 CDs at lower-than-mid-price), Judith Lambden plays the six Partitas by J S Bach; a fine Australian pianist who is busy recording much more Bach. And we announce the start of our major Russian Piano Music series, being produced by our American branch. The first disc features music by Shostakovich and some of his contemporaries, played by the ever-awe-inspiring Murray McLachlan (dda25080)

SEPTEMBER 2009:
Our latest and long-awaited historical project is a 2CD set containing all but one of the recordings of the music of Peter Warlock on 78rpm records, which has been kindly supported by the Peter Warlock Society. Features many top artists of the period 1925-1951 during which these recordings were made, and ll expertly re-mastered by Andrew Rose at Pristine Audio. (ddh27811). New releases from Metier continue with a superb 2 CD set ( mid price), by cellist Ulrich Heinen, former lead cellist with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra. Modern works for solo cello counterbalance Bach's Cello Suites, 1 - 5 (msv28511)

AUGUST 2009:
Two lovely contemporary music CDs from Metier: top British flautist Susan Milan plays a program of modern but very approachable and lyrical pieces by Richard Rodney Bennett, Robert Saxton, Cecilia McDowall, Brian Lock and Dave Heath, with pianist Andrew Ball. "Out of the Cool" is on msv28510. A little more on the challenging side is a disc of new oboe quintet music (msv28513)from Christopher Redgate, judged the best contemporary-music oboist around. "Greatest Hits of All TIme" also features Ensemble Exposé and the Kreutzer Quartet and includes some fabulous pieces, such as the title work by Michael Finnissy. Our third CD is of much more traditional fare, a superb program of piano music entitled 'The Piano at the Carnival" (dda25076). Anthony Goldstone presents music with a Carnival theme by Schumann, Dvorák, Liszt, Khachaturian and Smith.

JULY 2009:
Our feature CD is the superb 'Sacred Hearts + Secret Music' (dda25077) by Musica Secreta. This features medieval/Renaissance works by Palestrina, da Rore and traditional plainchant and polyphonic chant, all arranged for womens' voices, is already selling like crazy, and is issued in conjunction with the latest historical novel, 'Sacred Hearts' by leading author Sarah Dunant, published by Random House, which you can also buy here.

JUNE 2009:
These four discs will not be in the shops until September but available here now. All are recordings of great merit selected from the Dunelm catalogue: First on ddv24141 we have a disc of organ music by the Manchester composer John Ellis, played by Ronald Frost at the organ of St. Ann's Church, Manchester. Then the amazingly talented Murray McLachlan adds to his ever-growing Divine Art discography with three discs devoted to the wonderful and individual piano music of John Ramsden Williamson, on ddv24143, 24144, and 24145. Two English composers worthy of much more notice.

MAY 2009:
Two discs of different style - we have a disc of exquisite modern British music by Jeffrey Lewis "Silence of the NIght" (metier msv28514) with pieces for violin, voice and chamber group, a must for all who have been reluctant to try modern compositions. And "Nuages" (diversions ddv24142) by pianist Panayiotis Demopoulos, includes fine music by Liszt, Beethoven and Demopoulos, in a cleverly 'themed' album - hence the title.

RECORDING PLANS: (see also 'Future releases' page

The list of ongoing projects is growing again (over 50 CDs in the schedule), and here are details of some of the recordings planned for release soon. Many more are in preparation, including many from the Dunelm catalogue (see above).

The American branch is beginning discussions with some American musicians about recording projects (and welcomes proposals) and meanwhile has signed up two of the Divine Art regulars, exceptionally gifted pianists Murray McLachlan and Anthony Goldstone, to be the lynchpins of a new series of Russian Piano Music;volumes 1-5 are now available, and we are working on more CDs in this series, including two (Prokofiev and Rachmaninov) by Russian pianist Sergei Dukachev. We are also hoping to sign up a highly regarded Vermont pianist shortly! Meanwhile, we have signed the Mexican Baroque Orchestra for a CD of concertos by Vivaldi and Facco.

The said Ronald Stevenson is a legend among living composers, and has enjoyed a long association with pianist Murray McLachlan. A special project is in hand, involving the composer and the Ronald Stevenson Society, to record a double CD of Stevenson's music including the awesome Festival d'Alkan, the piano transcription on Mahler's 10th Symphony (1st movement) and other pieces. This recording is being funded by sponsorship; if you would like to make a donation to the fund, send us an email.

One of the leading figures in the new generation of brilliant world-leading pianists is Jeremy Eskenazi. His first CD for Divine Art will be entitled "Rainlight - Evocations of Water" and will feature music by Debussy, Liszt, Chopin, Beethoven and leading Australian composer Alicia Grant.

The Fitzwilliam String Quartet is one of Europe's foremost chamber ensembles and have a glittering history so we are very proud to announce two very different recordings with the Quartet: the first includes three major late quartets by Josef Haydn has just been released on our webstore )in the shops September 2010. The second which features the intriguing and very listenable quartets of contemporary English composer John Ramsay is to appear early next year. The Edinburgh String Quartet are also recording for us, two excellent string quartets by Scots composer John Rose; the CD will also contain two superb piano works, played by Robert Melling. This is new music but totally tonal and traditional in structure, with inspirations from Bach and quite a revelation for those who don't know Rose's music.

More really excellent British chamber music comes from composers John Veale and Robert Crawford - performed by the exceptional LInda Merrick (clarinet), John Turner (recorder) and the Adderbury Ensemble. A most delightful disc due for release very early in 2011.

One of the most ambitious Dunelm projects is the recording by Murray McLachlan of the entire piano music of prolific Scottish composer Erik Chisholm. This will stretch to 8 or 9 CDs, and we have just released volume 6(see above) at mid price. The remainder should be available by mid 2011, and Murray is also arranging to record Chisholm's two magnificent Piano Concertos, and the two-piano works.

More baroque music of the highest quality from Italian composer G A Guido, whose "Four Seasons" is very different from Vivaldi's but a magnificent work. The first recording of this masterpiece will be released on Diivne Art later this year performed by The Band of Instruments.

Prolific pianist Anthony Goldstone has also recorded a disc of favourite piano pieces associated with his teacher, Maria Curcio, who died recently. Curcio, herself a pupil of Schnabel, was extremely influential; this disc is aptly called "Inspiration - A Homage to Maria Curcio)

One of the UK's most celebrated flute soloists, Susan Milan, has joined Divine Art and has signed an initial four-CD contract; this will see two discs with pianist partner Andrew Ball, one of 19th century "flute showcases" and the other of contemporary British music for flute and piano, which is now available. There will also be two discs of chamber trios; as well as these four discs, we are planning several more with Susan including orchestral recordings.

We seem to be attracting some phemomenal flute players, Susan Milan as mentioned, young recording debutant Odinn Baldvinsson, and Kenneth Smith who has made three CDs of romantic music and is currently preparing a major three CD set which will include some very rare items indeed. We are also very pleased to welcome to the fold Richard Craig, whose first Metier CD of contemporary flute music incldues works by Ferneyhough, Sciarrino, Barrett, Fedele, Bång, Croft, Johnson and Karski. Unfamiliar names? Yes, so was Mozart's once. Metier continues its crusade to promote the best of new music and its interpreters.

Our American office is working with several leading jazz musicians from New York and the North Eastern USA. Having just released the first fruits of this work (See New Releases) we are hoping to expand this area of the catalog much more soon.

There are about 20 more recordings for the Metier label in various stages of preparation, and we are working with Metier Productions to bring these to release soon.  Volumes 5 and 6 of the "Beethoven Explored" series with violinist Peter Sheppard Skaerved and pianist Aaron Shorr have been recorded recorded for release next year.   Meanwhile, Metier's modern music series continues with two very fine contemporary progammes - the first features music by Australian composer David Lumsdaine, performed by top British soloists and esteemed ensemble Gemini; then regular Metier artist Ian Pace presents a disc of piano music by Brian Ferneyhough, which promises to be of major interest and also very challenging.

A recital of works for chamber ensemble with electronics by Paul Archbold is making good progress through the recording process for release next year.  A recital of works for chamber ensemble with electronics by Paul Archbold is making good progress through the recording process for release next year.  For lovers of English song, we have a lovely recital of the little known but remarkably fine songs, mainly of World War I poets, of John R Williamson, by baritone Mark Rowlinson with David Jones on piano. 2011 will see a CD of Williamson's settings of poems by AE Housman, with the composer accompanying Nigel Shaw.

The fourth volume of our Galuppi piano sonata series is underway.  Meanwhile, pianist Peter Seivewright is also busy with several projects.  Following the recent release of "American Piano Sonatas" a further four volumes in this series are being prepared.  Peter has also recorded Bach's Goldberg Variations  and a disc of the magnificent piano music of Max Reger.   These should see release dates in 2009.  Peter Seivewright also appears with the Scottish Baroque Soloists in recordings of four Bach Keyboard Concertos, for release in the fall of 2010.

More to come soon!