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MERIDIAN RECORDS are the original experts in ‘natural sound recordings’. In 1977, at a dinner party, our founders presented their vision for an independent classical label that would reproduce the concert-hall experience as closely as possible. Everyone said it would never work. Thirty four years on we hold a clutch of industry awards, including the honour of being the first independent label to win a GRAMOPHONE award, and we continue to astound listeners and artists with our stylish and captivating recordings using our revered ‘natural sound’ technique.

See Our ‘Natural Sound’ Philosophy for more.

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CDE84607

Edward McGuire - Horn Trio

Thomas Wilson - Compelementi
Erno Dohnányi - Sextet Op. 37

Meridian Records is delighted to announce the debut record from newcomers Daniel’s Beard: with the programme for this release, not so much a recital disc as a ‘take-away concert’ .

The group from Glasgow, named after local cultural icon Daniel Cottier, have already hit the headlines with their role in hosting The Cottier Chamber Project, so this release, which combines a much loved classic of the chamber repertoire with music by two Scots, goes a long way to summing up the ethos of the ensemble.

McGuire’s Horn Trio, written in 1966 and then lost until 2010, is full of Ravellian harmonies and infectious melodies, whilst Complementi, by the late Thomas Wilson, explores the individual and complementary characteristics of the four instruments in this valuable addition to the chamber repertoire. Erno von Dohnanyi’s quirky and irreverent Sextet is a piece that listeners and players alike revel in, as it bursts with Brahmsian harmony and melody with a strong current of wit and emotion throughout.

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CDE 84603- TIME to TIME Onyx Brass with Mark Stone

Meridian Records is delighted to announce the release of their second recording with Onyx Brass. After their last collaboration, Onyx was dubbed "easily the classiest brass ensemble in Britain" by BBC Music Magazine, a reputation since cemented by their innovative and ground-breaking approach to brass chamber music.

The new disc "Time to Time" features the works of American masters (Ives, Barber, Copland) alongside new work from up-and-coming stars of the British music scene (Stuart MacRae, Joe Duddell, Timothy Jackson). It also marks the start of a musical relationship with the formidable young British baritone star Mark Stone, who features in a stunning arrangement of Barber's "Dover Beach" as well as some early Ives songs and the eponymous "Time to Time" by Timothy Jackson. As always, the quality of Meridian's recorded sound captures the magnificent timbre of Onyx Brass's tone: allied to the virtuoso fireworks of the full suite of Copland's "Rodeo" arranged for five players, this leads to an unmissable release from one of the UK's most exciting groups.

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CDE 84433 Music for Piano and Piano and 'cello
Christine Croshaw - Piano
Christina Shillito - 'cello

Meridian Records is proud to announce the release of Music for Piano and Cello & Piano by one of the most fascinating and extraordinary geniuses of his era, Camille Saint-Saëns.

Distinguished and much loved pianist Christine Croshaw, along with cellist Christina Shillito have compiled together piano and piano/cello music of Saint-Saëns which reveals a wide variety of styles: turbulent, colourful, often passionate, sometimes dark, sometimes humourous, callously unpredictable and always individual. With all of the moods he creates, Saint-Saens brings an elegant mastery of form and harmonic language

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CDE 84605
GODFATHER - Telemann & C.P.E. Bach
Music for flute, harpsichord and continuo

Meridian records are delighted to announce the release of Godfather — Flute, Harpsichord and Continuo music by Telemann & C.P.E. Bach performed by Mexican ensemble La Fontegara.

J.S. Bach’s children all studied Georg Philipp Telemann’s keyboard music as they were starting to master their craft, and out of respect to his friend and musical compatriot, Sebastian Bach bestowed upon him the honour of being the Godfather to his son, Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach. This led to a lifelong kinship between the two, exchanging musical transcripts and inspiring each other to further compositions. Due to this, La Fontegara - Mexico’s premier Baroque and Renaissance performance specialists present this program pairing of their most sought-after compositions. What makes the sound on this record even more authentic is the fact that the outfit use replicas of the original instruments of the time. Close your eyes and be whisked away to Eighteenth Century Germany...

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CDE 84592/3-2
HAYDN Piano Works 2 CD set
Fou Ts'ong - Piano

Meridian Records is proud to announce the welcome return of a pianist whom Time Out magazine described as the “greatest living Chinese musician” - Fou Ts’ong.

Joseph Haydn was one of the most important, prolific and prominent composers of the classical period and of his 47 piano sonatas, 6 are featured here on this double CD collection along with ‘Variations in F minor, Hob XVII/6’.

Over the last 10 years, the legendary Fou Ts’ong has created a series of best selling CDs with Meridian Records conquering the works of all the greats - Mozart, Beethoven and Debussy amongst many others. These discs are no less compelling and augment the fact that this charismatic man has mastered the art of speaking to the modern day listener with every single note, in the way that Joseph Haydn intendedto be heard.

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CDE 84608 British Recorder Music

Ross Winters has been committed to the promotion of British recorder music ever since his first London performance at the age of ten. Five of the six works on this ground breaking CD have never been presented in this format before. Bush's 1975 Sonatina is a far more substantial work than its title suggests, and this world première recording will enable you to appreciate to the full its extraordinarily wide ranging expression.

The second movement on the tenor recorder will repay several hearings.

Berkeley's Sonatina is now a well established classic of both recorder and flute repertoire. Its slow movement is exquisite and its finale always raises a smile.

Establishing the recorder in its rightful position as a participant in modern chamber music alongside other established instruments was a major aim of this recording. The quartets by Berkeley and Cooke are fine examples of beautifully conceived chamber music. The Berkeley has been recorded using flute and piano but never before in its intended version with recorder and harpsichord which we present here. The slow movement of Cooke's quartet is serenely beautiful, and recorder players in particular will relate to the expressive range and vitality of his trio and variations and to the many virtuosic moments in all the pieces.

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CDE 84599
Brahms Piano Quartet in Gmin Op. 25
FAURÉ - Piano Quartet in Cmin, Op. 15
The Primrose Piano Quartet

The Primrose give the youthful freshness of Fauré's melodic writing the full nine yards of French chique. Listen to the light but fast bow speed, the ravishing vibrato, and the seductive café charm that they lavish on the central section of the Scherzo. And how well this contrasts with the expressive depth and weight of their Brahms reading. Both works glory in barnstorming finales. The Fauré flies along, supported almost throughout with moto perpetuo triplets in the piano. Brahms is more complex; a Gypsy Finale that never fails to bring the house down in concert, and is unquestionably the greatest virtuoso vehicle for the genre. And here is perhaps one point about this recording - that it brings to disc interpretations that have grown over decades of multiple performances in the concert halls of Europe. Irony too - that works that have the scale of the concert hall are nonetheless also part of a salon tradition of domestic music-making. This recording was made in a village church, and on a piano barely six feet long. Why? Because Brahms himself chose this Blüthner Piano in 1895, for the grandmother of the current owner. And he chose well!

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CDE 84602 Allan Stephenson
Burlesque for Double Bass and Small Orchestra (1974)
Concerto for Double Bass and Small Orchestra (2005)
Concerto for Cello and Full Orchestra (2004)

Meridian Records is thrilled to announce this set of world premiere recordings by Leon Bosch (double bass), Peter Martens (cello) and the Cape Philharmonic Orchestra of music composed especially for them by the much respected Allan Stephenson.
By Leon Bosch’s own admission, this record devoted to works by Allan Stephenson is intended not just to recognize Allan’s exceptional qualities and skill as a composer, but also to acknowledge the critical contribution he made in first of all identifying, and then nurturing Leon’s talent whilst he was a student at the University of Cape Town. Their mutual respect and friendship led to Allan composing an eloquent and inspiring concerto for double bass for the first time, with Leon Bosch in mind as the soloist. Naturally as it was his ‘first’ instrument, Stephenson himself a former sub-principal 'cellist in the Cape Town Symphony Orchestra, also composed a cello concerto the year before after constant pressure from his peers. The end result was a stimulating unstoppable roller-coaster experience for players and listeners alike, albeit with an oasis of melodic respite.

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