This is the eagerly awaited final volume in our historic series of Vaughan Williams’s Symphonies, started about twenty-five years ago by the late Richard Hickox, and recently continued by that other expert in British repertoire, Sir Andrew Davis. The album features an exceptional cast and a rare combination of repertoire.

Ukranian composer Valentin Silvestrov has said that I do not write new music. My music is a response to and an echo of what already exists. This is particularly pertinent to works such as the Two Dialogues with Postscript that engage hauntingly with Schubert and Wagner, and the evocative Moments of Memory II which alludes to Chopin and yearns for an unreachable past. Music is still song, even if one cannot literally sing it, says Silvestrov.

Who was Francesco Geminiani? He is an artist unknown to many but if we look at the story of his life we discover a virtuoso violinist and a dedicated teacher. Although it is impossible for us to know truly how he performed, his works tell us quite a lot about his vision of music. His treatise, “The Art of Playing the Violin,” was and still is a work of some significance and a source of inspiration to musicians who play a bowed string instrument and take an especial interest in the Baroque repertoire.

“highly distinctive performances, played with enormous flair and perfect technical control, and splendidly recorded” Gramophone Magazine