Sometimes the unexpected happens and it becomes a gift.

Their point of departure and focus is his String Quartet no. 1 in A minor. Robert Schumann always had difficulty with this particular genre, and in 1842 he brought his "attempts at writing quartets" to an end in a headlong burst of creativity that produced his opus 41, comprising three quartets. The Schumann Quartet musicians concentrate unconditionally on the vocal part-writing, and rather than merely overcoming the technical challenges choose to simply ignore them. The music of Felix Mendelssohn is suffused with what Schumann envied as "ease" or "facility".

French composer Yann Tiersen has written music for various instruments, including guitar, piano, synthetizer, violin, accordion, xylophone, and melodica. Some of his compositions have been used in film scoring, such as “Amélie”, whose soundtrack primarily features excerpts from his first three studio albums (“La Valse des monstres”, “Rue des cascades”, and “La Phare”).

In 1805, on the basis of his brilliant yet expressive playing, the 21-year-old Louis Spohr was appointed Konzertmeister at the ducal court in Gotha. By this time he had also begun to make his mark as a composer, and during his years at the court he would add several pieces for the harp to his list of works, inspired by the young harpist Dorette Scheidler. Spohr later recalled his reaction to her playing: ‘I was so deeply moved that I could scarce restrain my tears… I took my leave – but my heart remained behind!’ Only months later, the two were in fact married and Spohr began to compose works which would form the repertoire during future concert tours.

Hugely productive, Kalevi Aho (b. 1949) has composed close to 30 concertos to date. These include works for traditional solo instruments – piano, violin, cello … – but also more unusual ones, such as the theremin or accordion. One project of Aho's is to write concertos for all of the instruments of the symphony orchestra, from the flute to the contrabassoon, and in 2015 the turn came to the timpani.

The relationship between Igor Stravinsky and the violin didn't get off to a promising start: early on in his career the composer stated that he was not fond of stringed instruments, finding them ‘rich in cheap expressivity’. He was also suspicious of virtuoso interpreters – among which violinists were particularly numerous – and their tendency to ‘seek immediate triumphs and to lend themselves to the wishes of the public’. Nevertheless there are in Stravinsky's oeuvre a number of works featuring a solo violin, all of which have now been recorded by his compatriot Ilya Gringolts.

The genius of pianist and composer Thelonious Monk is unassailable. Since his death in 1982, he has become recognized as one of the greatest composers of jazz – and of the wider world of music. The year 2017 was the centennial of Monk’s birth, and brought scores of tributes, including a well-received stay of pianist Frank Kimbrough’s quartet at the Jazz Standard club in New York City.

"Springsteen on Broadway" is the new album of music and stories by Bruce Springsteen, and the soundtrack to the Netflix film of the same name. The album is the complete live performance of the show.

And year after year it rings out at Christmastime: Nils Landgren's 'Christmas With My Friends' ensemble is a loyal companion for the most wonderful time of the year. The fourth edition presents, yet again, a diverse selection of international, Swedish, traditional and modern carols and atmospheric secular popular songs, with the familiar hushed and intimate mood we have come to know and love.

The Norwegian singer-songwriter Randi Tytingvåg has the power to light up audiences with her music. It is feel-good music in the best sense of the term, with oodles of charm. Tytingvåg’s ingredients for her music are many and varied. On her latest album she highlights in particular her singer-songwriter qualities and draws from the roots of American folk and country music.

One of the most individual of all altoists (and one of the few in the 1950s who did not sound like a cousin of Charlie Parker), the cool-toned Lee Konitz has always had a strong musical curiosity, leading him to consistently take chances and stretch himself. This session, with Ted Brown, holds some pleasant surprises.

Tobias Christl, born 1978, is a rarity, a singer the likes of which there never was before in German jazz. Neither a crooner nor a scatter, and least of all a pop musician disguised as a jazzer. Much more a storyteller, somewhere between indie and improvisation. A Berliner by choice, Christl is a vocal artist, a songwriter, improviser, speaker, composer, DJ and co- founder of the Cologne KLAENG collective. He plays piano and keyboards, clarinet and guitar, and studied, among others, under Theo Bleckmann in New York.

Diana Panton’s latest release, Christmas Kiss, is a delightful mixture of carefully selected chestnuts, obscure gems and new originals. This album is sure to become a seasonal favourite! “The quality and the mood of the music on this album is very different from your typical seasonal disc; you don’t have to play it only in December. Personally, I could listen to this recording all year long.” (Guido Basso). Since her initial album release, Panton’s career has been gathering steady momentum.