The centenary of his birth (15.2.2005) has passed unnoticed by many music lovers. It is Harold Arlen's fate that he is credited as composer for more jazz standards of the Great American Songbook than any other writer, but nevertheless remains unknown to a great deal of his audience.

Best known for his ubiquitous circus march, Entry of the Gladiators (also known as Thunder and Blazes), Julius Fucík, the "Bohemian Sousa," was a prolific composer of band and orchestral music in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

Overtures from comic operas and operettas are staples of the light music genre, and some of the most popular are included on this 2015 Naxos album by Lance Friedel and the Royal Scottish National Orchestra. Because of their memorable tunes, exciting pacing, and colorful orchestration, these effervescent pieces were once ubiquitous in the concert hall and on radio and recordings.

The 3rd part of our series features the serenades of four Romantic composers.

Johan Kvandal's tonal constancy was the bedrock for everything he wrote. Not even during the mid-1960s avant-gardism was he led off-track.It can therefore be said that there is a common thread in his vocal music, from the very first songs of 1939 up until the Knut Hamsun opera "Mysteries" in 1993, by which time his many years of experience in writing melodies for voice had reached its peak. His encounters with the Norwegian cultural heritage in his childhood and adolescence were quite literally the root notes of his entire song repertoire.

2020 saw the release of the first instalment in this three-disc traversal of Beethoven’s violin sonatas – a disc which has garnered distinctions such as Choc de Classica and Cum Laude (Luister), with performances that ‘wed classical verve to a profoundly Romantic spirit’ (Gramophone) in ‘recordings that are conversations by a perfect instrumental pairing’ (BBC Music Magazine).

Born in 1968, the Swiss composer Richard Dubugnon writes music that has been described as 'driven by a playful modern sensibility' (New York Times). His work list includes all genres, from solo pieces to large orchestral works, such as the Helvetia Symphony, scored for the same forces as Stravinsky's Rite of Spring.

This disc of orchestral showpieces features four of the five members of the Mighty Handful, a group of Russian composers who, during the second half of the 19th century, collaborated to create a distinct national style. The recorded works illustrate different aspects of their endeavors - both in terms of the musical means they employ and their subject matter.

Xelo Giner is one of the great exponents of contemporary saxophone music, and her programme binds together each piece in a logical progression that also reflects the turbulence and vicissitudes of the European avant-garde. Kurtágs miniatures, in arrangements by the composer, summon up the essence of his aesthetic ideology, while Stockhausen explores elements of antagonistic forces in In Freundschaft. Steen-Andersens De Profundis demands extreme virtuosity, and Hèctor Parras sonic alchemy in Chymisch shows how composers are extending the instruments technical compass.

"As a composer, I was feeling helpless at home during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic. Then, I realized I could at least provide my musical friends with new compositions while they were spending time in self-isolation. So in the Spring of 2020, I composed 31 new short pieces of music for an unaccompanied solo instrument or voice, or for a duo of musicians self-isolating together. With the cancellation of all performances, COVID-19 has adversely impacted the world’s music community. This project is my attempt to raise the spirits of fellow musicians, and the community at large, as we continue to traverse through uncertain times. We might be self-isolating but we are never alone…we have music."

Navona Records’ acclaimed PRISMA series continues with a fifth installment, again showcasing the Janáček Philharmonic Orchestra’s riveting take on contemporary composition. With a focus on innovation and imaginative performance, the orchestra brings a breath of fresh air to a repertoire that’s all-too-often dominated by mainstream works.

Jazz guitarist and educator, Alvin Dyers was born in Harfield Village (Cape Town) in 1953. He started playing guitar from the age of seven. He formed his first band called Sacred Legion with his equally talented brother, Errol Dyers. He also formed part of the group musicians that played in Pacific Express in the ‘80s.

Lorenzo Carrano is a Los Angeles Based composer and orchestrator. Recent projects include The Croods: A New Age, Superintelligence, Frozen II, Connected, and Half Brothers among others. Other credits include work for Ingrid Michaelson, The Late Late Show with James Corden, and the National Theater of Iceland. Lorenzo’s music has also been featured on many advertising campaigns and TV programs, both in the US and abroad.

Maridalen follow up their Jazzland debut, "Blir det regn i dag, tru?" with "På gjensyn", displaying more of their unique contrapuntal style, with its so-simple-it's-complex feel and sonic origami, this time underpinned with swagger and swing.