Vaughan Williams Fantasia on the 'Old 104th' Psalm Tune. The Lark Ascending

Mark Bebbington, Duncan Riddell, Abigail Fenna, City of London Choir, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra / Hilary Davan Wetton (Resonus)

A fascinating tribute to Vaughan Williams to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the composer's birth, featuring a rare outing for the Fantasia on the 'Old 104th' Psalm Tune, The Lark Ascending in its original version for violin and piano, and the Piano Quintet.

Mozart The Prussian Quartets

Chiaroscuro Quartet (BIS Records)

The Doric Quartet made an outstanding recording of the Prussian Quartets for Chandos last year (an Editor's Choice in the September 2021 issue – read the review). Today, the Chiaroscuro Quartet release their new accounts for BIS. Founder member of the Chiaroscuro, violinist Alina Ibragimova, has made a series of outstanding recordings of Mozart's violin sonatas with pianist Cédric Tiberghien for Hyperion (‘A set that will surely become the modern reference recording’ wrote David Threasher after Vol 4) so this new release should be worth investigating.

Beethoven Piano Sonatas Opp 101 & 106

Maurizio Pollini (DG)

Pollini won the Instrumental category at the 1977 Gramophone Awards for his recording of Beethoven's late sonatas and he now returns to Opp 101 and 106 for DG to celebrate his 80th birthday this year. It will be fascinating to hear how his interpretations have changed over the decades. 

Shaw The Wheel

I Giardini (Alpha)

I Giardini's new album for Alpha is a collaboration with the Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Caroline Shaw. Following on from 'Nuits' (an exploration of French song with soprano Véronique Gens – read the review) and 'Bleu' (Chopin and Poulenc cello sonatas – read the review) this new release features a world premiere recording of The Wheel for cello and piano alongside Shaw's other chamber works. 

See also: Contemporary Composer – Caroline Shaw

Howells Piano Music, Vol 2

Matthew Schelhorn (Naxos)

The first volume in this series exploring Howells's little known piano works had our reviewer Andrew Achenbach calling for more: 'this superbly performed survey constitutes a copiously rewarding voyage of discovery; in fact, I’m already itching to hear the second volume!'. Released today, the second volume includes charming miniatures alongside the Sonatina from 1971, reconstructed from manuscripts by Schellhorn himself. 

Read more: Resurrecting Howells's extraordinary piano works