The summer, for me, is the time for up-dating and editing The Gramophone Classical Music Guide, a concentrated few months of reading hundreds of reviews and deciding which recordings should be included, which updated and which “retired”. One of the biggest problems these days (though the flip side speaks of wonderful abundance) is that very little is ever deleted: if its physical life comes to an end, it usually lives on in the world of cyber-space as a download. For this year’s task, I invested in a new iMac and decided to work, not in the study, but at the dining-room table within perfect listening distance of my main hi-fi. With the iMac’s input ability to connect with other Apple products, it was logical to supplement the Squeezebox network music player I have been using with an AirPort Express card and control my listening from where I work, and do that with the benefit of a decent amplifier and speakers.

I mentioned a couple of issues ago the Airfoil software I had downloaded, which allows one to stream the music from Spotify via the AirPort Express and connect my work environment with my listening one. The great advantage of being able to listen from the iTunes player or from Spotify is that the choice is immediate and immense (and without headphones or the computer’s inbuilt speakers the experience of playing music through the hi-fi is so much more appealing). Frequently, as I worked on a particular composer or group of works, I could call up exactly the recording I was reading about, and listen there and then.

This year I decided to make the Bach cello suites my soundtrack for the 2012 Guide – it is music that can be listened to at many different levels, from the totally engaged and rewarding (there are few composers apart from JSB who nourish the heart and the head so completely), to the unengaged but reassuringly appealing status of background music. It’s not something I’m entirely happy about, though I must admit to liking the companionship of a lone cellist and some of the greatest music ever written for the instrument. Having exhausted the versions I keep on my Mac (Casals, Fournier, Isserlis and Wispelwey Mk II – my current favourite), I’ve worked my way through the Spotify offerings (Kirshbaum, Ma both Mk I and II, Rostropovich, Mørk, Onczay, Tortelier, Maisky Mk I, de Williencourt and Gaillard) – and probably missed a few others too. It really is staggering how much music you can find without even getting up, or even getting out your wallet (though Spotify’s modest fees to avoid adverts or to stream in higher quality sound seem a small price to pay).

The other source of my summer listening this year has been via the radio facility within iTunes, again streamed through the hi-fi. If you’re a devotee of BBC Radio 3 (I hope you are!), this is an easy way of accessing the hi-res stream that will make your Proms listening even more enjoyable. But the iTunes radio feature allows you to globe-trot and explore some remarkably niche radio stations from around the world. New Music Philadelphia does exactly what it suggests and features some of the City’s up-and-coming talent – I admit that I wouldn’t want to listen for too long, but it’s a great idea. Along similar lines, there’s also sfSoundRadio playing electronic, improvised, composed or experimental music from San Francisco. Radio Chopin gives you music by the Polish master, nothing more, nothing less – and it features some pretty classy players, judging by the half hour I spent in its company (and there’s a Radio Beethoven which does the obvious). Symphonic Masters plays music only conducted by Leonard Bernstein, if I understand correctly – which is perhaps taking niche segmentation a little far! My new favourite breakfast show comes courtesy of Classical Minnesota Public Radio, though as we’re six hours ahead it’s more of a lunchtime companion – a nice choice of music with quite a few imaginative surprises. And the great American classical specialists are there too: KUSC, home of the inimitable Jim Svejda, Chicago’s WFMT and Boston’s WGBH. Looking towards mainland Europe, you can enjoy the German MDR or France’s Air Classique (there are regular news spots, so you can polish your French at the same time!).

Talking of niche interests, if you are an admirer of Benjamin Britten and his circle, you may be interested in a splendid site devoted to the soprano Jennifer Vyvyan (jennifervyvyan.com). Though she died young (just 49), Vyvyan was the singer for whom Britten created the roles of Lady Rich in Gloriana, the Governess in The Turn of the Screw and Tytania in A Midsummer Night’s Dream among many others. When she died, her papers, diaries and photographs were all stored away and languished for many years, until her son contacted the critic and broadcaster Michael White, who has created this fascinating website full of treasures. Listening again to her silvery soprano – and there are some nicely chosen clips on the site – is to be reminded what a loss her death in 1974 was to the English music scene.

For my download choices, five composers, all born exactly 100 years ago, in 1911. Organists will be familiar with the short-lived Jehan Alain and his wonderful Litanies (among much else), largely due to the advocacy of his sister Marie-Claire, doyenne of French organists. Two composers better known for their work with films also have much to offer: Bernard Herrmann and Nino Rota. And Franz Reizenstein, German-born but who lived in the UK and the US for most of his life: his Variations on the Lambeth Walk in the style of many great composers is well worth acquiring (or at least sampling – it’s on Spotify)!

The Essential Download Playlist No 37 - Vintage of 1911

Jehan Alain Organ works M-C Alain (Erato) iT, Am

Jehan Alain Dances of Life and Death Whitehead (Chandos) A, Am, iT, CS, CO

Bernard Herrmann Film scores LAPO / Salonen (Sony Classical) A, Am, iT, S

Bernard Herrmann Chamber works Tippett Qt; Bliss (Signum) A, Am, iT, CS, S

Giancarlo Menotti Amahl and the Night Vistors NBC / Schippers (Naxos) iT, CS, CO

Giancarlo Menotti Violin Concerto Koh; Hickox (Chandos) iT, CS, CO

Franz Reizenstein Piano Sonata etc Martin (Continuum) iT, S

Franz Reizenstein Wind Quintet Ensemble Modern (Nimbus) CS

Nino Rota Symphony No 3 etc Filarmonica ’900 / Noseda (Chandos) iT, CS, CO

Nino Rota Film scores Orquesta Ciudad de Granada / Pons (HM) iT

A = Ariama Am = Amazon CO = Classicsonline CS = Classicalshop iT = iTunes S = Spotify