Birtwistle - Secret Theatre, Silbury Air

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NMC re-issue artwork

It's quite a sobering thought to realise that I have owned this recording for over twenty years.  Sir Harrison Birtwistle is an avant-garde British composer.  Listen to the YouTube recording sample below if this stuff is new to you.  When I was starting out with classical music, often as not I used to buy on spec.  There was no internet for me in those days, so no downloads, samples or YouTube videos!  Gramophone reviews were a help (and don't start me on how that magazine has declined from essential to lifestyle froth).  So this is one of those CDs I bought on spec and have grown to love.  The performances are top notch, by the London Sinfonietta conducted by Elgar Howarth.

My copy was an expensive import on the Dutch label Etcetera, funded by the Arts Council of Great Britain!  British label NMC has since acquired the rights and re-issued with new artwork, and at a more reasonable price.  NMC is a registered charity with a lot of very interesting material on the label, so I suggest you check their website if you are interested in anything off the beaten track.  Website is at http://www.nmcrec.co.uk/

Original Etcetera label artwork  

Incidentally, for the sharp-eyed, the track timings quoted on the original Etcetera release were wrong...