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SPONSORED: Ensemble. Unjustly Neglected - In this specially extended feature, Armstrong Gibbs' re-discovered 'Passion according to St Luke' impresses Roderic Dunnett.
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NMC Recordings, with its famous blue sheep logo, was founded in 1988 with funding from the Holst Foundation and assistance from the Society for the Promotion of New Music. It is a UK registered charity dedicated to promoting and preserving Britain's musical heritage. It relies on the support of those who are passionate about making the best of today's British classical music available at the highest artistic and technical standards, to international audiences, permanently.
While the company's guiding principal has always been the recording of music by living British composers, in 1996 an Archive Series was established to release earlier recordings of historic interest, such as Britten's Les Illuminations and Sinfonia da Requiem recorded in 1941. The Elgar / Anthony Payne Symphony No 3 has become NMC's best selling recording.
In 2003 NMC, which has always had a policy of non-deletion, launched Ancora, a mid-price series of British contemporary recordings reissued from labels including Collins Classics and Unicorn-Kanchana, and supported by Arts Council England.
Further information at www.nmcrec.co.uk
Echoes of Oblivion by Robert McCarney - Going for a Song
CD Spotlight. Excellent and Compelling - Chamber music by John McCabe impresses Geoff Pearce. 'This is a fantastic disc, both for the performances and also for this largely unfamiliar music.'
CD Spotlight. Conscientious Objector - Unknown music by Benjamin Britten, heard by Gerald Fenech
CD Spotlight. Soundscapes and Ornithology - Music by Jonathan Harvey, heard by Jennifer Paull. '... spiritual mind and fertile imagination ...'