New Releases: Parry’s Songs of Farewell – Choir of Westminster Abbey; Haydn’s Cello Concertos – Natalie Clein

1 June 2020, 10:00 | Updated: 1 June 2020, 10:01

Throughout the week Classic FM’s presenters bring you the best new recordings, including world exclusives and premiere broadcasts of latest releases. This week: ‘Parry: Songs of farewell’ by the Choir of Westminster Abbey and ‘Haydn: Cello Concertos’ by Natalie Clein.

Alexander Armstrong plays a track from his featured Album of the Week at 10.15am every weekday.

Parry: Songs of farewell & works by Stanford, Gray & Wood – The Choir of Westminster Abbey and James O’Donnell

Hyperion

The Choir of Westminster Abbey share their latest release Parry: Songs of farewell & works by Stanford, Gray & Wood.

Under the baton of organist and conductor James O’Donnell, the unaccompanied choir perform Parry’s Songs of farewell, the centrepiece of the new album, alongside other works by Stanford, Gray and Wood.

The recordings on the album were captured in June last year at All Hallows’ Church, Gospel Oak.

Parry: Songs of farewell & works by Stanford, Gray & Wood

Read more: Self-isolating choirs and orchestras are performing powerful at-home concerts during coronavirus outbreak >

James O’Donnell shared his excitement about the new release, saying: “I am delighted that this latest CD, the twentieth in our very happy partnership with one of the UK's most celebrated record labels, forms the latest chapter in our exploration of the riches of the English sacred choral repertoire, ranging from the fifteenth century to the present day. 

“This represents the musical backbone of our daily work and we are thrilled to be able share it so widely through our recordings.”

John Brunning plays a track from his featured Discovery of the Week at 6.20pm every weekday.

Haydn: Cello Concertos – Natalie Clein

Oehms

British cellist Natalie Clein is joined by the Grosses Orchester Graz and conductor Michael Hofstetter for her new album Haydn: Cello Concertos.

Clein recorded every track on a 1777 Guadagnini to try and produce sounds similar to those in Haydn’s world.

“My aim here was to recreate more of what Haydn may have had in his imagination when writing these glorious pieces,” she wrote in an article for The Jewish Chronicle.

Every piece on the album was also captured live in concert in 2017, as the cellist hoped it “might give the remote listener a sense of that intense moment of ‘here and now’”.

Cello Concerto in D Major, Op. 101, Hob. VIIb:2: I. Allegro moderato (Live)