Muhly reviews
The best recordings of works by Nico Muhly
A round-up of some of the best recordings of works by the American contemporary composer and arranger Nico Muhly, who has worked across both classical and pop genres
Muhly/Helbig/Long • Shostakovich: Cello Concertos
Jan Vogler (cello); Mariinsky Orchestra/Valery Gergiev et al (Sony Classical)
Music of the Spheres
Aurora Orchestra/Nicholas Collon et al (DG)
Sixteen Contemporary Love Songs: Works by Frances-Hoad, Zev Gordon, Hellawell et al
William Howard (Orchid Classics)
In Nomine II
Fretwork (Signum Classics)
A glorious convergence of ancient and modern from Fretwork
‘The expanded ensemble negotiates the sonorous seven-part delights of Parsons and Purcell with an expansively ear-filling plenitude’
Bloch • Muhly
Zuill Bailey (cello); Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra/Jun Märkl (Steinway & Sons)
Flow My Tears
Themes of love and loss pervade this varied sequence of English lute songs both past and present. Theatre ditties by the Virgin Queen’s court lutenist Robert Johnson give way to funeral laments by his contemporary John Danyel epitomising the melancholy spirit of the age, while wistful love songs and lute solos by Dowland contrast with playful militaristic viol pieces by the quirky soldier-composer Tobias Hume.
Bach to Parker
Thomas Gould (Champs Hill Records)