{"product_id":"edward-elgar_quiet-summer-evening_2026","title":"Quiet Summer Evening","description":"SOMM Recordings is pleased to release its second recording with the Chamber Ensemble of London, a virtuoso group of string musicians carefully selected under the direction of violinist Peter Fisher, whom The Times counts among \"some of the best musicians in the world.\" Following the ensemble's release in 2022 with SOMM, Eclogue – British Chamber Music, which Gramophone praised for its \"infallibly empathetic musical creation throughout,\" this new release is called Quiet Summer Evening – British Light Classics, inspired by the rich tradition of light classical music. The program opens with Rhapsody for Clarinet and Strings by Geoffrey Bush. He was initially trained by John Ireland and, on his advice, studied composition and classical literature at Balliol College, Oxford, earning degrees in both subjects in 1946. Bush's rhapsody, with its enchanting beauty, features the highly sought-after clarinetist Peter Cigleris, whose growing discography includes three previous releases with SOMM. He is also the soloist in 5 Pieces for Clarinet and String Orchestra by Clive Jenkins, the ensemble's associate composer. Jenkins was born in Plymouth, and he showcases his roots in many of his compositions — including these pieces, each named after something related to Plymouth. Another work by Jenkins included here is Fantasy for Horn \u0026 Strings, featuring Alexei Watkins, a graduate of the Royal Academy of Music, where he received the Dennis Brain Prize. Watkins also appears in Orion (Serenade for Horn and Strings) by award-winning conductor and composer Andy Meyers; as well as Lullaby, an expressive and programmatic piece by composer and BBC Radio 3 producer Luke Whitlock. Bassoonist Sarah Watts is a multi-instrumentalist who has become world-renowned as a prolific composer of colorful and inspiring music. Here, she performs her composition Everywhere Is Somewhere Else. Additionally, she is the soloist in the contemplative Sunday Afternoon by the famous arranger, conductor, and composer Nigel Brooks, taken from the television series Stars on Sunday; as well as A Little Waltz by the prolific mid-20th century composer, arranger, and master orchestrator, Gordon Jacob. Other pieces by composers from past generations include the Canto pole excerpt from Edward Elgar's concert overture In the South; Andantino by Lennox Berkeley, a single movement adapted from his Festival Anthem; and one of the earliest surviving compositions by Frederick Delius, Romance. The soloist for Berkeley's Andantino and Delius's Romance is cellist Michael Mace, who leads a broad and varied musical career as a performer and teacher. Peter Fisher is the violinist for Elgar's Canto popolare and the alluring Towards the South (Vers le Sud) by Terence Higgins, who, despite his initial promises, decided not to pursue a full-time professional music career and — like composers Wilfred Josephs and Alan Rawsthorne — graduated as a dentist. Fisher also plays the title piece of the CD, Quiet Summer Evening, a contemplative work by composer-pianist Don Shearman, who has had a long and distinguished career in light music.","brand":"Edward Elgar","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":57936055533912,"sku":null,"price":20260701.0,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0898\/4943\/0360\/files\/0748871072725.jpg?v=1786401568","url":"https:\/\/vinyles.com\/en\/products\/edward-elgar_quiet-summer-evening_2026","provider":"Vinyles.com","version":"1.0","type":"link"}