Wigmore Soloists - Wigmore Soloists: Chamber Music by Howard Ferguson; Sir Arthur Bliss; Robin Holloway

Following their critically acclaimed albums of Schubert (BIS-2597), Mozart and Birchall (BIS-2647), works for clarinet trio (BIS-2535) and, more recently, Beethoven and Berwald (BIS-2707), the Wigmore Soloists now turn their attention to twentieth-century English chamber works which, while eschewing some of the continent�s modernist tendencies, are both deeply personal and supremely written, highlighting the specific colours of each of the instruments. Howard Ferguson�s Octet, a direct and engaging work, was the first of his works to attract attention. Ferguson�s skill is brilliantly demonstrated in this tonally ambiguous work, which takes its instrumentation from Schubert�s famous Octet. The main characteristic of Sir Arthur Bliss�s Clarinet Quintet, like those of Mozart and Brahms with the same instrumental line-up, is its intense, overtly emotional lyricism, but the sunny, extrovert aspects of Bliss�s character ultimately prevail in the brilliantly energetic finale. Robin Holloway�s Serenade in C for octet is the most recent work on this disc, and also features the instrumentation of Schubert�s Octet, which the composer acknowledges as a model. Few contemporary composers display as keen a sense of humour as Holloway who wished here to give �an affectionate twist to tonal common practice and light-music clich�s all the way from Biedermeier Vienna to Southend Pier�.