Brockless Centenary Vocal Quartet, Brockless Centenary Strings, Henry McGray, Naomi Kilby, David Smith, Adrian Brockless - Brian Brockless: An English Elegy (2026) [Hi-Res]

Tracklist

01. Toccata for an Occasion (Arr. for String Ensemble by Adrian Brockless)
02. May the Grace
03. Prayer for a Choir Boy
04. Berceuse
05. French Suite for Piano: I. Allemande
06. French Suite for Piano: II. Courante
07. French Suite for Piano: III. Sarabande
08. French Suite for Piano: IV. Gigue
09. Three Young Rats (A Nonsense Song)
10. An English Elegy for String Orchestra (Performed by String Ensemble)
11. 3 Poems of Shelley: No. 1, Music, When Soft Voices Die
12. 3 Poems of Shelley: No. 2, To the Moon
13. 3 Poems of Shelley: No. 3, The Widow Bird
14. Prayers
15. 9 Tunes for Archbishop Parker's Psalter: No. 9, Tallis' Ordinal
16. Toccatina upon Tallis' 9th Tune
17. Looking for a Sunset Bird in Winter
18. Missa brevis
19. Orion

Brian Brockless (1926-95), London-born and -bred, was a conductor, organist, teacher and composer whose career embraced orchestral performance, sacred music, musical education and the revival of Renaissance polyphony. After studying with Herbert Howells, Matyas Seiber and Sergiu Celibidache, he taught harmony and orchestration at the Royal Academy of Music and served for many years as Director of Music at a City of London church. This album - the first recorded survey of his music - ranges from works for string orchestra and piano to songs, sacred vocal music and music for organ, most of them prepared from unpublished manuscripts. The music as a whole is marked by an essential Englishness, one which looks to earlier traditions and also reflects the modernity of the second half of the twentieth century.