Track 7 frank bridge (1879-1941) berceuse intermediate

Ravel: Ma mère l’Oye; Stravinsky: Le Sacre du printemps Pavel Kolesnikov and Samson Tsoy (piano) Harmonia Mundi HMM902752 49:20 mins Those of us lucky, as I was at both their Ragged Music Festival and

Sonatas Nos 1, 2, 3, 5 and 6; Sonata violino solo representativa in A major Rachel Podger (violin); Brecon Baroque Channel Classics CCS48525 70:08 mins No Arts Council funding was available to rescue

The solo cello carves out a slow-moving phrase. It’s not a melody as such, but it becomes a refrain, passed on to the accompanying six cellos. The listener becomes Hercule Poirot, picking out clues hi

New Generation Publishing 379pp (hb) £18.99 The ambition of Will Fraser’s debut novel is never in doubt. Weaving together sometimes self-conscious observations about the nature of music with slow-burn

In 1974, Mike Oldfield defied the critics and hit the top of the UK charts with Hergest Ridge, the ambitious follow-up to his unexpectedly successful debut Tubular Bells . To coincide with the release of the 50th-anniversary edition, the musician, his siblings and collaborators recount the story of an album created by an overwhelmed 21-year-old taking refuge near the Welsh borders.

Arias by Caldara, Handel, Monteverdi, Steffani and Vivaldi Hugh Cutting, Carlo Vistoli (countertenor); Les Arts Florissants/William Christie Harmonia Mundi HAF8905347 68:31 mins Les Arts Florissants’s