New. English Music for Strings Vol. 3
Britten - Goossens - Ireland - Walton
Laurence Kilsby (tenor), Christopher Parkes (horn), Sinfonia of London, John Wilson
Awards:
-
Presto Recording of the Week, 30th October 2026
-
Gramophone Magazine, November 2026, Editor's Choice
Kilsby is a refreshing antidote to the legendary Peter Pears and their ways with [the Britten Serenade] could hardly be more contrasted...Needless to say Wilson's fabulous string section rises...
New. English Music for Strings Vol. 3
Britten - Goossens - Ireland - Walton
Laurence Kilsby (tenor), Christopher Parkes (horn), Sinfonia of London, John Wilson
Purchase product
Awards:
-
Presto Recording of the Week, 30th October 2026
-
Gramophone Magazine, November 2026, Editor's Choice
Kilsby is a refreshing antidote to the legendary Peter Pears and their ways with [the Britten Serenade] could hardly be more contrasted...Needless to say Wilson's fabulous string section rises...
About
For this third album of English music for strings, John Wilson and Sinfonia of London have built a fascinating programme featuring four composers whose lives and works were intertwined. The centrepiece of the programme is Britten's Serenade for Tenor, Horn, and Strings, performed here with Laurence Kilsby (tenor) and Christopher Parkes (horn). This early masterpiece was composed in 1943 for Peter Pears and Denis Brain. Following the success of the premiere, the same soloists went on to record the work twice: once in 1944 with the composer conducting, and again in 1953 with the New Symphony Orchestra of London conducted by Eugene Goossens. Goossens also conducted the first recordings of works by Ireland (Mai-Dun) and Walton (Violin Concerto), and was one of Britten's teachers at the Royal College of Music. Walton and Britten also became close friends, following the first Performance of Walton's The Bear at Britten's Aldeburgh Festival in 1967.
Contents and tracklist
Spotlight on this release
-
An error occurred.
Try watching this video on www.youtube.com, or enable JavaScript if it is disabled in your browser.
-
English Music for Strings Vol. 3 from Sinfonia of London and John Wilson
30th Oct 2026
Britten's Serenade for Tenor, Horn and Strings (with soloists Laurence Kilsby and Christopher Parkes) gets a new library-choice recording, whilst pathos and precision abound in Walton's Sonata for String Orchestra.
Awards and reviews
-
Presto Recording of the Week30th October 2026
-
Gramophone MagazineNovember 2026Editor's Choice
November 2026
Kilsby is a refreshing antidote to the legendary Peter Pears and their ways with [the Britten Serenade] could hardly be more contrasted...Needless to say Wilson's fabulous string section rises to each shift of mood and texture.
30th October 2026
The sheer technical precision is breathtaking, and the range of colours, textures and dynamics which this ensemble can produce is second to none. The two superb soloists in the Britten Serenade need fear no comparison with Brain and Pears, but the string playing alone would make this the new library choice for this much-recorded work. And Wilson’s crack team never puts a toe out of line in Walton's formidable Sonata for String Orchestra, upscaled from his String Quartet in A minor in 1971.
29th October 2026
This is a seriously impressive and subtly inflected account [of the Britten] by Kilsby, a rapidly rising star. The Sinfonia of London string sound displays a tremendous warmth in Chandos’ spacious recording, especially evident in Goossens’ lyrical nature poem, By the Tarn.
