First Hand Records (FHR)

We’re enjoying ⁦@BBCRadio3⁩ Composer of the Week, such glorious music and thank you ⁦@DonaldMacleod01⁩ for selecting two of our tracks for this episode 😀🎶⁦@ContinuoFndn⁩ ⁦@FirstHandRecord⁩ bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m0…

💿 OUT TODAY! Congratulations to @EnsembleBellot on the release of their debut album CUPID'S GROUND BASS, now available in full on @FirstHandRecord and your favourite streaming platform 🙌 Learn more 🔗 go.continuoconnect.com/cupids-ground-… ⭐ Supported by a grant from @ContinuoFndn

On 26 Oct #scarlatti ‘s birthday 🎂, started editing process of my forthcoming Scarlatti album with @FirstHandRecord & chiaro music studio !

💿 My new album, Odd Sympathies, is out this week on Friday. 💿 Featuring works mostly written for me, it's intended as both an artistic journey and a showcase of the wonderful piano music being written today. 💿 Listen and pre-order your copy via my website matthewschellhorn.com

🎉 Single release day! Another track – the final single! – from my forthcoming album Odd Sympathies on @FirstHandRecord is out today: 🎹 Roger Briggs – Jitterbug Centred on the quintuplet as an aptly odd-numbered rhythmic embodiment of the 20th-century dance, Jitterbug is as wild as it sounds. Roger writes: “I imagined a pianist who has the ‘jitters’ or ‘heebie-jeebies’, and I used an abundance of ever-changing quintuplet rhythms to create the effect of ‘the shakes’.” This is a pianistic white-knuckle ride – thrilling, physically demanding, and intellectually exhilarating. I try to make sure the technical jeopardy is part of the listener’s experience... 🎧 youtu.be/AMtkPCHCiHw?si… 💿 Full album Odd Sympathies coming soon on First Hand Records! Pre-order at firsthandrecords.com/products-page/… #OddSympathies #NewMusic #PianoPremiere #Jitterbug #RogerBriggs #ContemporaryClassical #PianoSolo #VirtuosoPiano #ModernMusic #20thCenturyDance

🎶 New Interview 🎶 I recently spoke with Rishin Singh at Composers Edition about my forthcoming album Odd Sympathies on @FirstHandRecord. This project means a great deal to me, as it reflects years of collaboration with composers whose voices I’m proud to help share. Read more: whatsnew.composersedition.com/matthew-schell…

youtu.be/vU-mhQt33pA?si… A gorgeous aria by Bigaglia which will melt your heart! 💓 If you love this, please support our recording project! gofund.me/b4a2459cf

🎉 Single Release Day! I'm thrilled to share a track from my upcoming album Odd Sympathies: 🎵 Martin Bussey @martinbussey – Radcliffe's Repose (from Floreat Coll. Reg.) 'Floreat Coll. Reg.,' a two-movement piece written for me by Martin Bussey (b. 1958), represents a serendipitous meeting of personalities and life events. I first met Martin in the 1990s, when I was a pupil at Chetham's School of Music @Chethams, and was immediately struck by his genuine passion for choral music – exemplified by his superb arrangement of 'I've Got You Under My Skin', which I had the pleasure of singing under his direction. Nearly 30 years later, I found myself rekindling our connection under odd circumstances: the COVID-19 pandemic had forced the postponement of a solo recital I was due to give at the Three Choirs Festival @ThreeChoirs in 2020, but the pause allowed space for creativity. As I revisited the programme, which was to be centred on the music of Herbert Howells (1892–1983), I felt it could be enhanced with a new work from Martin at its heart. In a programme that included posthumous Howells premieres to which I had rare access, I gave the world premiere in Worcester in July 2021. Taking inspiration from Howells's great 'Collegium Regale' settings – known to Martin from his days as a Choral Scholar at King's College, Cambridge @Kings_College @ChoirOfKingsCam – both movements speak with an affectionately personal voice rare in modern piano music. In the spirit of Howells's tributes to friends, Martin's movements are eponymous reflections on influential figures from his own education. 'Radcliffe's Repose' is a contemplative opener, conjuring up Philip Radcliffe (1905–86), a long-standing Fellow of King's. As Martin describes: 'Philip's quiet character gives the piece its mood; his setting of Hilaire Belloc's 'Tarantella' provides a short musical idea which is varied in the piece; and his teaching is reflected in a quote from Mozart's 'The Magic Flute', which Radcliffe would sing as a supreme example of musical characterisation'. In this unusually paced movement, I aim to balance feelings of awe and stillness with a sense of unfolding development. 🎧 Listen now youtu.be/kHy1U2RMpfQ?si… 💿 Full album out soon on First Hand Records @FirstHandRecord #OddSympathies #NewMusic #PianoPremiere #MartinBussey #RadcliffesRepose #FloreatCollReg #ContemporaryClassical #AlbumPreview #PianoMusic

🎉 Single Release Day! I'm thrilled to share a track from my upcoming album Odd Sympathies: 🎵 Paul Spicer – James's Jaunt I had the honour of giving the world premiere of Two Pieces for James by Howells-pupil @PaulSpicer6 (b. 1952) in Cambridge in November 2021. At times in my career, even when a composer has not written with me in mind, the odd proposition has appealed with great potency. In this case, I felt drawn not only to the commemorative nature of Paul’s work – written for Reverend James Potts’s 80th birthday – but also to the musical language such as the use of ciphers (as in James’s Jaunt) and the evocation of early keyboard style (as in Potts’s Pavane). In Paul’s words, ‘I thought of Herbert Howells’s beautiful clavichord pieces in the two collections, Lambert’s Clavichord and Howells’s Clavichord. These are 20th-century realisations of Elizabethan-style dances as found in the Fitzwilliam Virginal Book.’ Having commissioned pieces of this nature and performed music by Paul’s teacher, I find great joy in participating in these homage-like sentiments. While preparing to record, Paul told me that, in harmonic terms, ‘every note counts’ – and, on a more general level, it certainly felt that way. 🎧 Listen now youtu.be/Zk5pvdlMdzM?si… 💿 Full album out soon on @FirstHandRecord #OddSympathies #NewMusic #PianoPremiere #PaulSpicer #TwoPiecesforJames #ContemporaryClassical #AlbumPreview #PianoMusic

Violist Paul Neubauer and pianist Anne-Marie McDermott commemorate 50 years since Shostakovich's death with a new album. Link in comments 🎻 📷Robin Herrod, courtesy of The McKnight Center @FirstHandRecord @8va_music

✨ Coming soon ✨ I'm thrilled to announce my new album on @FirstHandRecord, featuring music by 11 incredible composers: Roger Briggs • @DianaBurrell48 • Martin Bussey • Cheryl Frances-Hoad • Michael Zev Gordon • Cecilia McDowall • Robert Percy • @colinjriley • Paul Spicer • Jeremy Thurlow • @WattsComposer 🎬 The official trailer premieres tomorrow – 1 August at 10:00am (BST) on YouTube! 🎹 Watch here: 👉 youtu.be/DYwA8dlyLqo #NewMusic #ContemporaryClassical #PianoAlbum #FirstHandRecords #AlbumLaunch

There was no plan, it just happened: violinist Ada Witczyk on the Ružicková Composition Competition and her New Baroque disc on @FirstHandRecord with Simon Standage & Dominika Maszczynska. My interview: planethugill.com/2025/03/there-…

Three singles & an album all released on the FHR label today! @orionweiss @PrimoArtists @MKIartists @RobFokkens @Harrietviolin @domi_fortepiano @WadeJacqui

Today @luxmusicae release their album 'The Secrets of Andalusia' on the @FirstHandRecord label! The origins of Flamenco are traced through Arabic music, Sephardic song & 16th - 18th C. Spanish works. Supported by @ContinuoFndn. 🔗 Read more: continuoconnect.com/features/the-s… #EarlyMusic

Uncover 'The Secrets of Andalusia' with @luxmusicae. Explore Islamic, Jewish & European traditions in post-1492 Spain, tracing the roots of flamenco & reviving lost music with ancient instruments. Supported by @ContinuoFndn. 📖 go.continuoconnect.com/iberian-imagin… @FirstHandRecord

ICYMI: #violinist Kristin Lee speaks about how her experiences as a foreign-born citizen of the US laid the groundwork for her new album American Sketches, which features diverse repertoire from the country she now calls home 🎻 trib.al/lize6j5 @FirstHandRecord

Very happy to see the first track on @AppleMusic's 'Melancholy Strings' playlist is from our upcoming 'American Sketches' album, which is released Friday 15 November 2024! @violininkristin @jensenartists @Oktaven_Audio @AppleClassical #newalbum #appleplaylist #applemusic

I'm doing a FREE concert on Tuesday Nov 26th with @BrookStreetBand of Schütz and other delights @imperialcollege & Holy Trinity Prince Consort Road. Rumours are rife that there's also a free glass of wine... More info: imperial.ac.uk/events/183239/…

Strolled into the @earlymusicshop in @SnapeMaltings & @BrittenPears and what should I find? ... @BrookStreetBand @ContinuoFndn @FirstHandRecord... Check out our interview online too: earlymusicshop.com/blogs/early-mu…

This month's Featured Album is 'Schütz: A German in Venice' by @davidjdewinter and @BrookStreetBand. Check out our extended blog to read our review, and an EXCLUSIVE Q&A for a fascinating insight into the creation of the album (funded by @ContinuoFndn). earlymusicshop.com/blogs/early-mu…