Betwixt and Between

NEW CD *Adrian Jack: Black and Blue*
Works for 2 pianos (and percussion)
"Black and Blue is the title of one of Adrian Jack's pieces for two pianos and the name of his new disc containing all eleven pieces he has written for the medium. The disc traces the course, over some fifteen years, of Jack's artistic collaboration with Ingryd Thorson and Julian Thurber, whose enthusiasm and encouragement - not to mention their superb performances - were his main inspiration. The character of the pieces (arranged in the order of composition) ranges from the belligerent to the serene, and each was to some extent a reaction or response to the one before it, so that the listener experiences a kind of journey when following the eleven tracks one after the other."
buy online
more details: http://www.adrianjackmusic.com/newsAJ.html


NEW SCORES *John Pitts: 7 Airs & Fantasias*
"A collection of 7 Airs & Fantasias for solo piano. The airs are essentially melody-dominated, and the fantasias are pieces in free form with a minimalistic use of repeated and rotating patterns. Difficulty levels approximately grades 6-8. Also available to see, hear and download individually from www.johnpitts.co.uk."
buy/download: http://www.lulu.com/content/1353956
other titles: http://stores.lulu.com/JohnPitts


iTUNES PLUS *Mad World / Seven Letters*
If you haven't already done so, it's well worth upgrading your iTunes tracks from Mad World and Seven Letters to iTunes Plus - it costs 20p for single tracks or 25% the price of the album, but the encoding quality is TWICE as high: 256kbps - it sure makes a difference. Also, there are no burn limits, and iTunes Plus tracks will play on all iPods, Macs, PCs, and many other digital music players.
Mad World:
http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewAlbum?id=253598048&s=143444
Seven Letters:
http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewAlbum?id=252224764&s=143444
upgrade iTunes (free): http://www.apple.com/uk/itunes/download/


LISTEN AGAIN *40-part motets from Spem in alium to XL*
This round-table edition of BBC Radio 3 programme Discovering Music is now available to listen to on-demand.
"As part of Radio 3's 40th anniversary, Stephen Johnson is joined in the studio by Jeffrey Skidmore, Deborah Roberts and Antony Pitts for an exploration of Thomas Tallis's magnificent 40-part motet Spem in Alium. Including a look at works that may have inspired it and the music which it has itself inspired."
listen: http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio3/discoveringmusic/pipassets/ram/cdm0744tallis40.ram
(section on 'XL' starts about 1 hour 5 minutes in...)
webpage: http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio3/discoveringmusic/pip/g4cqw/
XL postcard: http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio3/programmes/images/xl40postcard.jpg


ADVANCE NOTICE: 1/2/8 *Alpha and Omega (CDA67668)*
New TONUS PEREGRINUS album on Hyperion - buy online

Thank you for listening, and happy New Year,