Bowen: Sons For Wind Instruments & Piano [CD], Alicja Matuszczyk, CD

Four sonatas from the middle period of this exceptional yet undeservedly overlooked composer reveal a distinctive musical voice, where echoes of Rachmaninoff's and Grieg's mature Romanticism intertwine with the shimmering colours of Impressionism and the refined sensibility of the English tradition. Though these works make undeniable virtuoso demands, it is their melodic and harmonic imagination that commands the foreground: long-breathed phrases, subtle expressive nuance, and richly intriguing sonorities. The recording brings together distinguished instrumentalists associated with the Academy of Music in Krakow, whose interpretations are marked by brilliance, passion, and a palpable sense of discovery as they illuminate the beauty, individuality, and enduring artistic value of Bowen's music.