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JEREMY POLMEAR oboe, cor anglais, alto saxophone DIANA AMBACHE piano

RECORDINGS and SOUND CLIPS


Please browse the CDs and free sound clips below.

You can order them, worldwide, with a credit card and a secure server, from

        Jeremy's CD label: www.oboeclassics.com,
        Diana's Ochestra site: www.ambache.co.uk,
        or by emailing us on jeremy@oboeclassics.com.

The ordering method is indicated by each CD.

Free Track

The clips in this page are mainly excerpts, but here is a complete track for download: York Bowen Sonata, 1st movement (from the Sweet Melancholy CD) It is 3.23Mb, and plays for 6' 45".

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Melodic Lines
works for oboe, bassoon and piano
Jeremy Polmear (oboe) Philip Gibbon (bassoon) Diana Ambache (piano)
Melodic lines abound in these trios - in the operatic melodies of Lalliet, or the opening of Poulenc's celebrated Trio.

Ceremony and melancholy is mixed in Geoffrey Bush's superb Trio, and Madeleine Dring contributes her characteristic wit and bounce.

Receiving their première recordings are Richard Stoker's french-influenced Miniatures, and the enigmatic melody of jazz/rock saxophonist Barbara Thompson's Green.

Overall, this CD shows what beautiful tunes and textures are to be had from oboe, bassoon and piano.

"Inspired repertoire, superb sound and exemplary programme notes. Brilliant!"
Music Web International.

For more details, or to order this CD, go to www.oboeclassics.com.

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the oboe in MOZART chamber music
Jeremy Polmear (oboe & cor anglais)
                          with the Ambache Chamber Ensemble

Joy is the keyword for this CD; you can hear it in the opening bars of the Oboe Quartet, and in the interplay between flute, oboe and piano in this segment from the Quintet, K617.

But there is also serenity, as in this version for cor anglais of the Adagio K580a, and in the slow movement of the Sonata K376 (originally for violin), in which the oboe and piano lines intertwine.

The CD ends with the celebrated Quintet for Piano and Winds K452, where all five instruments celebrate together in the way that only Mozart can; here is the group cadenza in the last movement.

"A must for oboe-philes; a rare treat for Mozarteans." Observer

For more details, or to order this CD, go to www.oboeclassics.com.

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Robert & Clara SCHUMANN
The Polmear Ambache Duo
These are the best of Romantic miniatures. Robert's Oboe Romances are the best known oboe chamber pieces of the period, and listening to the start of the first one it's easy to hear why.

Less well known, but equally fine, are Clara's three Romances; here's the start of her first one.

The cor anglais features too - in, for example, the haunting opening bars of Robert's Adagio & Allegro, and also in an unusually spritely role in the first of his popular-style five pieces Stücke im Volkston.

This CD has been designated the Benchmark Recording for this repertoire
by BBC Music Magazine

For more details, or to order this CD, go to www.oboeclassics.com.

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SWEET MELANCHOLY - CD £10, Cassette £7
(all works for oboe and piano unless otherwise stated)

Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872-1958)
Six Studies in English Folk-Song (cor anglais & piano)
Benjamin Britten (1913-76)
Six Metamorphoses after Ovid, Op 49 (oboe solo)
Malcolm Arnold (b 1921)
Sonatina, Op 28
Edmund Rubbra (1901-86)
Sonata in C, Op 100
York Bowen (1884-1961)
Sonata, Op 85
Madeleine Dring (1923-77)
Danza Gaya
Sound Clips - click what you want to hear:
Vaughan Williams Folk-Song 6 , Britten, Arethusa (start) , Arnold (start) ,
Rubbra (start) , Bowen (1st movt complete - 3.23Mb) , Dring (start)

To order this CD, go to www.ambache.co.uk/records.htm#Melancholy
"This is a recording not only for oboists, though they - amateur or professional - will have occasion to enjoy such finished performances in the repertory. There is also an interest in the vein of music-making that was opened up in English composition by the artistry of Leon Goossens. Some of the pieces here were written for him (Malcolm Arnold, with his engaging, haunting Sonatina, and York Bowen); others were for performers inspired by his playing to take the instrument up. One such was Joy Boughton... for her Britten wrote his skillfully fashioned Metamorphoses, yet another tribute to his technical skill in its drawing of so much music out of a single unaccompanied line. Another was Evelyn Rothwell, later Lady Barbirolli... who won from Rubbra a sonata that is less distinctive than some of his music but is difficult not to accept for its easy lyrical qualities. These are some English versions of pastoral, as of course are Vaughan Williams' Six Studies (really for cello, here well suiting the cor anglais)...there is something to be learnt, and to be enjoyed, in music as well-crafted as this, as is the sonata by York Bowen.
Jeremy Polmear plays the works with the unaffected enjoyment of their virtues. He is a sympathetic, musicianly artist, with a sweet, Goossens-like tone (though - for oboists to note - he plays a Marigaux, richer-toned than Goossens' elegant Loree). He finishes with a charming little piece by the talented, lamented Madeleine Dring, who wrote it for her husband, another superb oboist, Roger Lord." John Warrack, Gramophone

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THE OTHER DONIZETTI - CD £10, Cassette £7
Instrumental music by Donizetti, together with Fantasies on his operas by Liszt and Pasculli

(all works for oboe and piano unless otherwise stated)
Gaetano Donizetti (1797-1848)
Sonata in F
Waltz in C (piano solo)
Concertino in G (cor anglais and piano)
Il Barcaiolo

Antonio Pasculli (1842-1924)
Concerto on themes from the opera La Favorita
Fantasia on the opera Poliuto

Franz Liszt (1811-86)
Reminisciences de Lucia di Lammermoor (piano solo)
Sound Clips - click what you want to hear:
Sonata 1st movement (middle) , Concertino (middle) , La Favorita (near start) , Liszt (middle) , Poliuto (middle)

To order this CD, go to www.ambache.co.uk/records.htm#Donizetti
The Other Donizetti refers to the instrumental side of a composer known mainly for his more than sixty operas, and the recording celebrates his unfailing melodic gifts. Antonio Pasculli was a celebrated oboist in his time, and his music allows plenty of opportunities for virtuosity. However, in both his and Franz Liszt's contributions there is always respect for the beauty of the melodies.
"This collection shows an essentially lightweight side to the composer, but is given some substance by the stylish elegance of Jeremy Polmear's playing. The Sonata in F is an agreeable piece with a fluent Andante and a catchy finale, and the vignette Il Barcaiolo is even more engaging. The cor anglais Concertino centres on a set of variations which are not unlike the fantasias on themes from his operas by Pasculli. However, these demand the utmost bravura from the soloist. The La Favorita Concerto has a finale marked Allegro velocissimo which speaks for itself, and in the Poliuto Fantasia Jeremy Polmear is made to sound like one of Rimsky-Korsakov's bumble-bees set loose in the Italian sunshine. Diana Ambache proves a sympathetic partner and gives a suitably flamboyant account of Liszt's famous Lucia paraphrase. The artists are well balanced and are afforded striking naturalness and presence." The Penguin CD Guide

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MORCEAUX DE SALON - 45rpm LP, 39 mins, £5
J W Kalliwoda (1801-66)
Morceau de Salon, Op 228
T Lalliet (1837-92)
Prelude and variations on The Carnival of Venice, Op 20
J C M Widerkehr (1759-1823)
Duo Sonata in E minor
Sun Ilin and Wang Zhiwei
The Countryside is my Home

This is the Duo's first recording, from pre-CD days. The 45-rpm LP format claims to be more hi-fi and with quieter surfaces than the more usual 33 rpm. It's important, however, to set your turntable to the correct speed, or it can sound rather lugubrious! Purchasing a copy entitles you to copy it to cassette, CD etc for personal use.

To order this LP, email us on jeremy@oboeclassics.com

"Issued in 45 rpm form and self-styled 'a natural sound recording', this impressive disc from Meridian lives up to its claim, with sound that has a sturdy solidity and clarity to it, without any hard or harsh qualities creeping in...
The two artists produce finely phrased expressive performances, devoid of over-statement, and characterised by subtle gradations of dynamic and articulation... Kalliwoda's Morceau de Salon is perhaps the most musically arresting piece on the disc, and all Polmear's best qualities are brought into play here to produce an outstanding interpretation. Diana Ambache is a sensitive accompanist, but she is at her best in the Widerkehr, where more subtlety of tonal and dynamic shading are called for in the piano part... The Countryside is my Home, a piece from the period of Red China's Cultural Revolution, is a pleasantly lightweight bucolic item of great charm, performed with appropriate warmth." Doug Hammond, Hi-Fi News

"... The disc offers Polmear a lot of scope to show off what he can do, and he can do a lot... Lalliet's variations on the ubiquitous Carnival of Venice are literally breathtaking: Polmear's circular breathing allows him to zip through the final variation seemingly without any intake of air... a most entertaining disc." George Chien, Fanfare (USA)

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