The inspiration of Denmark lies behind much of the music in this recording. The English composer and conductor Matthew Taylor (b. 1964) readily confesses to a fascination with the music of Carl Nielsen, and, as with Nielsen’s own music for winds, Taylor’s shows a similar blend of symphonic purpose and bucolic humour. Several of the works here take their inspiration directly from Nielsen; indeed, Skål! is a piece of whimsy that consists almost entirely of quotations from Nielsen’s music. The Trio in memoriam VH is a tribute to Vagn Holmboe, the leading Danish composer in the generation after Nielsen. This is the debut recording of The Waldegrave Ensemble, a new London-based wind quintet, who have called in some of their musician friends to join in.

The Waldegrave Ensemble performs a diverse range of repertoire for wind quintet, as well as collaborating with a wider range of instruments to perform larger mixed chamber works. Since its formation in 2009, The Waldegrave Ensemble has set out to embrace new ways to engage its audiences, incorporating storytelling and theatre into performances, collaborating with dancers and using visual stimulus to enrich its listeners’ experiences. Education and outreach play an important role in the ethos of the Ensemble, which strongly believes that the future of classical music lies with the youth of today, and the musicians of the Ensemble aspire to encourage the younger generation to learn an instrument and enjoy classical music.