This fourth album in the Toccata Classics survey of the chamber music of London-born Stephen Dodgson (1924–2013) offers a first instalment of his many works for woodwinds. Much of it brings Dodgson’s sense of fun to the fore, often through rhythmic mischief or an insouciance that recalls Poulenc, but it also has that particularly English strain of lyricism that suggests the impermanence of beauty.

Founded in 2012, the Magnard Ensemble has built a reputation for delivering both high-quality concert performances and dynamic educational projects. During the 2014–15 season, the quintet simultaneously held a Chamber Music Fellowship at the Royal Academy of Music, as well as the inaugural joint fellowship between the RAM Open Academy and Wigmore Hall Learning. The ensemble made its international debut at the Culture & Convention Centre in Lucerne in January 2017. Currently the Ensemble are selected artists for the Cavatina Chamber Music Trust, the Tillett Trust Young Artist Platform and the Tunnell Trust. The players all follow their own professional performing careers, appearing as soloists, chamber musicians and with orchestras. During 2016 their project ‘Revolting Rhymes and Marvellous Music’ was launched nationwide to celebrate the centenary of Roald Dahl’s birth, in partnership with Paul Patterson, Martin Butler, the City Music Foundation and Music Link International.


Magnard Ensemble:
- Suzie Clements (flute)
- Mana Shibata (oboe)
- Joseph Shiner (clarinet)
- Catriona McDermid (bassoon)
- Jonathan Farey (horn)
- Suling King (piano)