| a fine strong piece, beautifully written for the piano… | ||
| —Philip Mead (Pianist), Founder, British Contemporary Piano Competition |
Click the quotation text to discover what it refers to!
| a fine strong piece, beautifully written for the piano… | ||
| —Philip Mead (Pianist), Founder, British Contemporary Piano Competition |
Click the quotation text to discover what it refers to!
Fand IncWessex Press is a publisher of high quality sheet music, CDs and books, all focussing on accessible 20th Century and contemporary composers and concentrating mainly on first editions. Please use the tabs at the top of the page to explore the catalogue. Further details, such as information about ordering, can be found on the Contact/Info page.
“Mask” for piano by Arnold Bax was written on July 22, 1912 (the same month Nympholept was composed), approximately one month after the arrival in London of Serge Diaghilev’s celebrated “Ballets Russes,” for whom Bax had written the unperformed and unpublished ballet Tamara, composed between July and November 1911.
Hitherto thought lost, we have Nick Barnard to thank for discovering the manuscript in a sale at Hanson’s and having the forethought to copy it from the auction house’s catalogue.
“Mask” was dedicated to Gustav Holst’s cousin, Mary Lediard.
This edition is edited by Nick Barnard and carries an insightful Introduction by the pianist Ennio Caironi, who has made the first recording of the piece.
A pleasing review by Gary Higginson of At the Open Door, an English song recital featuring many Fand composers, has appeared on the British Music Society website. Lorna Windsor and William Hancox are described as making “a good team with an obvious sympathy in demonstrating an understanding of an agreed interpretation….”
“This is a generously filled disc of English songs embracing a period of over 80 years….”
“…there is a real passion and commitment to the interpretations.”
The full review can be found here.
Fand Music Press has recently incorporated the Wessex Group. This was a creative group for composers to meet, discuss and promote their work, the idea of which was masterminded by John Barton Armstrong in the 1980s.
Wessex Group concerts were thus promoted both locally and on London’s South Bank and creative forums were held. As a result many first performances were given, and since that time Fand has been publishing and promoting Barton Armstrong’s work (with a view to publishing a complete edition) alongside the music of other Wessex composers.
It was always JBA’s intention that the Wessex Group, along with his own work – both music and words – should thrive and be self-sustaining. We are now continuing that ambition by joining Fand Music Press with the Wessex Group, officially: hence Fand IncWessex.
Since mid-2024, Ennio Caironi has been creating a remarkable number of superb recordings for Fand, including much of the piano music of Bax and the complete keyboard music of Peter Thompson.
As Ennio has now created his first publication for Fand, an outstanding collection of Bax Songs Without the Words, he now has his own composer page on this site, and we have taken the opportunity to collect together on it all his recordings in one place. This page will be kept up to date with any future recordings that Ennio may produce; visit it for hours of superlative listening!
Excitingly, and coinciding with the launch of this new page, Ennio has supplied Fand with several world première recordings of piano music by Sir Granville Bantock. These recordings may be found exclusively on Ennio’s new page.
A pleasing review by Gary Higginson of At the Open Door, an English song recital featuring many Fand composers, has appeared on the British Music Society website. Lorna Windsor and William Hancox are described as making “a good team with an obvious sympathy in demonstrating an understanding of an agreed interpretation….”
“This is a generously filled disc of English songs embracing a period of over 80 years….”
“…there is a real passion and commitment to the interpretations.”
The full review can be found here.
Since mid-2024, Ennio Caironi has been creating a remarkable number of superb recordings for Fand, including much of the piano music of Bax and the complete keyboard music of Peter Thompson.
As Ennio has now created his first publication for Fand, an outstanding collection of Bax Songs Without the Words, he now has his own composer page on this site, and we have taken the opportunity to collect together on it all his recordings in one place. This page will be kept up to date with any future recordings that Ennio may produce; visit it for hours of superlative listening!
Excitingly, and coinciding with the launch of this new page, Ennio has supplied Fand with several world première recordings of piano music by Sir Granville Bantock. These recordings may be found exclusively on Ennio’s new page.
The world première performance of Peter Thompson’s Prelude for Orchestra: “Stress” was given on Sunday, 6th July 2025 in Huddersfield Town Hall by the Huddersfield Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Katherine Stonham. The event was a ‘Last Night of the Proms’-style event entitled Let’s Get This Party Started!, and the Prelude was given top billing, opening the concert as a landmark first performance. The following recording captures the event and is followed by a few words of introduction from the conductor:
The performance came about thanks to the good offices of Richard Hallas, who typeset the score many years ago, and Huddersfield Philharmonic Orchestra’s David Robinson.
Previous announcements may be found in the Fand News Archive.