Owen Murray’s new CD of three British accordion concertos gets rave reviews

A remarkable achievement to record three concertos at the same time!

How wonderful that Owen Murray has marked his long career as both a teacher and a concert artist by recording three British accordion concertos and is receiving great reviews both on Radio 3 ‘s CD review and by Hubert Dulot on MusicWeb International. The three concertos are by Gordon Jacob, Edward McGuire and Jonathan Dove, the latter of which was commissioned by Owen Murray.  The Northern Lights was composed especially for Murray after Peter Maxwell Davies, who was originally supposed to compose it, died and Dove took up the commission, which poignantly sends a nod in the direction of Peter Maxwell Davies by quoting A Farewell To Stromness within the concerto. The accordion weaves beautifully in and out of the orchestration of all three of these wonderful works.

Owen Murray, always a strong exponent of new music for accordion wanted very much to acknowledge the contribution of British composers have made to the accordion repertoire and it will be interesting to hear younger accordionists take up these works as it will be a testament to Murray’s legacy both as an innovator and an educator. None other than the BBC Concert Orchestra are entrusted with backing Murray and they too are most ably directed by the sensitive baton of Scotland’s premiere composer James McMillan.  Wouldn’t it be wonderful if he too wrote a concerto for the accordion?! Bravo Owen Murray, you led the way for so many in the UK. ZZ Music also stock Owen Murray’s solos CD On The Wings Of Wind

This concerto CD is available from many on line retailers including Amazon : https://www.amazon.co.uk/British-Accordion-Concertos-Orchestra-MacMillan/dp/B0GHGWJK8Y