2025 NMC Composers: Stocking-filler album picks

Here is what each composer picked, along with their thoughts on the album:

Zoё Martlew – Oliver Knussen: Autumnal

“Of all the phenomenal music in NMC’s catalogue, this is the album closest to my heart – it’s the music of Oliver Knussen. You know, he was so proud of this CD, it lived on his desk from the moment it landed. It’s recorded by friends and colleagues at the highest international level. Music made by a master composer at the height of his powers, beautifully recorded – all that NMC stands for, it’s truly a jewel in the collection. And Olly would be so thrilled to know that we’re talking about it now.”

You can find Oliver Knussen’s Autumnal and Zoё Martlew’s recent release Album Z in the NMC online shop.

Alex Groves – Clare O’Connell: Light Flowing

“No better way to see through the dark winter months than with the luminous performances and impeccable curation of Clare O’Connell’s Light Flowing. She assembled a fantastic line up of composers for this album whose specially-commissioned works beautifully showcase both their individual voices and all the shades and subtleties of Clare’s playing.”

You can find Clare O‘Connell’s Light Flowing and Alex Groves’ recent release DANCE SUITE, featured in New Music Biennial 2025 in the NMC online shop.

Martin Iddon – Harrison Birtwistle: Gawain

“Somewhere about the house - in a box; I’m sure I saw them not too very long ago while I was hunting for something else - I have two C90 cassettes, with ‘Birtwistle - Gawain’ written on the spine in fading black biro, an opera the principal events of which take place within the ambit of two successive Christmases or, perhaps, Yules. I still remember, on what the internet assures me was 28 April 1994, making that recording from Radio 3, as cautious (and inept) with making sure I captured it all as friends perhaps were with chopping out the hits from the Top 40 countdown three days later: Tony di Bart’s The Real Thing replaced Prince’s The Most Beautiful Girl in the World at the top of the chart. Part of my excitement, no doubt, was that this was an opera by a composer from the same part of the world as me who, it seemed, cared as much as I did about Arthurian legend, and the Gawain narrative in particular. Unsurprisingly, then, it’s a joy to have a proper, clean, and sharp recording of exactly what I didn’t quite get off the radio, in the form of NMC’s release of Gawain, as luminous and it is dense, as static as it is fluid, as remarkable now as I remember it thirty years ago.”

You can find Harrison Birtwistle’s Gawain and Martin Iddon’s recent release Hesperides in the NMC online shop.

Emily Levy – Errollyn Wallen: PHOTOGRAPHY

"Such a treasure trove of an album. My favourite piece is the Cello Concerto, featuring the beautiful playing of Matthew Sharp and the truly magical moments when Ensemble X join the sound. Errollyn's music always feels at once both intimate and expansive-familiar but adventurous at the same time! I recommend listening on headphones on a crisp winter evening-a moment of escape in all the chaos."

You can find Errollyn Wallen’s PHOTOGRAPHY and Emily Levy’s recent release Mercury Songs, featured in New Music Biennial 2025 in the NMC online shop.

Simon Emmerson – Roger Smalley: Pulses

“It’s wonderful how NMC keeps their back catalogue available. Here’s a piece that profoundly influenced me: Roger Smalley’s Pulses – brass percussion, live electronics. I heard the first performance in 1969 around the time I was studying with Roger. NMC’s Recording is from 1994 – BBC Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Richard Bernas – check it out”

You can find Roger Smalley’s Pulses and Simon Emmerson’s recent release Sound Around – both near and far at once in the NMC online shop.

Mark David Boden – Liza Lim: String Creatures

“String Creatures by Liza Lim is an utterly engaging album of highly inventive and imaginative works. Passages of shimmering beauty are interspersed with high energy, raw noise and bold invention in a captivating listen from beginning to end.”

You can find Liza Lim’s String Creatures and Mark David Boden’s recent release Chasing Sunlight, featured in New Music Biennial 2025 in the NMC online shop.

Sam MacKay, NMC Executive Director – Hannah Kendall: shouting forever into the receiver 

“I keep coming back to this brilliant album. It thematises the horrors of the 'plantation machine' in a way that's so abundant in symbols and references, offering (like all good art) endless readings. As the great George Lewis puts it in his liner notes, it "reveals Kendall as a major voice of her generation"

You can find Hannah Kendall’s shouting forever into the receiver in the NMC online shop

Claire Wright, NMC Head of Fundraising – Tom Coult: Pieces That Disappear 

"I loved Tom Coult's Pieces That Disappear when it came out in late 2024, then after hearing Coult's gripping and dramatic Monologues of the Curious at this year's Proms, I found myself returning to the album, and was reminded of what beautiful, intriguing, and sometimes strange and amusing music he writes."

You can find Tom Coult's Pieces That Disappear in the NMC online shop

Ellie Wilson, NMC Creative Director – Richard Ayres: NONcertos

“This release from 2010 is a wild, wacky and exhilarating ride. You can't help but smile when listening to it. I haven't just picked this album for its wonderful wintery front cover - that's just a festive bonus!

Richard Ayres sums up his music here: 'I want to use consonance, dissonance, melody, texture, elephants, clouds, snowballs, anything, from any time and whenever it is needed – bound only by the borders of my limited imagination’!

The album received ***** in BBC Music Magazine and was Editor's Choice in Gramophone.”

You can find Richard Ayres’ NONcertos and Ellie Wilson’s recent release Moth x Human, featured in New Music Biennial 2025 in the NMC online shop

Hannah Gillingham, NMC Marketing and Development Co-ordinator – Slide Action: RE:BUILD

“Listening to Slide Action’s RE:BUILD from beginning to end feels like traveling through a series of shifting soundscapes - melodies constantly emerging and dissolving, all tied together with carefully crafted interludes. You can hear the intention behind shaping the album as a cohesive journey rather than a collection of standalone tracks. It’s beautiful, haunting, surprising at times, and includes some really fun moments. Featuring commissions from five truly incredible composers, this is one everyone should check out.”

You can find Slide Action’s RE:BUILD in the NMC online shop