OUR CHOICES

The BBC Music team’s current favourites

Neil Mckim Production editor

Stravinsky’s Ebony

Concerto, was written for jazz clarinettist Woody Herman in 1945. It’s an intriguing work, requiring Herman to take a detour from the swing-era sound for which he was well known in order to embrace the composer’s spiky rhythmic textures. The melancholy second movement is wonderful, with its woozy blues-like quality and the ethereal chords at the close.

Elinor Cooper Editorial assistant

I first encountered the music of Eriks E¯ˇsenvalds in a concert by the National Youth Choirs of Great Britain, and since then have been entranced by his atmospheric soundworld. The Portland State University Chamber Choir recently released a disc of narrative works, including the sublime Rivers of Light – a sound-portrait of the northern lights – and The First Tears, based on an Inuit legend.