Thomas Zehetmair, Christopher Austin, Timothy Weiss - Philip Cashian: The House of Night (2015)

'The head of composition at The Royal Academy is Philip Cashian, whose own tartly seasoned, stylish music sounds as influenced by Frank Zappa, Gentle Giant and King Crimson as by Charles Ives, Boulez and Cage. To some extent, if his music was on, say, the Leaf label, or folded into the electronica of Warp, or given space on 4AD, it would not actually be defined as classical music, and could be easily fi led alongside Murcof, Johann Johannsson and Autechre.' Paul Morley, Observer Music Monthly

Cashian has had works performed worldwide at festivals including BBC Proms, Festival de Mùsica de Alicante, Aspen Music Festival, Ojai Festival (California), Musikmonat (Basle) and Moscow Autumn Festival.

This new album by Manchester-born composer Philip Cashian showcases his inventive and dynamic soundworld with a selection of orchestral and chamber works written between 2002 & 2012.

The most substantial work is the Piano Concerto, written for the London Sinfonietta in 2006 with soloist, Sarah Nicholls - it is a characterful piece with rich textures and a propulsive and high-octane finale. The Cello Concerto (2012) is a menacing interplay between soloist and orchestra with moments of snatched lyricism and Tableaux - scored for small orchestra but with double winds, two horns, trumpets and percussion for extra impact - was first performed at the 2003 Proms by Northern Sinfonia and Thomas Zehetmair. The Times review said 'with its bright zigzags of flying figures, its quasi-Sibelian centrepiece and the finale, its bristling energy makes it a real pleasure to encounter once more'.

The smaller ensemble works on this release are Dark Flight, written for the restricted palette of six cellos, and The House of Night, composed in 2002 for oboe and twelve solo strings.