'Guild continues its championing of Peter Fribbins's music with this collection of chamber works, all written in the last 20 years, and as before showcasing the vibrant, colorful but essentially tonal writing of this British-born composer. Although he continues a chartable line from Britten and Tippett, to my ears there are also continental influences such as Janáček and traces of the early 20th-century French school that give his high-minded, often literary influenced works an intriguing non-British flavor.

The collection starts abruptly with The Zong Affair, the sharp, biting folk elements giving this single-movement septet a darkly sardonic air, in keeping with its grim subject matter, the mass killings on board a British slave ship in 1781. Cruel yet profound, its final lament strikes a note of darkness absent elsewhere in Fribbins's brightly colored works. The title work, Dances and Laments for violin and cello, is a more conventional five-movement suite, jagged and playful, although it only really gets into its stride in the final section, "Dance in Three." Beautifully played by Philippe Graffin (a high profile name here) and Henri Demarquette, it is a drily scored, edgy work that contrasts with the plusher items that follow, such as the piano and cello miniature ... that which echoes in eternity. An utter charmer, this is very Satie-esque in its minimalism and structure, but growing ever more rhapsodic with the cello sneaking in gradually over the submerged tread of the piano writing. A fascinating, conventionally beautiful piece, it is the finest and most accessible work here, although there's much to enjoy elsewhere, with the skittish Porphyria's Lover, whose opening dissonance quickly dissolves to quicksilver wit and energy. Exquisite too is the single movement piano trio Softly in the dusk, very French-tinged with its chromaticism and repeated motifs. After its dying droplets of sound, it is a shock to end with the organ, but Fribbin's Chorale Prelude and Fugue on Cromer charts a similarly contained journey, albeit tonally playful. Written especially for the organist Michael Frith, it is a contemplative if somber way to close the proceedings.

The playing throughout is vibrant and committed, in keeping with the music itself. Guild's presentation is excellent, with good notes and bios in English and German. The sound is immaculate too, allowing these brightly written scores to shine. As in my previous encounter with Fribbins's lyrical yet elusive writing, there is an attractive French influence to his writing that recalls Ravel's chamber style. I would never argue that Fribbins has a unique voice, but his confidence, color, and unashamed belief in lyricism are just as apparent as before. Highly enjoyable.'

"This work by Peter Fribbins, dating from 2011 and revised in 2013, is dedicated to Michael Frith who has recorded it, together with other music by the composer on Guild GMCD 7397. It is a largely contemplative study on the old hymn-tune, fluent and almost entirely without dramatic contrast, a work that draws the listener into its evolving labrynthine world, more fully explored in the fugue.

Overall, the piece may be considered to be an exploration of the implications behind a large-scale perfect cadence, the Prelude ending in F major and the Fugue in C, but overall this is a composition which does not reveal its secrets immediately, being one that is surely worth close study - to the point where one hopes that Fribbins will consider the writing of a larger-scaled organ work in the near future.

This Prelude and Fugue betokens a composer who thinks contrapuntally and naturally within the orbit of the organ-loft. It is very well presented by this excellent publishing house, and to those interested in exploring new and worthwhile music for the organ it is highly recommended"

Peter Fribbins: Dances & LamentsTurner Ensemble etc (Guild)

Peter Fribbins' The Zong Affair will probably have most listeners scratching heads at the title before they've pressed the play button. Could this opus be based on a little-known Frederick Forsyth novel, or an early Len Deighton spy thriller? Er, no. The sleeve notes and a spot of googling reveal that this gravely eloquent piece is a septet inspired by Turner's 1840 painting The Slave Ship – itself a grisly depiction of the legal massacre of 142 slaves by the crew of a British slave ship in 1781. Fribbins' brooding, pungent music can seem too frenetic in places, though brilliantly scored. The most affecting sections are the brief moments of frozen stillness near the centre, and the downbeat coda, its irregular bass thumps suggesting a faltering heartbeat. Like many contemporary British composers, Fribbins has a day job as an academic. And the fact that you probably won't have heard of him is a matter for regret, as the music collected on this anthology is consistently engaging. The five movements of the violin and cello duet Dances & Laments seem to allude to the English pastoral tradition but have their own flavour. There's a beguiling, Dante-inspired piece for cello and piano, at its best in the slower outer sections. Fribbins' angular melodies are magnificent, and only their unpredictability prevents one from attempting to sing along.

Some of the same romanticism is at play in the piano trio Softly, in the dusk, suggested by a D H Lawrence poem. There's an impressive moment four minutes in, when the violinist soars above cello triplets. In lesser hands this could resemble corny pastiche, but here it sounds terrific. Porphryia's Lover was inspired by a Browning dramatic monologue, idiomatically scored for flute and piano. Performances throughout, drawn from a variety of performers and locations, are excellent. Enjoy this disc in one sitting, and wallow in the final organ piece, a magisterial slow fugue closing with a sonorous, satisfying cadence.' -

‘Philippe Graffin’s... Kings Place concert with cellist Henri Demarquette... included the UK premiere of Peter Fribbins’s five movement ‘Dances & Laments’ for violin and cello... Fribbins may here occupy an useasy ground between bracing modernism and a more conservative idiom, but the expressive seed is palpable’.

Fantasias for Viola and Piano (2011)

‘Peter Fribbins was present to hear his two Fantasias, composed several years apart but both well written and effective. In the first, based on a Welsh folksong, he demands some difficult A-string acrobatics and harmonics from the violist, well executed here. The second Fantasia, based on a Hungarian folksong, sets an interesting viola line against rippling scalar passages on the piano for much of the time.’

‘...Fantasias for Viola and Piano are in fact two pieces inspired by folk elements, the first Welsh, the second Hungarian. Fribbins writes in a style which is immediately communicative and yet he always avoids the blatantly obvious. The first piece begins with sparse piano notes and quiet trills from the viola, and gradually the folksy elements become more apparent. There is some filigree work from the viola and the piece achieves more and more momentum with chords from the piano eventually becoming rather strident. Then the textures from the opening return and the piece fades gently away. It is enormously effective and really rather beautiful. The second piece counterpoints long expressive lines in the viola with scalic passages from the piano and things take on a definitely Hungarian turn, ending with a question mark. Again, a most effective piece.’

‘Peter Fribbins' Fantasias, composed for Sarah-Jane Bradley and Eniko Magyar; pleasant pieces... the second one (on a Hungarian theme) received a successful première at this recital and would be good for an encore.’

'The showpiece of the evening was Peter Fribbins’ “The Zong Affair”. Fribbins’ style is modern/melodic – lucid and attention catching, demanding upon the ear but not grating... The result was rewarding. This was the best, most closely articulated music of the evening... sonically adventurous and imaginative. This made the evening worthwhile.'

‘Fribbins... has attracted attention primarily for a series of thoughtfully crafted chamber works. Any doubts as to his ability on a larger scale were all but banished by this work which, cast in three movements (with the latter two playing without pause), evinced a confident handling of formal momentum such as amply sustained the thirty-minute whole... The UK has seen several piano concertos of note in recent years and Fribbins’s new work looks set to join them.'

Christopher Gunning, Seen and Heard International, April 2011
to read full review, click Seen&Heard button

‘…an immensely rewarding collection of chamber music’

‘…it is a beautiful trio: poised, lyrical, and poignant, despite the flashes of wit and exuberance’

‘I sincerely feel Fribbins is a confident, young voice in composition, respectful of past chamber-music style and secure and inventive with tonality. Just the caliber of the artists participating on this recording proves I am not alone in wishing these works gain wider currency… This is an elegantly performed collection of music that can be alternately wistful, savage, respectful of tradition, and yet also playful. If Fribbins is not the most cutting-edge of new composers, then he is certainly the best-informed and one of the bravest to toe the tonal line. A winner, I hope.’

‘…his string (and clarinet) style and idiom are likely to have wide appeal. Particularly when one is aware of his refreshing commitment to variety … these movements come and go without ever lingering.’

‘This is a collection that's somewhat unusual and all the more enjoyable for that… you can buy it with confidence.’

... of Peter Fribbins' 'Softly, in the dusk...' The Rosamunde Trio, Detmold, Germany

‘Peter Fribbins’s ‘Softly in the Dusk...’ – an absorbing work extending the dreamlike scope of the D.H. Lawrence poem that inspired it, and dominated by a subtle, ever-present rhythmic tread... created a palpable sense of atmosphere’.

... of Peter Fribbins' 'Softly, in the dusk...' The Rosamunde Trio at Birmingham Nov. 29 2008

Peter Fribbins' 'Fantasia on Bugail Yr Hafod' (2007)- Presteigne Festival, Wales

'...the world premiere of Softly, in the Dusk, composed especially for this concert by the young British composer Peter Fribbins. This is a restrained and atmospheric piece ...'

"The title of Fribbins’s trio is taken from the opening of a short DH Lawrence poem entitled ‘Piano’, which reflects on memories of childhood and past times. Fribbins uses a falling third motif to reflect the yearning mood of the poem, winding through a meditative world where major sevenths hint at both pain and pleasure of separating with the past.

As with Softly, in the Dusk, Fribbins’s music is full of rich colours and melodies, and this commission, along with other recent performances of his music, confirms him as one of the outstanding composers of his generation."

'Before it came Kodaly, and after it a Sonata for Cello and Piano specially written for these performers in 2004 by Peter Fribbins. Lavishly romantic, and cunningly crafted, it seemed to bypass the 20th century altogether.'

'Before it came Kodaly, and after it a Sonata for Cello and Piano specially written for these performers in 2004 by Peter Fribbins. Lavishly romantic, and cunningly crafted, it seemed to bypass the 20th century altogether.'