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"Fresh from an investigation of Stephen Dodgson’s richly imaginative Inventions for Harpsichord, Naxos turns its attention to his chamber works with guitar. It was on the advice of Julian Bream – who premiered the Suite for Guitar in 1952 – that Dodgson turned to the instrument and wrote a long sequence of music that continues to beguile... The performances are unfailingly eloquent and textured and the fine booklet note from Graham Wade also has full texts. It’s good to know that Dodgson’s music continues to generate such enthusiasm in performers and, I’m sure, listeners alike."

"Here is a modern English composer of obvious caliber... The short pieces all have a Scarlatti-like rhythmic drive, expressiveness, and compact incisiveness, thriving within a chromatic-diatonic realm one might call neo-classical... There is much excellent music to absorb. The complexities and inventive detail in these works demand multiple and unsuperficial hearings to grasp fully. It is worth the trouble, since in the end there is a great deal to like!"

We're delighted to announce the release of a new recording of Stephen Dodgson guitar chamber works performed by the Mēla Guitar Quartet and a number of other talented artists

"It is a particular pleasure to recommend the first complete recording of the first four books of Stephen Dodgson’s Inventions for Harpsichord... Playing throughout is first-rate as each set of six displays its various moods. [And the] illuminating program notes [are] brimming with unique information... You might wish to order multiple copies of this recording for distribution to friends who 'already have everything'."

Guitarist Stephen Gordon shares with us the collaborative relationship between Stephen Dodgson and the Prussia Cove International Guitar Seminar across a number of works, a relationship which led to the commissioning and recording of his work The Selevan Story.

"All the performances are absolutely splendid and quite beautifully recorded and balanced, with a pleasingly wide sound stage. The piano sound in particular is exemplary. Booklet notes are by John Warrack and are models of their kind.

Toccata can be proud of this generously-filled offering which is a very worthwhile and welcome addition to the discography of an unjustly neglected composer."

"Toccata continues its excellent mission to propagate the music of Stephen Dodgson whilst Naxos has also done the composer proud with its disc of 24 Inventions for Harpsichord. Everything here is a premiere recording....

The performances are uniformly splendid and the church acoustic has been well judged. John Warrack’s notes are similarly first-class... The recording quality is excellent. Let’s hope there are many more such excellent discs before the centenary of Dodgson’s birth in 2024."

"The music is complex yet approachable, always with a spicy twist to the harmony. I found the musical language rather reminiscent of that of Kenneth Leighton with the combination of melodic fragments and toughness...

The performances from Evva Mizerska and Emma Abbate are excellent, with the two demonstrating the sort of balanced partnership which the music presupposes. Both bring out the lyricism, fascination and challenge of Dodgson's music."

Once the music reveals its secrets, it becomes intensely appealing... Five Occasional Pieces, like the other works on the album, are the products of an original, highly distinctive, consistently surprising voice, making what is now the collection devoted entirely to Dodgson’s music long overdue.