In the 1970s, a newly formed chamber orchestra dedicated primarily to modern music was formed in London. Its conductor was David Atherton, and Artistic Directors were the clarinettist Anthony Pay and pianist Paul Crossley.

At the time, Pay was associated with the ancient music revival, and Crossley was very much in vogue, having had Michael Tippett’s Third Piano Sonata written for him. The London Sinfonietta staged a number of festival concerts concentrating on the works of particular composers, notably Arnold Schoenberg, Kurt Weill, Igor Stravinsky, and Roberto Gerhard (a Catalan composer and pupil of Schoenberg who had settled in Britain to escape political upheaval in Spain). Probably under Pay’s influence, they also played early clarinet music. The musicians and singers were among the finest working in London at the time.

David Atherton. Photo © Decca Eloquence

The LS recorded for Argo, Decca, and DG (companies which were not yet under the one corporate banner). Not only were the performances very strong, but the records were made during the final days of analogue sound: a period when clarity was matched by warmth of timbre. The unusual repertoire guaranteed these recordings would...