Ben Michaels: for cello, by cellists

The Strad Issue: November 2026

Description: Variety is the watchword in this album of new works

Musicians: Ben Michaels (cello)

Works: Music by Alexander, Downes, Kullberg, Martlew, Moody and Witter-Johnson

Catalogue number: DELPHIAN DCD34371

It feels almost like a challenge: do composers who are themselves cellists write music that could only come from someone with an intimate knowledge of the instrument? Judging by the six new works for solo cello on UK cellist Ben Michaels’s wide-ranging disc, the answer’s a clear yes, though how they do so is very varied.

Jakob Kullberg peers deeply into the cello’s broadest sonic abilities in his rhapsodic, free-flowing Single the Sky: A Fever Dream, while Colin Alexander goes even further in his four-movement Towards the Flame, which seems to chart a slow drift through recurring noises, sounds and tones, and a very compelling one too. At the other extreme here, Ayanna Witter-Johnson conjures a beguiling collection of grooves and rhythms in her captivating Amethyst Sings, and Michaels proves adept at multitasking immaculately across her bass-lines, beats and melodies. Similarly, Kit Downes channels Bach through his own jazz background in his sometimes folk-like, gorgeously lyrical Kasei Valles.

The disc’s meditative centrepiece is the remarkable Inila for prepared cello by Zoë Martlew, which zooms in on an immense catalogue of sometimes intimate cello sounds, contemplating them from different angles. Though Martlew’s explorations – and the movement-based Mandala by Laura Moody – might lose a theatrical aspect on a purely audio recording, it’s nonetheless a rewarding listen, and Michaels gives strongly characterful, committed performances. Recorded sound is close and warm.

DAVID KETTLE