Lento is music of extraordinary directness and simplicity. It is an enigmatic and hypnotic work within which shifting modal chords progress through the orchestra to create a chorale-like, almost architectural form beneath a calm melodic surface; now something of a cult piece, it is NMC's most consistently-selling recording since its release in 1992. 'Lento, by the British miniaturist Howard Skempton, must surely be heading for cult status? it is captivating in its simple wistfulness.' BBC Music Magazine Pick of 1992 'An enigmatic orchestral chorale ? like Gorecki's Third Symphony, it is stuff that cults are made of' Gramophone 'First performed in 1991, Lento is a timeless piece, both an intensely personal continuation of the English pastoral tradition and a far more convincing assertion of the continuing expressive power of tonal music than anything in P?rt's world of faux-religiosity.' The Guardian