SOMM Recordings announces the third and final volume of the enthusiastically received One Hundred Years of British Song, with tenor James Gilchrist and pianist Nathan Williamson.
Focusing on songs written since 1950, Volume 3 celebrates what Williamsonās booklet note describes as āastonishment at the depth of expressivity of the poetry and musicā.
Receiving first recordings are John Woolrichās settings of Irish poet Matthew Sweeney, The Unlit Suburbs, a deadpan yet evocative exercise in āalternative realismā, and Geoffrey Pooleās stylistically wide-ranging The Eye of the Blackbird, with texts from Wallace Stevens.
Also on disc for the first time are Williamsonās own song-cycle setting poems by Bryan Heiser composed especially for James Gilchrist, The Little That Was Once a Man, and solo-piano miniature, Intermezzo. Peter Dickinsonās early, accomplished Four W.H. Auden Songs and dramatic and intense yet positive and joyful Let the Florid Music Praise, and Madeleine Dringās characterful Five Betjeman Songs, the product of a āfascinating and multi-faceted artistic personalityā, complete the disc.
Gramophone hailed Volume 1 (SOMMCD 0621) as āa most impressive releaseā and Limelight, awarding its Recording of the Month accolade, as āa penetrating, frequently revelatory start to a promising new seriesā. Of Volume 2 (SOMMCD 0636), MusicWeb International said: āIt is redundant to declare that this is a superlative CD. Considering the two performers, the technical prowess of SOMM Recordings, the excellent liner notes and the imaginative and wide-ranging programme, it could be nothing elseā.
Gilchristās SOMM releases include Parryās English Lyrics (SOMMCD 257 and 270) and Penelope Thwaitesā From Five Continents (SOMMCD 0612), to which, theclassicalreview said, āGilchrist brings authority throughoutā.
Williamsonās SOMM association includes Great American Sonatas (SOMMCD 0163), āa release of distinctionā (Gramophone), and Colour and Light (SOMMCD 0196), a 2019 Recording of the Year for International Piano.
On This Recording
- Let the florid music praise
- Four W.H. Auden Songs - I. Look, Stsranger
- Four W.H. Auden Songs - II. Eyes look into the well
- Four W.H. Auden Songs - III. Carry her over the water
- Four W.H. Auden Songs - IV. What's in your mind?
- Five Betjeman Songs - A Bay in Anglesey
- Five Betjeman Songs - Song of a Nightclub Proprietress
- Five Betjeman Songs - Business Girls
- Five Betjeman Songs - Undenominational
- Five Betjeman Songs - Upper Lambourne
- The Little That Was Once A Man - In someone else's poem
- The Little That Was Once A Man - 4 a.m.
- The Little That Was Once A Man - Not beingā¦ (I) The ordinary way
- The Little That Was Once A Man - Not beingā¦ (II) Misunderstanding
- The Little That Was Once A Man - Moon at rest
- The Unlit Suburbs - I. The Submerged Bar
- The Unlit Suburbs - II. Rat Town
- The Unlit Suburbs - III. The Ghost Choir
- Intermezzo
- The Eye of the Blackbird - I. Twenty snowy mountains
- The Eye of the Blackbird - II. The Autumn wind
- The Eye of the Blackbird - III. I Was of three minds
- The Eye of the Blackbird - IV. Which to prefer
- The Eye of the Blackbird - V. Icicles
- The Eye of the Blackbird - VI. I know noble accents
- The Eye of the Blackbird - VII. Out of Sight
- The Eye of the Blackbird - VIII. He rode over Connecticut
- The Eye of the Blackbird - IX. Evening all afternoon
Peter Dickinson (b.1934)
Madeleine Dring (1923-77)
Nathan Williamson (b.1978) *
John Woolrich (b.1954) *
Nathan Williamson (b.1978) *
Geoffrey Poole (b.1949)
*First Recordings
Reviews:
āItās good to have some Madeleine Dring. Her understanding of what works in setting her Five Betjeman Songs is second to none. Not surprisingly the second one, Song of the Night Club Proprietress is very popular. ā¦ [Peter Dickinson's] powerful āLet the florid music praiseā opens the disc and is then followed by the succinct Four W.H.Auden Songs written whilst he was a student, he packs a great detail into the cycleās ten minutesā¦ Accompanist Nathan Williamson is represented by a song cycle The Little That Was Once a Man, five poems by Bryan Heisor who has campaigned tirelessly for rights for the disabled. This is a dramatic cycle with much virtuoso writing for both voice and piano. The harmonic palette is wide and free, holding the listenersā constant attention. Williamson also contributes a gentle solo piano āIntermezzoā, based on a Welsh hymn tune.ā¦ Gilchrist really grasps the drama and beauty of these settings, and Williamson is sensitive and brilliant by turns.ā āGarry Higginson, British Music Society
āGilchrist and Williamson conclude their intriguing three-part exploration of British classical songsā¦ The most engrossing sequence is Five Betjeman Songs by Madeleine Dring (1923-77), whose fluid lyricism Gilchrist and Williamson immerse themselves in with audible relish.ā āDavid Cairns, The Sunday Times āļøāļøāļøāļø
