CD1
Ralph VAUGHAN
WILLIAMS (1872-1958)
Silent Noon [3:36]; Linden Lea [2:17]
Thomas DUNHILL
(1877-1946)
The cloths of heaven [2:07]
Bryn Terfel (bass-baritone); Malcolm
Martineau (piano)
Henry PURCELL
(c.1658-1595)
Fairest Isle from King Arthur [2:31]
Barbara Bonney (soprano); Academy of
Ancient Music/Hogwood
John DOWLAND
(1563-1626)
If my complaints could passions move
[4:38]
Barbara Bonney (soprano); Jacob Herringman
(lute)
John WILBYE
(1574-1738)
Of joys and pleasing pains [2:24]
Orlando GIBBONS
(1583-1625)
Dainty fine bird [1:44]
The Consort of Musicke/Anthony Rooley
John DOWLAND
In darkness let me dwell [4:16]
Far from triumphing court [5:07]
Andreas Scholl (countertenor); Edin
Karamazov (lute)
Ivor GURNEY
(1890-1937)
Sleep [3:08]
Peter WARLOCK
(1894-1930)
Captain’ Stratton’s Fancy [1:54]
Bryn Terfel (bass-baritone); Malcolm
Martineau (piano)
Haydn WOOD
(1882-1959)
A brown bird singing [2:45]
James MOLLOY
(1837-1909)
Love’s old sweet song [4:46]
Felicity Palmer (soprano); John Constable
(piano
Percy GRAINGER
(1882-1961)
The sprig of thyme [2:33]
The pretty maid milkin’ her cow [1:17]
Anne Sofie von Otter (mezzo); Bengt
Forsberg (piano)
TRADITIONAL arr.
Benjamin BRITTEN (1913-1976)
Early one morning [2:57]
The foggy foggy dew [2;27]
Peter Pears (tenor); Benjamin Britten
(piano)
George BUTTERWORTH
(1885-1916)
Loveliest of trees [2:40]
Bredon Hill [4:44]
John IRELAND
(1879-1962)
I must go down to the seas again [2:20]
Bryn Terfel (bass-baritone); Malcolm
Martineau (piano)
Thomas CAMPION
(1567-1620)
Come let us sound [3:02]
Emma Kirkby (soprano); Anthony Rooley
(lute)
Thomas MORLEY
(c.1557-1602)
It was a lover and his lass [2:24]
Peter Pears (tenor); Julian Bream (lute)
Thomas ARNE
(1710-1778)
The soldier tir’d [4:04]
George Frederic
HANDEL (1685-1759)
Let the bright seraphim, from Samson
[5:52]
Joan Sutherland (soprano); Harry Dilley
(trumpet); Chorus and orchestra of the
Royal Opera House, Covent Garden/Francesco
Molinari-Pradelli
CD2
VAUGHAN WILLIAMS
The Vagabond [3:14]
Gerald FINZI
(1901-1956)
O mistress mine [2:11]
Bryn Terfel (bass-baritone); Malcolm
Martineau (piano)
Henry PURCELL, arr. Britten
The Blessed Virgin’s expostulation [8:29]
Kiri Te Kanawa (soprano); Roger Vignoles
(piano)
TRADITIONAL arr. Leon
I am a poor wayfaring stranger [4:45]
Benjamin BRITTEN trad. arr. (??)
The salley gardens [2:15]
Andreas Scholl (countertenor); Edin
Karamazov (lute); Stacey Shames (harp);
Orpheus Chamber Orchestra
PURCELL
If music be the food of love [2:07]
Barbara Bonney (soprano); Academy of
Ancient Music/Hogwood
ANON arr.BRITTEN
The Lincolnshire poacher [2:03]
Peter Pears (tenor); Benjamin Britten
(piano)
Orlando GIBBONS
The Silver Swan [1:17]
The Consort of Musicke/Anthony Rooley
ANON. arr. Britten
The plough boy [2:04]
Peter Pears (tenor); Benjamin Britten
(piano)
John ECCLES
(1668-1735)
I burn, my brain consumes to ashes [3:44]
PURCELL
I’ll sail upon the dog-star [1:33]
Catherine Bott (soprano); David Roblou
(harpsichord); Paula Chateauneuf (lute);
Anthony Pleeth (cello)
TRAD. arr.. Craig
LEON (b.1952)
My love is like a red, red rose [3:50]
I will give my love an apple [2:35]
Andreas Scholl (counter-tenor); Edin
Karamazov (lute); Stacey Shames (harp);
Orpheus Chamber Orchestra
George Frideric HANDEL
O had I Jubal’s lyre, from Joshua
[2:33]
Janet Baker (mezzo); English Chamber
Orchestra/Raymond Leppard
Roger QUILTER
(1877-1953)
O mistress mine [1:36]
Now sleeps the crimson petal [2:18]
TRAD. arr. Hubert
PARRY (1848-1918)
Love is a bable [1:41]
Bryn Terfel (bass-baritone); Malcolm
Martineau (piano)
ANON. arr. Hugh
ROBERTON (1874-1952)
The fidgety bairn [2:49]
Kathleen Ferrier (contralto); John Newmark
(piano)
ANON. arr. HUGHES
The stuttering lovers [1:42]
Kathleen Ferrier (contralto); Phyllis
Spurr (piano)
ANON. arr. WHITTAKER
Blow the wind southerly [2:22]
Kathleen Ferrier (contralto);
Hubert PARRY (1848-1918)
Blow, blow thou winter wind [1:58]
Robert Tear (tenor); Philip Ledger (piano)
PURCELL
Music for a while [2:51]
Anne Sofie von Otter (mezzo); Jory Vinikour
(harpsichord)
VAUGHAN WILLIAMS
In dreams [2:57]
BUTTERWORTH
On the idle hill of summer [3:08]
Bryn Terfel (bass-baritone); Malcolm
Martineau (piano)
TRAD. arr. LEON
I loved a lass [3:37]
Andreas Scholl (countertenor); Edin
Karamazov (lute); Stacey Shames (harp);
Orpheus Chamber Orchestra
PURCELL
Thy hand Belinda ... When I am laid
in earth, from Dido and Aeneas [4:46]
Barbara Bonney (soprano); The Academy
of Ancient Musicke/Hogwood
No two-CD set could
be comprehensive in a subject such as
this. But this collection manages to
be pretty wide-ranging, with examples
of folk-songs, madrigals, lute songs,
Victorian ballads as well as many items
by major twentieth century composers.
Thirteen different solo singers appear,
from stars of the past like Ferrier
and Pears all the way to big names of
today such as Bryn Terfel and Barbara
Bonney.
Not only British singers,
either; interestingly - and possibly
just a little controversially
- there are two leading singers featured
whose first language is not English,
counter-tenor Andreas Scholl and mezzo
Anne Sofie von Otter. Both are supreme
artists, so there should be no problem;
after all, would we baulk were Peter
Pears or Ian Bostridge, for example,
to be represented in a similar collection
of German songs? I would hope not.
However, there are
some surprising omissions. Though Benjamin
Britten appears as an arranger, where
are his own songs? In most people’s
books, he is the outstanding
English song composer of the mid-twentieth
century, and this collection is compromised
by his absence. Decca must have examples
of some of those songs in its back catalogue,
and two or three should surely have
featured here.
Having got that carp
out of the way, I hasten to say that
these CDs are simply packed with wonderful
treasures. Blow the wind southerly
is Kathleen Ferrier’s most famous
legacy, but the other two songs given
here show her dramatic gifts and her
infectious sense of humour, much in
evidence in The stuttering lovers.
The American soprano Barbara Bonney
turns in some stunning performances;
her version of Dowland’s If my complaints
is one of the absolute highlights of
the issue.
But perhaps the greatest
pleasure for me came from a surprising
source. It is very easy to scoff at
such period items as the two Victorian
ballads, Wood’s A brown bird singing
and Molloy’s Love’s old sweet
song. Felicity Palmer, however,
brings the whole of her extraordinary
talent to bear on them, and the results
are enchanting. John Constable is the
perfect accompanist, giving the chorus
of Love’s old, sweet song a subtle
lilt on which Palmer is able to float
her line deliciously.
Talking of accompanists,
there are some great exponents on display
here. It is sheer joy to hear Benjamin
Britten playing his own beautifully
conceived piano parts, while Malcolm
Martineau responds imaginatively to
Bryn Terfel’s dramatic word-painting.
Lutenists are well represented too,
from the great Julian Bream duetting
with Pears to Andreas Scholl’s partner
Edin Karamazov.
Mentioning Bryn Terfel
above, I am reminded that, though I
regard him as one of the very greatest
singers to have emerged in recent years,
I have sometimes had a problem with
his recital singing. The Vaughan Williams
songs suffer from a tendency to be too
expressive, to respond almost violently
to the images of the words and music.
In dreams in particular, such
a subtle song, falls prey to this. Yet
in the Butterworth songs, and, most
notably, in an exceptionally lovely
version of Quilter’s Now sleeps the
crimson petal, he is much more restrained,
and his interpretations benefit greatly
as a result.
The remarkable counter-tenor
Andreas Scholl gives memorable performances
of two Dowland lute songs on CD1. I
enjoyed much less the rather ‘commercial’
arrangements by Craig Leon of various
folk-songs. One of these, The salley
gardens has surely given rise to
a bizarre boob in the booklet, which
credits the arrangement to Britten,
whose version is indeed justly celebrated;
unfortunately, this isn’t it!
Kiri Te Kanawa isn’t
much associated with this kind of repertoire,
though she gives a highly accomplished
if very characteristic performance of
Purcell’s wonderful scena The Blessed
Virgin’s Expostulation, with Roger
Vignoles superb in Britten’s piano realisation
of the keyboard accompaniment. Finally,
it’s important to mention some delightful
madrigal performances by Anthony Rooley
and the English Consort of Musicke.
The Silver Swan is sung with
touching simplicity by an uncredited
soprano soloist, supported by viols.
A hugely enjoyable
if slightly quirky selection, then.
I’d love to think that, in the fullness
of time, this might turn out to be merely
‘Volume One’ – this is such a rich vein,
and it would be a welcome opportunity
to include some of the outstanding artists
missing from this set – John Shirley-Quirk
and Ian Partridge to mention but two.
Gwyn Parry-Jones
DECCA 476 5296 [75:33 + 74:27] 
