This disc provided my first encounter
with the music of London born, but now
Australian resident composer Tony Noakes.
What I found was an enjoyably diverse
collection, setting many different (and
different kinds of) poets, in finely
crafted songs, totally in keeping with
the knowledge that Noakes is an architect
by profession, and was also a pupil
of Alan Bush (a composer now rightly
gaining real recognition, after an extended
period of unjustifiable neglect based
on his political views rather than his
music), Hugh Wood and Jeremy Dale-Roberts.
The last song disc I remember finding
quite as stimulating as this was the
Naxos Farley/Rorem, although I should
acknowledge that Noakes' muse is perhaps
not quite as consistently excellent
as the great American's.
Having already mentioned Rorem as a
frame of reference, it is interesting
to note that Noakes sang in the Quaker
Festival Choir and has also composed
a Quaker Requiem. Some of the
most delightful pieces here (all of
which are sung to great effect by contralto
Phillida Bannister) turn out to be brief
settings of the previously unknown to
this listener, Quaker poet Louis Horne.
The composer responds sympathetically
and effectively to lines like "The music
like thistledown drifting," "Leaflets
shyly reach to bless" and "With swallows
skimming the river's brightness.". The
joy in creation evident here seeps from
the music and words alike. Not far behind,
has to be the Delius tribute At Grez-sur-Loing,
to words by Norman E. Cusack:- "Where
a century ago, he rowed, Telling his
girl he liked it here" and "He set it
all to music.", almost Finzi-like in
its depth and distillation of feeling.
Tony Noakes has also set some Hardy,
a poet who, I feel, almost belongs to
Finzi, but such is the strength of the
texts, it would take something dreadful
to ruin them. Happily, the current composer
does himself and Hardy real justice
- the choice of Over the Coffin
and The Ruined Maid provides
the perfect tragic/comic(?) contrast.
Other highlights include two settings
of Paul Eluard, in both original French
and English translations (the latter
by Noakes' wife Beverley) and the carol
Balow (text anonymous). I felt
that the Maya Angelou I could have lived
without but that is more a comment on
the text than the setting and, on the
whole, this is a highly worthwhile disc.
It must be added that the disc, from
Stewart Orr Sound Services is a CD-R,
albeit a very well presented one, and
the cover is about as dull as you get,
even in the classical world. However,
there is a full set of texts in the
booklet and the music is very well performed
and recorded. I have to say that this
is a pretty desirable disc, especially
for English song buffs, even Hardy/Finzi
bores, myself included.
Neil Horner
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Phillida Bannister, contralto 
