Be warned: this is
no mere collection of isolated songs
brought together in some sort of musical
hotchpotch. What we have here is an
impressive survey of contemporary British
songs with many sizeable cycles by distinguished
composers. I say ‘British … in fact
two of these composers come from New
Zealand whereas another is Australian,
now living in Norfolk. The stylistic
range is wide and richly varied, and
the pieces reflect Tracey Chadwell’s
wide-ranging interest. Indeed, in her
all too brief solo career (cut tragically
short by cancer in January 1996), she
devoted much time and talent to promoting
contemporary songs. That much is certainly
evident from this cross-section of her
BBC recordings. Some may also remember
that she sang the soprano part in the
only modern recording of Alan Rawsthorne’s
Second Symphony, on Lyrita SRCD 291.
Douglas Lilburn’s three
songs and David Farquhar’s Six
Songs of Women may be somewhat
more traditional in idiom but are nevertheless
very fine. I particularly enjoyed Farquhar’s
lovely cycle. Gillian Whitehead’s attractive
cycle Awa Herea is another
beautiful rarity and one of the finest
works by this composer, who – incidentally
– studied with Peter Maxwell Davies.
More of her music is available on a
New Zealand disc which is nearly impossible
to find, and which I have never been
able to hear. Bennett’s cycle A
Garland for Marjory Fleming
may be (with the exception of the songs
by Lilburn and Farquhar) one of the
earliest pieces in this collection,
and it is another most welcome addition
to the catalogue. It is expertly written
and perfectly suits Tracey Chadwell’s
warmly lyrical tone. Elizabeth Maconchy
wrote Three Songs "In Memory
of W.B. Yeats" in 1985
for Chadwell who had previously sung
her Sun, Moon and Stars,
a substantial song cycle on words by
Traherne. Some of these Traherne poems
had been set earlier by Finzi in his
beautiful Dies Natalis.
Maconchy’s daughter Nicola Le Fanu also
composed two pieces for Chadwell: the
extended song I am Bread
and the longer cycle A Penny for
a Song. These are both very
fine and very accessible as well. I
found the cycle particularly beautiful.
In his A Norfolk Songbook
for soprano and recorders, David Lumsdaine
sets his own poems in a highly imaginative
way. This is yet another fine addition
to Lumsdaine’s rather limited discography
and a worthwhile addition to the repertoire.
So is John Joubert’s large-scale song-cycle
The Turning Wheel Op.95.
Unlike all the other songs in this collection,
Lyell Cresswell’s Words for Music
is for unaccompanied voice, quite a
tour de force, and again well
worth having.
All in all, this is
not only a fitting tribute to Tracey
Chadwell’s artistry but also a wonderful
anthology of fine songs written in the
second half of the 20th century,
all of them displaying a richly varied
expressive and stylistic range and all
superbly written. Just two remarks:
there are 27 tracks in the first disc,
and Poem 8 and Poem 9 in Lumsdaine’s
piece are sung in reverse order. I also
would have appreciated a little more
information about the performed works.
None of this should deter anyone from
listening to this superb, most welcome
(and generously filled) release which
I warmly recommend.
Hubert Culot
Tracey Chadwell (soprano); John Turner (recorders)a;
Pamela Lidiard (piano) 
BRITISH MUSIC SOCIETY BMS CD 420/421 CD [67:38
+ 72:54] 
for details