Shakespeare and English Music

On this CD:

1. The Fairy Queen, semi-opera, Z. 629 Prelude "Love's a Sweet Passion
Composed by Henry Purcell
Performed by Le Concert des Nations
Conducted by Jordi Savall

2. The Fairy Queen, semi-opera, Z. 629 Symphony
Composed by Henry Purcell
Performed by Le Concert des Nations
Conducted by Jordi Savall

3. Fairest Isle (from "King Arthur"), aria for soprano, Z. 628/38 Fairest isle of isles excelling
Composed by Henry Purcell
Performed by Wieland Kuijken, Agnes Mellon, Christophe Rousset

4. Work(s) Rondeau in D minor
Composed by Henry Purcell
Performed by Christophe Rousset

5. The Second Part of Musick's Handmaid, 12 lessons for harpsichord Music for a while
Composed by Henry Purcell
Performed by Rodrigo DelPozo, Harp Consort
Conducted by Andrew Lawrence-King

6. Fantasy for 3 viols in D minor, Z. 732
Composed by Henry Purcell

Conducted by Jordi Savall

7. Lachrimae for lute, P15
Composed by John Dowland
Performed by Paul O'Dette

8. The Most Sacred Queen Elizabeth, Her Galliard (P41)
Composed by John Dowland
Performed by Paul O'Dette

9. Lachrimae Antiquae Novae Pavan and Galliard
Composed by John Dowland

Conducted by Jordi Savall

10. The Most High and Mighty Christianus the Fourth, King of Denmark, His Galliard, for lute
Composed by John Dowland

Conducted by Jordi Savall

11. Pavan a 6, for instrumental consort in C major
Composed by William Byrd
Performed by Capriccio Stravagante
Conducted by Skip Sempe

12. Fantasia a 6, for instrumental consort in F major (incomplete)
Composed by William Byrd
Performed by Capriccio Stravagante
Conducted by Skip Sempe

13. In nomine (Musica Britannica No 5) for keyboard
Composed by John Bull
Performed by Pierre Hantai

14. A Souldiers Resolution, (No 11 in Musical Humors)
Composed by Tobias Hume
Performed by Jordi Savall

15. Fantasia a 6 (No. 6)
Composed by Orlando Gibbons
Performed by Sergi Casademunt, Christophe Coin, Jordi Savall, Johann Sonnleitner

16. The Fairey Masque
Composed by Robert (ii) Johnson
Performed by Sebastien Marq

17. Fantasia Suite for 2 violins, 2 bass viols & continuo No. 6 in F major
Composed by John Jenkins

Conducted by Jordi Savall

18. Symphony extraite de Musicks Handmaide
Composed by William Lawes
Performed by Sebastien Marq

Tracks:

Preludio
Bianco Flore
Danza
gagliarda
Canzone
Saltorello
Galliard
Allemande
Alman
Pavane
Galliard
Melancholy Galliard
The Cobbler
The King Of Denmark's Galliard
As I Went To Walshingham
Go From My Window
La Rossignol
Drewries Accordes
Toy For Two Lutes
Recercate Concertante
Greensleeves
Wilson's Wilde

Tracks:

The Western Wynde
It Was A Lover And His Lass
Edi Beo Thu, Hevene Quene
Greensleeves
The King's Dance
Galliarde
My Lady Carey's Dompe
The New Saboo
Pavane D'Angleterre
La Volta, Theme & Variations
Nobody's Gigge
The Earl Of Essex Galliard

Customer Reviews:

Pleasant and relaxing.......2000-08-30

I heard this at a local mega-bookstore. It is pleasing enough that I actually heard it and was listening to it. Definitely background or relaxation music, but also good enough to listen to. The woodwinds on some of the pieces are very lyrical. Good medieval/Elizabethan type music.

There Is Sweet Music: English Choral Songs, 1890 - 1950

Average customer rating:

A Cambridge Singers high point
How sweet it is
Something about British Choral Music...
Unbelievably gorgeous

There Is Sweet Music: English Choral Songs, 1890 - 1950
Cambridge Singers , and Rutter
Manufacturer: Collegium
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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Cambridge Singers a Capella
Flora Gave Me Fairest Flowers
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John Rutter Collection

ASIN: B00006O0OB
Release Date: 2003-02-25

Tracks:

Stanford: Partsongs Op. 119 No 3, Bluebird
Delius: To be sung of a summer night on the water, 2 songs for chorus
Elgar: Partsongs for chorus, Op.53 No 1, There Is Sweet Music
Elgar: My Love Dwelt in a Northern Land for Chorus, Op.18, No. 3
Vaughan-Williams: Shakespeare Songs for chorus
Moeran: The Sailor and Young Nancy, for chorus
Traditional: Brigg Fair
Irish Traditional: Londonderry Air (Danny Boy)
Anon.: The Three Ravens
Anon.: My Sweetheart's Like Venus
Anon.: The Oak and the Ash
Stanford: Quick! We Have But A Second for chorus
Britten: Flower Songs for SATB chorus, Op. 47

Album Description

`I have rarely been so stunned by the opening track of a disc before. The performance of Stanford's The Blue Bird here attains the sublime.' Hi-Fi News & Record Review

Customer Reviews:

A Cambridge Singers high point.......2005-10-17

One of the very best recordings this choir has produced, and a definitely top choice for anyone who loves this choir or English choral music in general. Absolutely first-rate singing...and the literature is just too gorgeous to be on a one disc and pass up. The Delius pieces will make you melt, and the Vaughan Williams 3 Shakespeare Songs are nothing short of phenomenal.

How sweet it is.......2005-09-26

This disc is a bit different from many of the Cambridge Singers' discs in that it is exclusively secular songs. This was recorded at the Great Hall of University College School, London, in 1986, and originally released on vinyl. I cannot find an analog/digital code (many vinyl originals were first recorded in analog and then transferred to digital, sometimes clumsily) - despite this, the recording quality is crisp, clear, and vibrant.

--Music--
The music here is simply gorgeous. English musical tradition is long in the area of folk songs, but there was a waning of folk songs during Georgian and Victorian times. Also, despite the tradition of choral music which has been strong in England continuously, there was a definite resurgence of interest with the advent of the Oxford Movement in the nineteenth century.

The music here represents the work of many prominent English composers - Vaughan Williams, Holst, Britten, Delius, Stanford, and Elgar; others whose names are less well known generally are also represented, such as Moeran, Grainger, Chapman, and Bairstow. Vaughan Williams is represented in his setting of three Shakespeare texts to music ('Full Fathom Five', 'The cloud-capp'd towers', and 'Over Hill, Over Dale'). Britten is represented with Five Flower Songs. The title piece comes from a text chosen by Elgar - 'There is sweet music', according to Rutter, demonstrates a wonderful ability to match words to music in a way he describes as uncanny.

There is poetry in the texts and in the music here.

--Liner Notes--
The notes for this recording include the titles and words of each song together with source citations. There is also a brief essay on this musical period in English history. One thing conspicuously missing is much biographical information about John Rutter, or any descriptive information about the Cambridge Singers. This disc does not even have a list of the singers.

--John Rutter--
Rutter was born in London and educated at Clare College, Cambridge. This was where his career as a composer, arranger and conductor began. His early work was with groups at King's College Chapel at Cambridge as well as the Bath Choir and Philharmonic Orchestra. He has worked for the BBC providing music for educational series such as 'The Archaeology of the Bible Lands', until in 1979 he began forming the Cambridge Singers, and has continued a remarkable career of performance and recording as their director ever since.

--The Cambridge Singers--
The Cambridge Singers are a mixed choir of voices, many of whom were members of choir of Rutter's college, Clare College, Cambridge. While they specialise in English and Latin liturgical pieces, they have a wide range of recordings that span from modern compositions (including a remarkable requiem by Rutter) to English folk songs of the Middle Ages. Many are former members of the choir of Clare College and other Cambridge collegiate choirs (hence the name, Cambridge Singers). In the quarter-century since the founding, the Cambridge Singers have produced an impressive body of recordings.

This is a gorgeous recording.

Something about British Choral Music..........2005-07-19

It is such pleasure to see this re-release of 1986 recording by John Rutter and the Cambridge Singers from the Great Hall of University College School, London. The original recording has long been a favorite of legions of devotees of the British Choral tradition and this collection remains one of the finest samplings of significant a capella songs available.

Opening with the hauntingly simple and beautiful 'The blue bird' by CV Stanford (to whom this album was dedicated), the tone of the CD is set as a stroll through the mists and bogs of the English countryside. Songs by Frederick Delius (one featuring the then unappreciated tenor soloist Mark Padmore!), Edward Elgar, various folk songs beautifully arranged for four-part chorus, the 'Five Flower Songs' by Benjamin Britten, and finally the extraordinary 'Three Shakespeare Songs' set to music by Ralph Vaughan Williams are all included in this generous recital.

Vaughan Williams songs are brief but immaculately written choral works. 'Full fathom five' and 'The cloud-capped towers' find all the mystery in Shakespeare's 'The Tempest' while 'Over hill, over dale' is the quintessential musical rendering of the fairies frolics from 'A Midsummer Night's Dream'. Rutter and the Cambridge Singers are splendid and the acoustic of the recording hall adds just the right amount of resonance to complete the magic of these songs. Highly recommended! Grady Harp, July 05

Unbelievably gorgeous.......2005-04-09

This is one of my all-time favorite choral CDs -- from start to finish, the harmonies are gorgeous, the mood contemplative, and the singing (as usual with the Cambridge Singers) is inspired. The title track is stunning, and the Londonderry Air is one of the most beautiful wordless arrangements you'll ever hear. I also love "The Oak and the Ash," although it's hard to pick favorites on such a uniformly wonderful CD. I myself am a serious singer, and this is the kind of music that keeps me coming back to rehearsals. Buy it, you will definitely never regret it!

Come, Gentle Night: Music of Shakespeare's World

Average customer rating:

Ensemble Galilei's music is lilting, elegant and unexpected!
beautiful
Excellent!
It will bring about many gentle nights
Visualizing Beauty

Come, Gentle Night: Music of Shakespeare's World

Manufacturer: Telarc
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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From The Isles To The Courts
Shakespeare Songs
The Renaissance Album (Windham Hill)
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Songs and Dances from Shakespeare

ASIN: B0000478S3
Release Date: 2000-01-25

Tracks:

Mister Issac's Maggot, Chestnut (Dove's Vagary)
Woodycock
Death's Second Self
Jack's Health, Vale Of Years, Jack's Health Reel
Come, Gentile Night
Departe, Departe, The Cobbler's Hornpipe, Third Act Tune
But Let Them Go, Ladies, Sight No More
In A Garden So Green, Childgrove
Fire, Burn, and Cauldron Bubble
The Asp
Rumble Thy Bellyful
Pastime With Good Company, O Lusty May
Irish Lament
Joy To THe Person Of My Love
The Winter's Tale Set: Love's Winter Light, Apples In Winter, Drive The Cold Winter Away, Jenny Pluck Pears
Lilli Burleo
The Scottich Play Set: Life Is But A Walking Shadow, Mill, Mill O', Pawky Adam Glen
Heart's Ease, Now That The Spring, Gathering Peascods
No Longer Mourn For Me

Customer Reviews:

Ensemble Galilei's music is lilting, elegant and unexpected!.......2002-11-29

With their soulful playing and artful, sometimes even ephemeral arrangements, the six women of Ensemble Galilei convey a rare depth of emotion. In the insert notes, gamba player Carolyn Ann Surrick describes their creative process: "[In making this recording, we engaged in]...a kind of work that is so focused and intense that years can go by in one afternoon... Extraordinary music-making requires trust... [We] live for the times when the only thing that exists right then is the music--when the instruments are speaking as if we don't exist, and they are having their own conversation." Thank you, Ensemble Galilei, for allowing the rest of us the privilege of coming along for the ride! It's simply delectable. This chamber ensemble, featuring fiddle, harp, gamba, oboe, pipes and percussion, can also be heard on their other Telarc release, "From the Isles to the Courts", and "The Mystic and the Muse: Celebrating 600 Years of Women in Music", on the Dorian label.

beautiful.......2001-01-22

Sheer beauty, as a lover of English music I found this to be one of the most beautiful of all Shakespearean albums. Such harmony, such subtlety, one wishes that the gentle night will never stop.

Excellent!.......2001-01-04

Ensemble Galilei provide some excellent arrangements of English renaissance compositions. I believe that John Playford (English Dancing Master) fans will be particularly satisfied with the renditions presented here. It is very unfortunate that E.G. did not provide more arrangements from such early music sources. Some of E.G.'s own compositions seem very weak and not in the renaissance spirit of the rest of the CD. Nonetheless, this CD is highly recommmended.

It will bring about many gentle nights.......2000-11-22

I found this album to be solid. Very sweet, but not afraid to use percussion which makes it livelier and more fun. I adore the quiet, peacefulness of the music and the flawless execution of these renaissance songs.

Visualizing Beauty.......2000-08-20

I recently had the good fortune to direct a performance of King Lear--the ENTIRE five acts, in a community theatre, non-profit setting. I used twenty-four fully committed non-actors, who for the love of the ideas, participated in this performance. The first and main challenge that I faced was, how do I go "behind" the words, and invoke the right emotions, etc., to give these actors the range and tools needed for an effective, powerful performance? Critical to this performance was the beauty and brilliance of this recording, which I used throughout the various scenes of the play. This helped the performers tremendously, creating the different tapestries in the mind of the Bard. In short, this work is real genius, that I was so happy that I stumbled across. I am now putting in our performance programs, along with our most heart-felt thanks to E.G., the name of the recording and I have copies from Telarc to sell at each performance!

Average customer rating:

As You Like It - Shakespeare in Music
Henry Purcell , Leonard Bernstein , Cole Porter , Felix Mendelssohn , Ambroise Thomas , Hector Berlioz , Sergey Prokofiev , John Wilson , Pelham Humfrey , Ralph Vaughan Williams , Jean Sibelius , New York Philharmonic , Berliner Philharmoniker , Cleveland Orchestra , English National Opera Orchestra , Andre Kostelanetz Orchestra , Esa-Pekka Salonen , Jeanne Lamon , George Szell , James Conlon , Pembroke Davenport , Andre Kostelanetz , Bo Skovhus , Richard Tucker , Carol Lawrence , Lucine Amara , and Charles Bressler
Manufacturer: Sony
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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ASIN: B00003XAH5
Release Date: 2000-01-18

Tracks:

A Midsummer Night's Dream, Op. 21: Overture. Allegro di molto
'Where The Bee Sucks'
'Take, O Take Those Lips Away'
Musick In The Fairey Queen: Aire 4 In 2 (Dance For The Followers Of The night)
Musick In The Fairey Queen: Chacone
Othello: 'The Willow Song'
Hamlet: 'To Be Or Not To Be'
Hamlet: 'J'ai pu frapper le miserable... Etre ou ne pas etre'
Romeo And Juliet, A Dramatic Symphony, Op. 17: Queen Mab, The Dream Fairy, Scherzo: Prestissimo - Allegretto
Romeo and Juliet, Op. 64: Dance Of The Knights
West Side Story: 'One Hand, One Heart'
Kiss Me, Kate: 'So In Love'
The Merchant Of Venice: 'How Sweet The Moonlight Sleeps Upon This Bank!'
The Merchant Of Venice: Serenade To Music: Andantino
The Merchant Of Venice: Serenade To Music: 'How Sweet The Moonlight'
The Merchant Of Venice: Serenade To Music: 'Look How The Floor Of Heaven...'
The Merchant Of Venice: Serenade To Music: 'Come, Ho! And Wake Diana With A Hymn!'
The Merchant Of Venice: Serenade To Music: 'I Am Never Merry When I Hear Sweet Music'
The Merchant Of Venice: Serenade To Music: 'Music! Hark!'
The Merchant Of Venice: Serenade To Music: 'How Many Things By Season...'
The Merchant Of Venice: Serenade To Music: 'Soft Stillness And The Night'
The Tempest: 'Our Revels Now Are Ended'
The Tempest: 'The Mermaids'
The Tempest: 'Miranda'
The Tempest: 'Caliban's Song'

Average customer rating:

Top Counter Tenor Master

Shakespeare Songs

Manufacturer: Harmonia Mundi Fr.
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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Songs and Dances from Shakespeare
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ASIN: B00004TVGW
Release Date: 2000-10-10

Tracks:

As You Like It: Act V, Scene 3: It Was A Lover And His Lass
Measure For Measure: Act IV, Scene 1: Take, O Take Those Lips Away
Twelfth Night: Act II, Scene 3: O Mistress Mine
Strike It Up, Tabor
Othello: Act IV, Scene 3: Willow Song
The Tempest: Act V, Scene 1: Where The Bee Sucks
Hamlet, Prince Of Denmark: Act IV, Scene 5: How Should I Your True Love Know
Walshingham Vars
We Be Soldiers Three
Romeo And Juliet: Act IV, Scene 5: When Griping Griefs
The Tempest: Act I, Scene 2: Full Fathom Five
Henry V: Act IV, Scene 4: Calleno Custure Me
King Lear: Act I: Then They For Sudden Joy Did Weep
Bonny Sweet Robin
Twelfth Night: Act V, Scene 1: When That I Was
Kemp's Jig
Greensleeves
Melismes De Ravenscroft: He That Will An Alehouse Keep
Non Nobis Domine

Customer Reviews:

Top Counter Tenor Master.......2006-11-10

Alfred Deller presents a masterly classic of the Songs from Shakespeare.
Recorded in 1970, this work cannot be surpassed. Well worth adding to any collection.

Average customer rating:

More Songs My Father Taught Me

Manufacturer: Hyperion UK
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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Songs My Father Taught Me
Sir Thomas Allen sings Selected Songs
On the Idle Hill of Summer: Song Cycles & Songs by Vaughan Williams, Butterworth, Quilter, Peel
Songs We Forgot to Remember
A Treasury of English Song

ASIN: B00009L817
Release Date: 2003-08-12

Tracks:

Water O' Tyne
I Heard You Singing
Will You Go With Me?
A Cradle Song
A Song Of Sleep
The Green Hills O' Somerset
Mountain Lovers
I'll Sing Thee Songs of Araby
Mother Machree
Roses Of Picardy
There's A Long, Long Trail A-Winding
The Old Brigade
Yes! Let Me Like A Soldier Fall
Because
Love's Old Sweet Song
Star Of God
Friend O' Mine
Simon The Cellarer
Time To Go
Echo
The Songs Of Today
Just A-Wearyin' For You
Down By The Sally Gardens
Orpheus With His Lute
Kashmiri Song
In The Gloaming
The Star Of The County Down
A Perfect Day
She Moved Thro' The Fair

Love Blows as the Wind Blows: English and American Songs / Jonathan Lemalu

Average customer rating:

Promises Kept
Third Time's a Charm for Larger-Than-Life Lemalu and His Transatlantic English Repertoire

Love Blows as the Wind Blows: English and American Songs / Jonathan Lemalu

Manufacturer: EMI Classics
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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Vaughan Williams: Songs of Travel
Jonathan Lemalu - Songs (Brahms, Fauré, Finzi, Schubert)
Russian Album
Vaughan Williams: Willow Wood
Peter Lieberson: Neruda Songs

ASIN: B000B63IF2
Release Date: 2005-11-08

Tracks:

Who Is Silvia?
When Daffodils Begin To Peer
How SHould I Your True Love Know?
Sigh No More, Ladies
Dover Beach Op.3
A Song Of Enchantment
Silver
Tit For Tat
The Mouse And The Bumblebee
Baby, Baby, Naughty Baby
As I Walked By Myself
Santa Chiara
When Lights Go Rolling Round The Sky
I. In The Year That's Come And Gone
II. Life In Her Creaking Shoes
III. Fill A Glass With Golden Wine
IV. On A Way To Kew
I. Come Away, Come Away, Death
II. Who Is Silvia?
III. Fear No More The Heat O' The Sun
IV. O Mistress Mine
V. It Was A Lover And His Lass
Song Of Black Max (As Told By The De Kooning Boys
George
Waitin

Customer Reviews:

Promises Kept.......2005-12-01

Some months back Jonathan Lemalu was introduced to us with a collection of Opera Arias, a recording that showed great promise of an important voice but also one that raised questions about the durability of the vocal technique. He sounded promising: with this excellent recording he shows that those promises are being kept!

In an entertaining potpourri of English songs the handsome and charismatic New Zealand baritone proves that he can complete with the likes of Thomas Hampson and Bryn Terfel and while he has not yet the finesse that only comes with time (he is a young 29!), the communicative powers are clearly present.

Lemalu's voice is rich and dark when the music demands (as in Barber's 'Dover Beach' accompanied by the Belcea Quartet) and yet he can lighten the tone and color and take on the technically difficult light and airy tunes which abound on this recording. His astute and sensitive collaborator is Malcolm Martineau who provides just the right mood for each of the songs selected. He seems completely at ease in this medium and his enunciation is crisp and clear. He makes the listener feel assured that here is a new star on the rise in the bass-baritone cadre, He is a joy to hear! Recommended. Grady Harp, November 05

Third Time's a Charm for Larger-Than-Life Lemalu and His Transatlantic English Repertoire.......2005-11-14

Having just come home from Jonathan Lemalu's recital with pianist Malcolm Martineau in Berkeley, I am convinced that the New Zealand-born Samoan is fast moving to the front ranks among bass-baritone singers. His third solo disc, the second to be released in 2005, is further evidence of his burgeoning talent, this one focusing exclusively on an eclectic mix of English and American songs accompanied again by Martineau. With an ebullient personality that comes across on record as well as on stage, Lemalu has a large, rich voice capable of surprising nuance and particularly resonant in its middle and lower ranges. Only 29 years old, he carries a tone more callow than his more mature colleagues like Bryn Terfel, but Lemalu's more youthful sound, as well as his large-scale theatrical sense, is placed at a greater advantage with this program than in his previous opera arias disc. That's because the 25 tracks here are short pieces from a variety of sources ranging from poems about childhood to well-known passages from Shakespeare to off-kilter cabaret songs.

There was a tantalizing glimpse of Lemalu's affinity with English art songs on his 2002 debut recording, for example, John Ireland's strapping "Sea Fever". Here he tackles two more Ireland works with the melancholy swoon of "Santa Chiara" and the rollicking "When lights go rolling round the sky". Lemalu also tackles Roger Quilter's "Four Shakespeare Songs, Op. 30", with ease. He downshifts his powerful chest voice to enhance the open yearning of "Who is Silvia?", deliver the vocal pizzicato of "When the daffodils begin to peer", perform the sonorous "How should I your true love know?" and provide a confident reading of the advisory "Sigh No More, Ladies". As an intriguing contrast, Lemalu sings Gerald Finzi's more animated version of "Who Is Silvia?" written a decade after Quilter's, the second of a five-Shakespeare song cycle called "Let us garlands bring".

Lemalu achieves a particular depth of pathos on "Fear no more the heat o' the sun". Accompanied by the assured Belcea Quartet, Samuel Barber's "Dover Beach Op. 3", the longest continuous piece on the album at nearly eight minutes, is a moving and eloquent sea metaphor for finding love against the most dire of odds. The quartet shows up again to great effect on four highly atmospheric songs from George Butterworth's "Love blows as the wind blows" starting with the haunting "In the year that's come and gone" and ending with the reflective "On the way to Kew". Sounding very much like pieces from his epic "Peter Grimes", Benjamin Britten's "Tit for Tat" provides the source for three selections ideal for Lemalu's immaculate taste - the wistful "A Song of Enchantment", the mournful "Silver" and the more emphatically dramatic title song.

Richard Rodney Bennett provides three selections from "Songs Before Sleep" written expressly for Lemalu, all based on nursery rhymes, including the energetic "The Mouse and the Bumblebee" and the pensive "As I walked by myself". The comical side of Lemalu's personality pops out in William Bolcom's "Cabaret Songs", the first two bordering precariously on camp - the Kurt Weill-sounding "Black Max" about a dastardly pimp, the quixotic "George" about the life and death of a drag queen, and the moving "Waitin". This is an exquisite recording of a major talent that continues to grow.

Average customer rating:

a voice teacher and early music fan
Songs that Never Fade
Heavenly, introspective, definitely the most soulful songs!

Vaughan Williams: Over hill, over dale

Manufacturer: Hyperion UK
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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ASIN: B000002ZVP
Release Date: 1995-11-21

Tracks:

Over Hill, Over Dale: Loch Lomond
Over Hill, Over Dale: Three Shakespeare Songs: Full Fathom Five
Over Hill, Over Dale: Three Shakespeare Songs: The Cloud-Capp'd Towers
Over Hill, Over Dale: Three Shakespeare Songs: Over Hill, Over Dale
Over Hill, Over Dale: Alister McAlphine's Lament
Over Hill, Over Dale: An Acre Of Land
Over Hill, Over Dale: The Seeds Of Love
Over Hill, Over Dale: Ca' The Yowes
Over Hill, Over Dale: Five English Folk Songs: The Dark-Eyed Sailor
Over Hill, Over Dale: Five English Folk Songs: The Spring Time Of The Year
Over Hill, Over Dale: Five English Folk Songs: Just The Tide Was Flowing
Over Hill, Over Dale: Five English Folk Songs: The Lover's Ghost
Over Hill, Over Dale: Five English Folk Songs: Wassail Song
Over Hill, Over Dale: The Winter Is Gone
Over Hill, Over Dale: Mannin Veen
Over Hill, Over Dale: Bushes And Briars
Over Hill, Over Dale: Down Among The Dead Men
Over Hill, Over Dale: Three Elizabethan Partsongs: Sweet Day
Over Hill, Over Dale: Three Elizabethan Partsongs: O Mistress Mine
Over Hill, Over Dale: Three Elizabethan Partsongs: The Willow Song
Over Hill, Over Dale: Greensleeves
Over Hill, Over Dale: Rest
Over Hill, Over Dale: Heart's Music
Over Hill, Over Dale: Come Away, Death
Over Hill, Over Dale: The Turtle Dove

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Even without his highly regarded symphonies, various instrumental works, and monumental and influential work on the revision of the English Hymnal, Vaughan Williams would have made a major impact on 20th-century music with his many original choral works and his folksong arrangements. In fact, Vaughan Williams's folksong-collecting work was one of the more important contributions ever made to English music. This disc offers a wonderful collection of a cappella choral pieces, including some of Vaughan Williams's finest folksong arrangements. Besides "Ca' the yowes," "Full fathom five," "Greensleeves," and "The Turtle Dove," the program includes rarely heard masterpieces such as "Alister McAlpine's Lament," which brilliantly captures the mood of the song with serene, sensual harmonies and gently flowing vocal lines. The Holst Singers seem born to this music, giving us the music's full flavor without ever overplaying it. --David Vernier

Customer Reviews:

a voice teacher and early music fan.......2006-07-21

Ralph Vaughan-Williams loved "the lilt of the chorus at the music hall...children dancing to a barrel organ, the rousing fervor of a Salvation Army Hymn, St.Paul's and a great choir singing at one of its festivals...the Welshmen striking up one of their own hymns...the cries of street pedlars, the factory girls singing their sentimental songs." This disc somehow reflects all of these influences. I think it makes him a true folksong specialist!!!The music included herein covers the whole of the composer's long career-from "The Willow Song"written when he was eighteen, to "Heart's Music",composed three years before his death at the age of eighty-six. The Holst Singers along with the two soloists:Ian Bostridge (tenor) and Michael George (bass)are very excellent in their renditions. The choir is perfection in balance, diction, ensemble and emotional content. Bostridge with his sweet and pure tenor almost moves one to tears especially in "Greensleeves" and "Ca'the yowes". And Michael George was also very moving in his solo:"Loch Lomond". It is as if the entire performing group were aware of a statement made by Vaughan-Williams before his death: "if the roots of your art are firmly planted in your own soil, and that soil has anything to give you, you may still gain the whole world and not lose your own souls."

Songs that Never Fade.......2005-11-21

A selection of the best of RVW's folksong arrangements performed with insight and restraint by the Holst Singers, with help from soloists like the incomparable Ian Bostridge. Vaughan William's respect for these folksongs is evident in his exquisite settings, which reveal their depth and subtlety, without obscuring their simplicity.

This is a recording to cherish.

Heavenly, introspective, definitely the most soulful songs!.......2003-03-16

This collection of English and Scottish folk songs moved me to tears and made me experience a plethora of emotions over and over again. The beautiful melodies flowing from this CD conjure up melacholy, joy, sadness and wonder. They crystalise the most common human experiences and the mystery of existence into certain folksong idioms that, once listened to, will stick in your ears and stir your heart strings for a long time.

Salute to Vaughan Williams for documenting, preserving and arranging these gems of English and Scottish heritage. Holst singers performe splendidly. Their discipline and professionalism, and a sense of artistic direction shine through.

I highly recommend this CD along with John Rutter's "The Lark in the Clear Air" for all the sensitive people who take interest in classical music and traditional folk songs.

I wish I can give this CD 10 stars!

Tracks:

Critic's Choice Theme
Titanic Suite: Distant Memories/Southampton/Rose/Take Her To Sea Mr. Murdoch
Basic Instinct: An Unending Story
Maverick Suite
The Firm: Main Title/Ray's Blues
Ed Wood: Main Title
Shakespeare In Love Suite: The End/The Beginning Of The Partnership
Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas Orchestral Suite
The Mask Of Zorro Suite: The Plaza Of Execution/Zorro's Theme/Love Theme
Saving Private Ryan: Hymn To The Fallen

Tracks:

First Knight Orchestral Suite: Arthur's Fanfare/Main Title/End Credits/Camelot/Arthur's Farewell
Fast, Cheap & Out Of Control: Eternal Future II
As Good As It Gets
The English Patient: Rupert Bear/As Far As Florence
American Beauty: Dead Already/Any Other Name
Braveheart: End Credits
Life Is Beautiful: Buon Giorno Principessa/Abbiano Vinto
John Grisham's The Rainmaker: Kelly's Theme
The Lion King Orchestral Suite
Schindler's List: Theme From Schindler's List/Jewish Town/Remembrances

Customer Reviews:

A great CD for those who appreciate movie themes.......2000-10-06

I enjoyed this CD because Leonard Martin does a good job in selecting the scores of movies that are special in itself, outside from the context of the movie. His selection is diverse, in the sense that it includes scores of not only the big blockbusters of the 90s (Titanic, Saving Private Ryan, Braveheart), but also of the movies that have already been forgotten (Fast, Cheap and Out of Control, and The Rainmaker). There is reasoning behind such a selection, according to Martin: "Some scores wear well over time and provide a rewarding experience long after the movie begins to recede in one's memory."

Martin selects the scores from a variety of film genres (drama, dark comedy, suspense,for example) which translates into a well rounded compilation of musical pieces (classical,spanish-inspired, blues, etc). He also includes liner notes reagrding each selection and composer, which serves as a brief, yet interesting, background regarding each selection.

The only qualm that I have with the CD is the abscence of some of my personal favorites, which are certainly memorable both as films and as scores. Reagarding such statements Martin states that "Lists, of course, are highly arbitrary and designed to provoke argument." Moreover, Martin acknowledges that selections are not the only great scores of the past decade; they are, however, among his favorites. I definitely agree with him on this statement.

Tracks:

Five English Folk Songs: The Dark-eyed Sailor
Five English Folk Songs: The Springtime of the Year
Five English Folk Songs: Just as the Tide was Flowing
Five English Folk Songs: The Lover's Ghost
Five English Folk Songs: Wassail Song
Ave Maria
Valiant for Truth
O vos omnes
The Evening-watch, Op. 43, No. 1
O Taste and See
The Souls of the Righteous
This have I done for my true love, Op. 34, No. 1
Nunc dimittis
Sing me the men, Op. 43, No. 2
Three Shakespeare Songs: Full Fathom Five
Three Shakespeare Songs: The Cloud-capp'd Towers
Three Shakespeare Songs: Over Hill, over Dale
Four Part-Songs: O lady, leave that silken thread
Four Part-Songs: Soft and gently
Four Part-Songs: Autumn is old, The
Four Part-Songs: Winter and the birds
The Turtle Dove

Amazon.com

This beautifully performed collection of part songs includes so many gems that space permits only brief discussion of a few. The Five English Folk Songs, settings of melodies collected by Vaughan Williams before World War I, are justly a favorite of choruses throughout the English-speaking world, as is Holst's setting of the Cornish carol "This Have I Done for My True Love." Both composers loved poetry and, in setting it, did some of their most evocative work, such as Holst's austere "Evening Watch" and the mesmerizing "Full Fathom Five" from Vaughan Williams's Three Shakespeare Songs. Among the few sacred works included here are the picks of this litter: Vaughan Williams's simple, graceful Communion motet "O Taste and See," and Holst's luscious "Ave Maria" for eight women's voices. --Matthew Westphal

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