British Orchestral Songs

 

This recital of orchestral songs from a handful of British composers could just as easily be termed orchestrated songs. A great majority of this program have taken art songs originally for voice and piano and set the piano portion in an orchestral guise. Some were orchestrated contemporaneously with a composer's approval, while others were done at the behest of a composer's trust organization, and one in particular for this very recording.

I don't know if I have heard any songs from Sir Arnold Bax, who has a remarkable ear for musical adventure in the three offered here. The Song of the Dagger is one of the very longest on the recording at nearly 9 minutes. The story is rather dark, focusing on a dagger which thirsts for blood, and the orchestration flows its dramatics colorfully. The Viking-Battle Song is the definition of raucous adventure, while Welcome, Somer lies somewhere in between the two songs. Whether orchestrated by Bax or not, this trio of songs are the most orchestrally colorful, with percussion and full ensemble providing the guts and glory of the recital.

John Ireland's seven songs show what a natural composer for voice he was. Ireland has a wonderful way with a singing line and melody, both wrapped up in marvelous accompaniment which complements the other wonderfully. If the three Bax songs gets the blood pumping, Ireland satisfies even more through vocal and instrumental lyricism intertwined. I have a special place in my heart for both the titular Sea Fever and If There Were Dreams to Sell, and it was nice to get to know the springier Youth's Spring-Tribute and Hope the Hornblower.

George Dyson's five songs don't mention an orchestrator, thus I can assume what we hear comes straight from the composer's pen. Dyson's songs are sturdy creations, neither amping up the blood pressure nor enchanting the listener through lyrical melodisms. Yet, if one wanted to hear the 'British' aspect of these songs, Dyson has that sound in spades, heard right at the off in the marching Valor. I was particularly taken with his The Seekers and Praise settings, while all five songs come closest to sounding of the Vaughan Williams compositional school.

I was hitherto unfamiliar with the name Rutland Boughton. In his three Rudyard Kipling song settings, he sounds like he wants to impress in the vein of Arnold Bax, with episodic adventure, but doesn't quite know how to pull it off in a completely satisfying manner. While The Price of Admiralty doesn't roll off the tongue in the easiest way, the singer must express these words twofold, and The Coastwise Lights fulfills the seaside tale in its orchestration.

Only two songs are included from composer Edgar Bainton, a name I know only from two or three orchestral recordings on the Chandos label. Since there is only the duo included here, the listener doesn't really have the chance to pin down a style or viewpoint from the composer, but the two go by amiably, with a bold orchestration amidst some unusual and curious phrase lengths in Christmas Eve, and a swooning parlor-song atmosphere in Little Heart Within Thy Cage.

Parry scholar Jeremy Dibble recreates Sir Hubert Parry's abandoned opera scena King Arthur's Farewell to Guenever, bringing in Irish soprano Ailish Tynan to portray the singing of Guenevere. Quite different from the rest of the program, it is also the lengthiest at 12 minutes, although this is not a negative attribute. One feels a sense of occasion across this music, evoking a complicated history between the two characters, with most of the singing given over to King Arthur, rather than a Lion in Winter tit for tat.

British baritone Roderick Williams is a well-known quantity as a singer. His lyric baritone is light, yet expressive, with great attention to diction. While the Dutton Vocalion physical media does not print the poetry used to set these songs, the sung texts can be found on their website. Such things are hardly needed, however, for Dutton positions Williams ideally in front of the BBC Concert Orchestra without being overbearing. I am sure Martin Yates and his BBC ensemble didn't have a great amount of time to become overly familiar with these 21 songs, but they seem committed nonetheless, even if there exist the tiniest of moments which find sections showing their unfamiliarity with the material, again nothing to ruin the proceedings and most go unnoticed.

This baritone vocal recital contains a fair number of rare songs to recommend, and many others are only found in their original voice/piano originals, here luxuriously presented alongside orchestra.

 

 

Works

  Arnold Bax
    Song of the Dagger (32.10)
    Welcome, Somer (2.56)
    Viking-Battle Song (2.25)

  John Ireland
    Sea Fever (1.37)
    Youth's Spring-Tribute (3.02)
    The Holy Boy (1.25)
    Hope the Hornblower (2.34)
    If There Were Dreams to Sell (2.36)
    When I am Dead, My Dearest (2.38)

  George Dyson
    Valour(7.16)
    Morning and Evening (3.20)
    The Seekers (2.21)
    Hymn to the Stars
    Praise

  Rutland Boughton
    Fair is Our Lot
    The Coastwise Lights
    The Price of Admiralty

  Edgar Bainton
    Christmas Eve
    Little Heart Within Thy Cage

  Hubert Parry
    King Arthur's Farewell to Guenever

Soloists
Roderick Williams, baritone
Ailish Tynan, soprano (Parry)

Ensembles
BBC Concert Orchestra
Martin Yates, conductor

Year: 2007
Label: Dutton
Total Timing: 76.48

Roderick Williams' baritone was built for British songs, and he is no stranger to orchestral songs, having released many such recitals, including orchestrations of his own.

The music isn't all of the same quality, although I don't think I was displeased any one song. Programs such as this vary, and so much of this music is quite rare on record, this should be attractive to many.

Find more Parry recordings HERE!