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Fanfare

In 1942 the English Poetry & Song Society began a competition for composers to set songs by English poets. There have been other recordings in this series, most recently in 2012. This new release features songs by composers who have all been prizewinners in prior competitions, as well as four past chairmen of the Society. In a word, this is a splendid compilation on two very generously filled discs, complete with printed texts in the well-written and informative booklet that comes with them.

The opening cycle of seven poems by William Bliss Carmen, describing one of Sappho’s love affairs, is lyrical and melodically inspired. These particularly beautiful songs, placed as they are a: the beginning of the first disc, might lead a listener to believe that much of what follows will be gentle and pretty (not that those are qualities to be sneered at or taken for granted). In fact this is an extraordinarily varied and intelligently chosen program featuring a wide range of musical styles. Everything is written very well for the voice, and each song is an apt setting of its chosen poem.

A few examples will serve to give you a fair idea of the scope of what is included here. Leisure, set to a text by W. H. Davies, is one of the seven poems in Dennis Wickens’s cycle, This Life. The poem comments on the fast pace of life that affords no time to pause and reflect on the beauty around us: “What is this life if, full of care, / We have no time to stand and stare?” The jangling nervous rhythms of the piano opening, and indeed the whole song, perfectly capture the spirit of the words. Simon Willink has set his own poem “Sea and Sky” in a gorgeous manner that draws us in as the singer reflects on the miracle of nature: “The stage is set—the scene is beauty: That of a well night silent sea beneath a sky so pure, so pale, and yet so richly tinted….” On the other hand, Michael Watts’s cycle of seven songs entitled Gypsy Girl is haunted by a dark undercurrent and the influence of flamenco (Watts now lives in Spain). “If a cold wind comes in the dark hours as you lie in bed. it’s just the sighs from one who is dead, from one who wanders the singing of songs of sorrow.” That darkness is vividly reflected in the music.

So it goes throughout two discs of deeply engaging songs covering a spectrum of moods and emotions, all brilliantly performed. Often on recordings of unfamiliar repertoire we have to listen through barely adequate performances, but that is not the case here. Both singers are deeply engaged in communicating texts and meaning. Sarah Leonard’s quick vibrato adds color to the timbre, though the voice is not the freshest imaginable, and Johnny Herford’s light lyric baritone is capable of a wide range of color. Pianist Nigel Foster is just as involved, although I wish the recorded sound didn’t relegate him quite as far in the background as it sometimes does. I would have preferred a bit more presence to the voices and piano, but these issues are minor annoyances, not serious flaws. This is a set I shall return to often. It is recommended enthusiastically to listeners who enjoy the English song repertoire and are looking to widen their horizons.