IAN VENABLES (b. 1955) -! ,(' ( -! , / +' than with those poets who happened to have The Song of the Severn been born in Worcestershire. I am reminded of Song Cycles and Songs Flowing through the heart of Worcestershire Owen Sheers’ eloquent description of landscape is the majestic River Severn, the main artery poetry: it can ‘speak about us – the people The Song of the Severn Op. 43 for Baritone, String Quartet and Piano. and life-blood of a county that has, over the who live in, look at and remember the places 1 I. On Malvern Hill (Masefield) [5.27] centuries, witnessed the changing scenes in … which have, in turn, remembered us; as 2 II. How clear, how lovely bright (Housman) [5.39] our unfolding human drama; it has also been a individuals, as communities, as history’. In 3 III. Elgar’s Music (Drinkwater) [3.40] source of inspiration for composers and artists this way, landscape can reflect so much of 4 IV. Laugh and be Merry (Masefield) [2.45] alike. A few miles downstream is the ancient ourselves, our memories and our collective 5 V. The River in December (Worner) [5.10] Roman city of Gloucester, home of the Georgian past. It is simply waiting for the poet to The Pine Boughs Past Music Op. 39 for Baritone and Piano poet and composer Ivor Gurney. His intimate discover and so ‘illuminate that which we 6 I. My heart makes songs on lonely roads (Gurney) [4.24] knowledge of the Gloucestershire landscape thought we already knew, and make us see 7 II. Soft Rain (Gurney) [3.49] and deep love of the river was a recurring that which we thought we’d already seen’. 8 III. The Wind (Gurney) [4.15] theme in his poetry “If England, her spirit lives 9 IV. In Memoriam: Ivor Gurney (Clark) [6.00] anywhere – It is by Severn”. I myself live within With these thoughts in mind and the impetus Songs with String Quartet a short distance of the river and it was on of a commission from the prestigious Malvern 0 Flying Crooked Op. 28, No. 1 (Graves) [1.11] one of my Severnside walks that the idea of Concert Club, it did not take very long before I q A Kiss Op. 15 (Hardy) [4.32] composing a song cycle based on the history found a poem that would open the cycle, John w Evening Bells Op. 31, No. 3 (Clare) [2.16] e The Night has a Thousand Eyes Op. 41, No. 2 (Bourdillon) [3.24] and landscape of Worcestershire took shape. Masefield’s dramatic poem On Malvern Hill. From the outset, I decided that the river should It recalls the early history of the occupation of Songs with Piano tell the story of Worcestershire and once this Worcestershire by the Romans and in it, Masefield r Break, break, break Op. 33, No. 5 (Tennyson) [2.46] artistic decision had been taken, my thoughts relates the famous story of the battle fought t Midnight Lamentation Op. 6 (Monro) [4.09] y The Hippo Op. 33, No. 6 (Roethke) [1.34] turned to the search for suitable texts. By between Caractacus, (the leader of the ancient u The Invitation to the Gondola Op. 22, No. 3 (Symonds) [4.49] placing Worcestershire at the centre of the Britons) and the Romans. Through his eyes we i Frutti di Mare Op. 41, No. 1 (Scott) [4.14] cycle, I realised that this would limit my are made witness to the siege of Caractacus’s choice of poetry, although the county can hill fort. The poem’s first line conjures up a Total timings: [70.08] boast one famous poet, namely A. E. Housman. windswept scene on the hills – ‘The wind is I was, however more interested in the broader brushing down the clover / it beats the tossing RODERICK WILLIAMS BARITONE a + . " ,-+"' *.+- - a +!& # %%(2 PIANO context of landscape and its spiritual resonances branches bare’. The song opens in a turbulent www.signumrecords.com - 3 - manner, with an ominous-sounding group of before slowing down in preparation for the shall keep the vow / I never kept before’. was ‘in the air’, so palpable was his presence. fast-moving semiquavers, heard low down in final lines, ‘Quiet are clan and chief, and quiet Heralded by a bell-like figure in the piano I had not realised that Elgar was the Malvern the piano, which is followed by the vocal entry. / Centurion and signifer’, ending the song in accompaniment and sustained by an insistent Concert Club’s founder and in view of this Although the music that underpins the first the gloom of dusk. The song is dedicated to rhythmic pedal in the ‘cello, the music reflects important musical association it seemed only two stanzas is essentially strophic in nature, Roderick Williams. Housman’s note of defiance. In the final verse, fitting that I should try to acknowledge him it gives way to a contrasting middle section. there is a restatement of the song’s opening in some way. My thoughts centred initially Here, the poet portrays a dramatic scene of By contrast, the second song – a setting of material but the earlier sanguinity has now upon the idea of incorporating within the cycle, the Roman army breaking through the British A. E. Housman’s poem How Clear, How Lovely been replaced by the poet’s sudden realisation a quote from one of his works, which I lines. A quasi trompette fanfare, heard initially Bright opens with the brightness of a new dawn. that the vows that he intended to have kept, intended as a kind of ‘homage’; I later dismissed on the piano, opens the section. This strident However, as with many of Housman’s poems, have ‘died into the west away’. To capture this idea as being too clichéd. Fortunately, rhythmic figure descends through the octaves what appears at first sight to be a straight these feelings of despair, the voice repeats I had discovered a poem by John Drinkwater, and settles to form the basis of a new forward lyric is not the case, as it reveals a a downward interval of a major third three entitled ‘Elgar’s Music’ written in 1935. In texture – one that tries to capture the coded and deeply personal narrative. In this times on the word ‘falls’, its repetition acting many ways, this sonnet was ideal to set, but oppressiveness of the lines ‘The Roman line, instance, Housman’s anguished feelings are as an aural metaphor for the inescapable the more I read it, the more problematical the Roman order / Swayed forwards to the about his unrequited love for Moses Jackson. finality of the ‘remorseful day’. The song is it became. My main objection was, that the blind assault’. This passage leads to a The poem begins affirmatively, ‘How clear, how dedicated to Jennie McGregor-Smith. second part of this ‘Petrarchian’ sonnet was passionate vocal climax on the words lovely bright / How beautiful to sight / not, in my opinion, top rate poetry. However, ‘Spearman and charioteer and bowman / Those beams of morning play’. The music’s The third song – a setting of part of John the more I read the octet the more I liked it Charged and were scattered into spray’. With sprightly rhythms echo the poem’s sense of Drinkwater’s poem, Elgar’s Music, provides and so eventually decided to set this portion the battle over, the music returns to the hopefulness and anticipation. In the second the cycle with a lyrical intermezzo. The music of the poem. Then, something quite unforeseen principal theme heard at the outset of the stanza, the poet announces that ‘To-day I shall of Edward Elgar certainly casts a long shadow happened. As I began working on the opening song, although its mood has been recast to be strong, / No more shall yield to wrong, / Shall over the Worcestershire landscape and as I live lines, ‘How quietly he sleeps upon the hill / one of ineffable sadness as a violin cantilena squander life no more’. These sentiments are within sight of the Malvern Hills, I cannot – and That sees the seasons go by Severnside’ a is heard floating high above a calm and expressed through an expansive and vigourous nor do I wish to – escape his influence. Elgar sudden rush of musical ideas came. Later, tranquil piano accompaniment. This ‘music vocal line that culminates in a sensual once said ‘…there is music in the air, music once I had written them down, I realised that of twilight’ mirrors the tragic scene, as the cadence on the words ‘life no more’. However, all around us, the world is full of it and you there was a something familiar resonating ‘beaten warriors left the battle / Dead on the the poet’s optimism gives way to more regretful simply take as much as you require’. As I became in the music, but I could not grasp what it clansmen’s wicker shields’. In the final stanza, the and despondent thoughts ‘Days lost, I know more attuned to this ‘sense of place’, I began was and so I showed it to my partner. He turbulent opening music makes a brief return not how / I shall retrieve them now / Now I to wonder whether it was Elgar himself who immediately recognised that there was a hint
- 4 - - 5 - of the ‘Sea Slumber-Song’ – the first of Elgar’s a prolonged vocal melisma on the repeated central message; namely, that consolation -?< )@E< FL>?J )8JK &LJ@: Sea Pictures – concealed within it. This word ‘merry’ that is intended to bring the can be found in knowing that our lives are allusion had been an entirely unconscious one, song to an exhilarating conclusion. The song is part of Nature’s eternal pattern. A short bridge- The Pine Boughs Past Music was commissioned but once it had been revealed, I decided to dedicated to Gerald Towell. passage leads to the middle section. On the by Christine Talbot-Cooper for the Gloucester integrate it within the song’s evolving structure. words, ‘Only God now lights the river’ a broad, Music Society’s 80th anniversary celebrations So, strange as it may appear, Elgar did make Sometimes, how to end a cycle can pose a elegiac vocal melody is punctuated by forte in 2010. Having purposefully sought inspiration his presence known and perhaps it is not too problem. Having decided that the River Severn pizzicato chords in the strings. As the river from the wide array of Gloucestershire poets, fanciful to suggest that his music is indeed would play a central part in the cycle, it was is flooded with light, the music reaches an from W. E. Henley to F. W. Harvey, I finally ‘in the air’. The song is dedicated to John and time for it to have a voice of its own. In iridescent climax on the words ‘with the found an inner artistic identification with the Gina Wilson. Philip Worner’s poem The River in December colours of the kingfisher’. In the final stanza, poetry of Ivor Gurney. His work is infused with the river represents the eternal and immutable the poet expresses his hope that after his the imagery of the Gloucestershire landscape A setting of John Masefield’s exuberant poem, element in the Worcestershire landscape; one death, the river will remember him. The song’s and it is against this backdrop that the song Laugh, and be merry acts as the cycle’s through which the poet’s voice is heard to calm opening returns and leads to a lengthy cycle’s narrative is played out. The opening boisterous scherzo. The opening tutti presents reflect upon his mortality. Before setting this coda. At its climax, the voice repeats the song is a setting of My Heart Makes Songs an energetic rhythmic figure in the unusual poem, I went on a Severnside walk. Just beyond words ‘Remember me’ seven times in an On Lonely Roads. This poem was written time signature of 7/4 that carries the poet’s the parish church at the village of Kempsey, expressive outpouring of emotion. With each towards the end of 1917 and it deals with spirited commentary, ‘Laugh and be merry, I came across a view of the river silhouetted melismatic phrase the voice and instrumental Gurney’s unrequited love for Annie Nelson remember, better the world with a song / against the Malvern Hills. It was this magical accompaniment gradually fade away, a niente. Drummond – a nurse who cared for him Better the world with a blow in the teeth of a scene that inspired the opening music. At the end, we are left hearing only a distant while he was convalescing at the Edinburgh wrong’. Whilst sustaining this lively pace, the Following a brief piano introduction, a gently echo of those ‘times long past’. The song is War Hospital. Most characteristically, Gurney poem’s fluctuating narrative required subtle flowing ‘cello solo ushers in the vocal melody dedicated to Anthony Gill. turns his forlorn narrative away from the variation in the music’s changing moods; on the line, ‘Its peace again the river claims individual to affirm the collective; it is the indeed, this irregular poem was quite a / But now December on it rests’ / Too late for The Song of the Severn was given its première experience of love itself that really matters. challenge to set. In the middle section for all its battered flowers, / Too late for all its at Malvern Theatres on May 3rd 2013. It was The song follows closely the poet’s emotional example, the music’s tempo relaxes briefly abandoned nests’. A calm undercurrent of commissioned by Malvern Concert Club for its journey, presenting in the first two stanzas, a and takes on a quasi-religious air in order strings supports the vocal melody as this 110th Season, with funds from the Kay Trust, simple vocal line that is melancholic in nature to accentuate the poem’s festive commentary. passage grows slowly to a climax on the line, in memory of Kathy and Margaret Kay. The and sustained in mood by a lilting figure in Another challenge was setting the final line ‘Hide this summer’s ravage now’. This brings a Kay Trust has also generously supported this the piano accompaniment. In the final stanza, ‘and be you merry, my friends’. Here, I employ new thematic idea that underscores the poem’s recording of the work. the principal melodic ideas are transformed
- 6 - - 7 - in order to express the subtle change of The Wind, written in 1929, is regarded by where the chiming of the bells of Gloucester two stanzas are set strophically but with some emphasis away from the individual to the Gurney scholars as his final poem. Using Cathedral can be heard resounding a celebratory slight variation and are flanked by a lengthy universal: ‘But I am glad that love has come / the wind as an all-encompassing metaphor, note for one of Gloucestershire’s finest poets. introduction and short coda. Although the song’s To bind me fast and try my worth / For Love’s Gurney captures the brevity of human The cycle is dedicated to Roderic Dunnett. prevailing mood is one of nostalgia, there are a powerful Lord and gives / His friends dominion existence in lines of stark despair. For the affirmative passages which use dance like over the earth’. full force of the poem’s existential narrative FLI ,FE>J N@K? rhythms, for example on the line, ‘which in a to be understood when sung, I decided to set ,KI@E> *L8IK
- 8 - - 9 - The Night Has a Thousand Eyes was ‘fisherman’s boy who shouts with his sister character through a vocal line that subtly English scholar and poet, known principally commissioned by Kenneth R. Prendergast in at play’, but this does not bring any comfort, mirrors its humour. However, this humour as an architectural historian. His relationship 2012 to celebrate his 50th birthday. It is a only a reminder of what he has lost. The is understated and the song’s overall mood with Vita Sackville-West prompted a literary setting of a short lyric poem by Francis vocal line’s opening declamation gives way is reflective, rather than mere parody. It is career that led to a volume of his poetry being William Bourdillon (1852-1921). The Poem to a slower central section where the music dedicated to Paul and Carol Walshe. published posthumously in 1931. Scott’s poem presents a series of contrary thoughts; night becomes intimate and nostalgic, in preparation is one of the earliest 20th century poems to deal and day, the many and the one, life and death, for the poignant line, ‘Oh for the touch of a The Invitation to the Gondola is a setting with the subject of Ecology. Its essential but its principal opposite is the heart versus the vanished hand’. The opening music returns of a poem by the 19th-century author and poet message is, that mankind has become far too mind. In Bourdillon’s opinion, the heart is more and the song ends on a note of resignation John Addington Symonds (1840-1893). Lost self-absorbed to hear Nature’s warnings. The important to life than the mind and in the final as the poet realises that the ‘tender grace’ of in reverie, Symonds, depicts the imagery of song follows closely the poem’s narrative, two lines he states that the essence of life past happier days will never return. The song is Venice as a ‘city seen in dreams’. The poem’s six opening with a piano accompaniment that is lost, once love is lost. In this song, I have dedicated to Nigel and Gilly Lowson. stanzas provided an obvious ternary structure, imitates the gently lapping of waves on a tried to evoke an otherworldly and transcendental where, in the outer sections, the rapid semi- distant seashore. The voice enters on the words mood by using an insistent oscillation of major Midnight Lamentation is my earliest song quavers of the piano accompaniment express ‘I am a sea shell, flung up from an ancient and minor triads in the accompaniment, over setting and was composed in 1974. The words the anticipatory nature of the poem, ‘Come sea / Now I lie here among roots of a tamarisk which the voice sings an expressive lament. are by the early 20th century Georgian forth for night is falling’. By contrast, the tree / no one listens to me’. This tranquil The melismatic nature of the vocal line at the poet – Harold Monro (1879-1932). The poem’s middle stanzas evoke an atmosphere of introduction gives way to a middle section that end of the song is intended to intensify the narrative is deeply poignant and in my tranquillity as ‘Bells call to bells from the grows gradually more chromatic, reaching a ff finality of the words, ‘when love is gone’. The youthful ardour, I responded by composing a islands’. This is sustained by an impressionistic climax on the words ‘only your sorrows sound song is dedicated to Kenneth R. Prendergast. simple vocal melody underpinned by an harmonic language and by the introduction comes coiling to the brim’. This is followed by accompaniment that has a directness that of a rocking figure in the piano accompaniment a reflective coda that introduces a new vocal @M< JFE>J N@K? G@8EF allows the poem’s melancholic commentary that gives just a hint of ‘a breeze from the sea’. melody that is accompanied by slow-moving to be heard clearly. The Song is dedicated to The final two stanzas reprise the opening music, chords in the piano. Here, the poem’s narrative Break, Break, Break is a setting of Alfred Graham. J. Lloyd. culminating in a dramatic vocal climax that is discloses that ‘Nature’ does, indeed have the Lord Tennyson’s Elegiac lyric to his friend, followed by a short postlude for piano solo. The answers to all our questions but, because of Arthur Hallam. The song’s tempestuous The Hippo is a setting of a poem by the song is dedicated to Joanna Brickell. humanity’s never ending hubris, denies to give introduction conjures up the elemental power American poet Theodore Roethke and is one them. The song is dedicated to Sally Porter Munro. of the sea breaking on the ‘cold gray stones’. of my more light-hearted songs. Musically, I Frutta di Mare was written during the summer The poet hears the joyful cries of the have sought to match the poem’s whimsical of 2011. Geoffrey Scott (1884-1929) was an Ian Venables, 2015
- 10 - - 11 - -! ,(' ( -! The leaves whirl in the wind’s riot Past touch and sight and sound, Laugh and be merry: , / +' () Beneath the Beacon’s jutting spur, Not further to be found, remember, in olden time. Quiet are clan and chief, and quiet How hopeless under ground God made Heaven and Earth 1 On Malvern Hill Centurion and signifier. Falls the remorseful day. for joy He took in a rhyme, John Masefield (1878-1967) Made them, and filled them full The words of On Malvern Hill are reproduced by permission of 3 Elgar’s Music with the strong red wine of His mirth A wind is brushing down the clover, The Society of Authors as Literary Representative of the Estate of John Masefield. John Drinkwater (1882 -1937) The splendid joy of the stars: It sweeps the tossing branches bare, the joy of the earth. Blowing the poising kestrel over 2 How Clear, How Lovely Bright How quietly he sleeps upon the hill The crumbling ramparts of the Caer. Alfred Edward Housman (1859-1936) That sees the seasons go by Severnside, So we must laugh and drink He who by music manifested still from the deep blue cup of the sky, It whirls the scattered leaves before us How clear, how lovely bright, Across the earth the ancient English pride – Join the jubilant song Along the dusty road to home, How beautiful to sight This Worcester man who out of little lanes of the great stars sweeping by, Once it awakened into chorus Those beams of morning play, Of whitethorn bud, and Evesham orchards bright Laugh, and battle, and work, The heart-strings in the ranks of Rome. How heaven laughs out with glee In harvest, made a magic that disdains and drink of the wine outpoured Where, like a bird set free, That easy summons of the lesser light. In the dear green earth, There by the gusty coppice border Up from the eastern sea the sign of the joy of the Lord. The shrilling trumpets broke the halt, Soars the delightful day. 4 The Roman line, the Roman order, Laugh and Be Merry John Masefield Laugh and be merry together, Swayed forwards to the blind assault. To-day I shall be strong, like brothers akin, No more shall yield to wrong, Laugh and be merry, Guesting awhile in the rooms Spearman and charioteer and bowman Shall squander life no more; of a beautiful inn, Charged and were scattered into spray, remember, better the world with a song, Days lost, I know not how, Better the world with a blow Glad till the dancing stops, Savage and taciturn the Roman I shall retrieve them now; and the lilt of the music ends. Hewed upwards in the Roman way. in the teeth of a wrong. Now I shall keep the vow Laugh, for the time is brief, Laugh till the game is played; I never kept before. and be you merry, my friends. There in the twilight where the cattle a thread the length of a span. Are lowing home across the fields, Ensanguining the skies Laugh and be proud to belong The words of Laugh and Be Merry are reproduced by permission of The beaten warriors left the battle How heavily it dies to the old proud pageant of man. The Society of Authors as Literary Representative of the Estate of John Masefield. Dead on the clansmen’s wicker shields. Into the west away;
- 12 - - 13 - 5 The River in December -! )"' (. !, ),- That savage toss of the pine boughs past music 9 In Memoriam : Ivor Gurney (Obit 26 xii 37) Philip Worner &.," () And the roar of the elms . . . Leonard Clark (1905-1981) Here come, in the candle light, soft reminder It’s peace again the river claims, 6 My heart makes songs on lonely roads Of poetry’s truth, while rain beats softly here These Severn meadows knew But now December on it rests, Ivor Gurney (1890 -1937) As sleep, or shelter of farms. He would not come Too late for all its battered flowers, To tread their little paths again. Too late for all its abandoned nests. My heart makes songs on lonely roads 8 The Wind A whisper, secret as the dew, Little mists of times long past, To comfort me while you’re away, Ivor Gurney Fell from the trembling lips of men, Hide this summer’s ravage now; And strives with lovely sounding words “An English singer’s dumb” An ancient solace steals along Its crowded tenderness to say. All night the fierce wind blew- But still the river glides his madrigals Broken bank and shattered bough. All night I knew Their cadences of richest Tudor sound: Only God now lights the river, Glimmering against the forward dark, Time, like a dark wind, blowing In Framilode, a winter blackbird calls Lights from stream to bank, to bark, Your face I see with pride, with pain All days, all lives, all memories Daffodils from frozen ground, With the colours of the Kingfisher, So that one time I did desire Down empty, endless skies- And Gloucester tower, And returning rules the dark. Never to see that face again. A blind wind, strowing That certainty of stone and power, On such a day when I am gone, Bright leaves of life’s torn tree Has heard once more, Away to exile, still and free, But I am glad that Love has come Through blank eternity: His timeless music soar, As quiet and steadfast flows the river, To bind me fast and try my worth; Dreadfully swift, Time blew. His young heart rise, If all is well, remember me. For Love’s a powerful Lord and gives All night I knew Triumphantly to Cotswold skies. His friends dominion over the earth. The outrush of its going.
7 Soft Rain At dawn a thin rain wept. Ivor Gurney Worn out, I slept And woke to a fair morning. Soft rain beats upon my windows My days were amply long, and I content Hardly harming. In their accomplishment – But by the great gusts guessed further off Lost the wind’s warning. Up by the bare moor and brambly headland Heaven and earth make war.
- 14 - - 15 - (.+ ,(' , 0"-! And no one knows Can charm so sweet as evening bells ,(' , 0"-! )"'( ,-+"' *.+- - What a birth was there! O merry chiming bells r Break, break, break Op. 33, No. 5 0 Flying Crooked Op. 28, No. 1 That kiss is gone where none can tell - Zephyrs breathing once again Alfred, Lord Tennyson (1809 – 1892) Robert Graves (1895 -1985) Not even those who felt its spell: Once again the zephyr swells It cannot die; that know we well. Still I lie upon the plain Break, break, break, The butterfly, the cabbage white, Somewhere it pursues its fight, Entranc’d to hear the evening bells On thy cold gray stones, O Sea! (His honest idiocy of flight) One of a long procession of sounds O merry chiming bells And I would that my tongue could utter Will never now, it is too late, Travelling aethereal rounds The thoughts that arise in me. Master the art of flying straight, Far from earth’s bounds While the runnel curdles clear O well for the fisherman’s boy, Yet has – who knows so well as I? - In the infinite. Once again the zephyr swells That he shouts with his sister at play! A just sense of how not to fly: Sweeter still the strains appear O well for the sailor lad, He lurches here and here by guess w Evening Bells Op. 31, No. 3 O evening bells o evening bells That he sings in his boat on the bay! And God and hope and hopelessness. John Clare (1793-1864) How sweet is evening bells And the stately ships go on Even the aerobatic swift To their haven under the hill; Has not his flying-crooked gift. Sweet the merry bells ring round e The Night Has A Thousand Eyes Op. 41, No. 2 But O for the touch of a vanished hand, On even zephyrs dying swells Francis William Bourdillon (1852-1921) And the sound of a voice that is still! The words for Flying Crooked are set to music by permission of A.P. The sweetest chord the harp can sound Break, break, break, Watt Ltd on behalf of the Robert Graves Copyright Trust. Sounds not so sweet as evening bells The night has a thousand eyes, At the foot of thy crags, O Sea! O merry chiming bells And the day but one; But the tender grace of a day that is dead q A Kiss Op. 15 Swinging falls and melting rise Yet the light of the bright world dies Thomas Hardy (1840 -1928) Will never come back to me. On viewless echo how it swells With the dying sun. Tis but the music of the skies t By a wall the stranger now calls his, Midnight Lamentation Op. 6 Can breath so sweet as evening bells The mind has a thousand eyes, Was born of old a particular kiss, Harold Monro (1879 – 1932) O merry chiming bells And the heart but one; Without forethought in its genesis; Yet the light of a whole life dies Which in a trice took wing upon the air. When you and I go down Faint and fainter how they fall When love is gone. And where that spot is nothing shows: Breathless and cold, Humming through the lonely dells There ivy calmly grows, Our faces both worn back No sounds to charm this earthly ball To earthly mould,
- 16 - - 17 - How lonely we shall be! He starts to yawn, it takes all day. Her waterways are a tremble Amazed, perplexed and dim, What shall we do, Some time I think I’ll live that way. With melody far and wide, Comes coiling to the brim; You without me, Borne from the phantom galleys I without you? “The Hippo”, copyright 1961 by Theodore Roethke, from COLLECTED That o’er the darkness glide. For what the wise whales ponder POEMS OF THEODORE ROETHKE. Used by permission of Doubleday, a division of Random House inc. Awaking out from sleep, We are most nearly born There are stars in the heaven, and starry The key to all your wonder, Of one same kind; u The Invitation to the Gondola Op. 22, No. 3 Are the wandering lights below; The answers of the deep, We have the same delight, John Addington Symonds (1840-1893) Come forth! for the Night is calling, These to myself I keep. The same true mind. Sea, city, and sky are aglow! Must we then part, we part; Come forth; for Night is falling, Is there no way The moon hangs round and red i Frutta di Mare Op. 41, No. 1 To keep a beating heart, On the verge of the violet waters, Geoffrey Scott (1884-1929) And light of day? Fronting the daylight dead. I am a seashell flung I cannot find a way Come forth; the liquid spaces, Up from an ancient sea; Through love and through; Of sea and sky are one Now I lie here, among I cannot reach beyond Where outspread angel flame- wings, Roots of a tamarisk tree; Body, to you. Brood o’er the buried sun. No one listens to me. When you or I must go Down evermore, Bells call to bells from the islands, I sing to myself all day There’ll be no more to say And far-off mountains rear In a husky voice, quite low, - But a locked door. Their shadowy crests in the crystal Things the great fishes say Of cloudless atmosphere. And you most need to know; y The Hippo All night I sing just so. Theodore Roethke (1908 -1963) A breeze from the sea is wafted; Lamp-litten Venice gleams But lift me from the ground, A head or tail which does he lack? With her towers and domes uplifted, And hearken to my rim, I think his forward’s coming back! Like a city seen in dreams. Only your sorrow’s sound He lives on carrots, leeks and hay.
- 18 - - 19 - IAN VENABLES Six Songs Op.33 (2003) as well as a dramatic Novello and Co Ltd and has been recorded scena At the court of the poisoned rose Op. on the Regent, Somm, Signum and Naxos labels. Ian Venables was born in 1955 and educated 20 (1994). His many chamber works include a at Liverpool Collegiate Grammar School. He Piano Quintet Op.27 (1995) – described by www.ianvenables.com studied music with Professor Richard Arnell Roderic Dunnett in the Independent as ‘… www.musicsalesclassical.com at Trinity College of Music, London and later lending a new late 20th Century dimension to www.musicroom.com with John Joubert, Andrew Downes and John the English pastoral…’, a String Quartet Mayer at the Birmingham Conservatoire. His Op.32 (1998) and more recently a RODERICK WILLIAMS compositions encompass many genres, and Canzonetta Op.44 for clarinet and string he has added significantly to the canon of quartet (2013). He has also written works Roderick Williams encompasses a wide English art song. Described as “…a song for choir – Awake, awake, the world is young repertoire, from baroque to contemporary composer as fine as Finzi and Gurney…” Op.34 – organ – Rhapsody Op.25 (1996), music, in the opera house, on the concert (BBC Music Magazine) and “…one of the brass and solo piano. He is an acknowledged platform and in recital. finest song composers of his generation…” expert on the 19th-century poet and (BMS Newsletter), he has written over 60 works literary critic John Addington Symonds, and He enjoys relationships with all the major UK in this genre, which includes seven song-cycles, apart from having set five of his poems opera houses and is particularly associated Venetian Songs – Love’s Voice Op.22 (1995); for voice and piano, he has contributed a with the baritone roles of Mozart. He has also Invite to Eternity Op.31 (1997) for tenor and significant essay to the book John Addington sung world premieres of operas by, among string quartet; Songs of Eternity and Sorrow Symonds – Culture and the Demon Desire others, David Sawer, Sally Beamish, Michael Op.36 (2004) for tenor, string quartet and (Macmillan Press Ltd, 2000). He is President of van der Aa, Robert Saxton and Alexander Knaifel. piano; On the Wings of Love Op.38 (2006) for The Arthur Bliss Society and Vice-President of tenor, clarinet and piano; The Pine Boughs the Gloucester Music Society. His continuing Roderick Williams has sung concert repertoire Past Music Op.39 (2009) for baritone and work on the music of Ivor Gurney has led to with all the BBC orchestras, and many other piano; Remember This Op.40 (2011) a Cantata orchestrations of two of his songs (2003) – ensembles including the Royal Scottish National for soprano, tenor, string quartet, and piano counterparts to the two that were orchestrated Orchestra, the Philharmonia, London Sinfonietta, (recently orchestrated) and The Song of The by Herbert Howells – and newly edited Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, the Severn Op.43 (2013) for baritone, string quartet versions of Gurney’s War Elegy (1919) and Hallé, Britten Sinfonia, Bournemouth Symphony and piano. Other songs for solo voice and A Gloucestershire Rhapsody (1921), with Dr and Scottish Chamber Orchestra. Abroad he piano include, Two Songs Op.28 (1997) and Philip Lancaster. His music is published by has worked with the Berlin Philharmonic, © Graham Wallhead
- 20 - - 21 - Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, Russian Perth Concert Hall, Oxford Lieder Festival, National Orchestra, Orchestre Philharmonique London Song Festival, the Musikverein, Vienna de Radio France, Ensemble Orchestral de and on Radio 3, where he has participated on Paris, Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia Iain Burnside’s Voices programme. in Rome and Bach Collegium Japan amongst others. His many festival appearances include His numerous recordings include Vaughan the BBC Proms (including the Last Night Williams, Berkeley and Britten operas for in 2014), Edinburgh, Cheltenham, Aldeburgh Chandos, Verdi’s Don Carlos (conducted by and Melbourne. Bernard Haitink) for Philips, and an extensive repertoire of English song with pianist Iain Recent opera engagements include Oronte Burnside for Naxos. in Charpentier’s Medée, Toby Kramer in Van der Aa’s Sunken Garden in the Netherlands Roderick Williams is also a composer and has and London, Pollux in Castor and Pollux for had works premiered at the Wigmore and English National Opera and Van der Aa’s After Barbican Halls, the Purcell Room and live Life at Melbourne State Theatre. Future on national radio. performances include Van der Aa’s Sunken Garden at Opera de Lyon and the title role in He will be Artistic Director of Leeds Lieder + in Billy Budd for the Nationale Reisopera. Recent April 2016. and future concert engagements include concerts with the Tonkünstler Orchester at +!& # %%(2 the Musikverein, Cincinnati Symphony, Music of the Baroque Chicago and Virginia Arts Graham J Lloyd was born on the Wirral in 1963. Festival as well as many recitals and concerts He began his piano studies at the relatively in the UK and worldwide. late age of 14 and only four years later gave his debut recital in Liverpool, in a performance He is also an accomplished recital artist who of Saint-Saëns’s Carnival des Animaux. He can be heard at venues and festivals including studied at the Royal Northern College of Wigmore Hall, Kings Place, LSO St Luke’s, the Music in Manchester with the renowned © Graham Wallhead © Benjamin Ealovega
- 22 - - 23 - Polish pianist Ryszard Bakst and where, as + . " ,-+"' *.+- - a chamber musician, he was coached by the late Denis Matthews. He has worked as a Matthew Denton & Michelle Fleming violins soloist – Rachmaninov’s Piano Concerto No. Eoin Schmidt-Martin viola 1; chamber musician – Beethoven’s Complete Emma Denton cello Sonatas for Violin and Piano, Schubert’s Trout Quintet and in particular as an accompanist Described by The Strad as presenting “a to many singers. He has specialised in masterclass in unanimity of musical purpose, recording the works of his partner Ian Venables in which severity could melt seamlessly into and the CD ‘The Songs of Ian Venables’ charm, and drama into geniality”, the Carducci received much critical acclaim “…the singer Quartet is recognised as one of today’s is ably supported by pianist Graham Lloyd…” most successful string quartets. Performing (Gramophone). He has also recorded Venables’ over 90 concerts worldwide each year the music for strings and piano with members of quartet also run their own recording label the Coull Quartet on the SOMM label “…pianist Carducci Classics; an annual festival in (Graham) Lloyd adding much to the sense Highnam, Gloucester; and in September of grandeur in the music…” (International 2014, curated their first Carducci Festival in Record Review) and the same composer’s Castagneto-Carducci: the town from which they complete piano music on the NAXOS label. took their name. He combines a busy teaching career with recording, adjudicating and arranging. Winners of international competitions, including the Concert Artists Guild International Competition 2007 and Finland’s Kuhmo International Chamber Music Competition, the Anglo-Irish quartet has appeared at prestigious venues across the globe including © Tom Barnes the Wigmore Hall, London; National Concert Hall, Dublin; Tivoli Concert Hall, Copenhagen; Carnegie Hall, New York and Library of
- 24 - - 25 - Congress and John F Kennedy Center, Educational work remains important to the Washington D.C. Festival appearances include quartet who set up the Carducci Music Trust, Cheltenham Music Festival; Festival Messiaen to support their work in schools. The quartet au pays Meije; West Cork Chamber Music studied with members of the Amadeus, Alban This recording was made with the financial assistance of: festival; Kuhmo Festival; and the Wratislavia Berg, Chilingirian, Takacs and Vanbrugh The Kay Trust, The John Ireland Trust, The Composer’s Project Cantans Festival in Poland. quartets and, as part of the ProQuartet Trust, Alan Cook, Richard Hall, John Sammons, Eric and Astrid professional training programme in France, Hazelwood, Jennie and John McGregor-Smith, Jim and Frances 2015 will see the quartet present the with Gyorgy Kurtag, Walter Levin and Paul Katz. Page, Patrick and Kate Aydon and Philip Jones. complete catalogue of Shostakovich’s String Quartets across a number of international cycles to commemorate 40 years since the composer’s death. The project will be accompanied by a recording of quartet’s Nos. 4, 8 and 11: their second disc for Signum Classics. Further to this, the quartet will tour Recorded at St Michael’s Church, Summertown, Oxford, on 12th and 13th December 2014 Germany, Holland and Colombia and collaborate Producer – Adrian Peacock with guitarist Craig Ogden, clarinettist Recording Engineer – Mike Hatch Recording Assistant – Chris Kalcov Emma Johnson, cellists Guy Johnston and Editor – Will Brown Christian-Pierre La Marca. Cover Image – Getty Images Design and Artwork – Woven Design www.wovendesign.co.uk Highly celebrated for their interpretations of P 2015 The copyright in this CD booklet, notes and design is owned by Signum Records Ltd contemporary repertoire, the Carducci Quartet © 2015 The copyright in this CD booklet, notes and design is owned by Signum Records Ltd is regularly invited to premiere new works. Any unauthorised broadcasting, public performance, copying or re-recording of Signum Compact Discs constitutes an infringement of copyright and will render the infringer liable to an action by law. Recent highlights include a new String Licences for public performances or broadcasting may be obtained from Phonographic Performance Ltd. All rights reserved. No part of this booklet may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, Quartet by John McCabe and Oboe Quintets or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior permission from Signum Records Ltd. by Michael Berkeley and Sven-Ingo Koch with SignumClassics, Signum Records Ltd., Suite 14, 21 Wadsworth Road, Perivale, Middx UB6 7JD, UK. Nicholas Daniel. +44 (0) 20 8997 4000 E-mail: [email protected] www.signumrecords.com
- 26 - - 27 - ALSO AVAILABLE on J@>ELDclassics
Ian Venables: At Midnight Songs and Chamber Music Andrew Kennedy, Dante Quartet SIGCD204
“… stylish and graceful melodic invention, vividly realised in Andrew Kennedy’s plangent tenor and the keenly judged playing of the Dantes.” The Observer
“Kennedy’s plangent tone fits ideally the predominant mood of melancholy ... The string quartet confirms Venables’ originality: the gritty vitality of the outer movements straddling an adagio that mingles wit with wistful romanticism” Classical Music Magazine HHHHH
Available through most record stores and at www.signumrecords.com For more information call +44 (0) 20 8997 4000
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