THE CALL INTRODUCING THE NEXT GENERATION OF CLASSICAL SINGERS

Martha Jones Laurence Kilsby Angharad Lyddon Madison Nonoa Alex Otterburn Dominic Sedgwick

Malcolm Martineau piano

our future, now Martha Jones Laurence Kilsby Angharad Lyddon Madison Nonoa Alex Otterburn Dominic Sedgwick THE CALL

Martha Jones Laurence Kilsby Angharad Lyddon Madison Nonoa Alex Otterburn Dominic Sedgwick

Malcolm Martineau THE CALL

FRANZ SCHUBERT (1797-1828) 1 Fischerweise (Franz von Schlechta) f 2’53 2 Im Frühling (Ernst Schulze) a 4’32

ROBERT SCHUMANN (1810-1856) 3 Mein schöner Stern (Friedrich Rückert) d 2’39

JOHANNES BRAHMS (1833-1897) 4 An eine Äolsharfe (Eduard Mörike) f 3’52

ROBERT SCHUMANN 5 Aufträge (Christian L’Egru) b 2’30

GABRIEL FAURÉ (1845-1924) 6 Le papillon et la fleur (Victor Marie Hugo) e 2’08

CLAUDE ACHILLE DEBUSSY (1862-1918) 7 La flûte de Pan (Pierre-Félix Louis) b 2’45

REYNALDO HAHN (1874-1947) 8 L’heure exquise (Paul Verlaine) c 2’27

CLAUDE ACHILLE DEBUSSY 9 C’est l’extase (Paul Verlaine) a 2’54

FRANCIS POULENC (1899-1963) Deux poèmes de Louis Aragon (Louis Aragon) d 10 i C 2’44 11 ii Fêtes galantes 0’57

GABRIEL FAURÉ 12 Notre amour (Armand Silvestre) e 1’58 MEIRION WILLIAMS (1901-1976) 13 Gwynfyd (Crwys) c 3’25

HERBERT HOWELLS (1892-1983) 14 King David (Walter de la Mare) b 4’51

RALPH VAUGHAN WILLIAMS (1872-1958) 15 The Call (George Herbert) f 2’12 16 Silent Noon (Dante Gabriel Rossetti) c 4’03

BENJAMIN BRITTEN (1913-1976) 17 The Choirmaster’s Burial (Thomas Hardy) d 4’08

IVOR GURNEY (1890-1937) 18 Sleep (John Fletcher) e 2’55

BENJAMIN BRITTEN 19 The Last Rose of Summer (Thomas Moore) a 3’48 20 Early One Morning (Anonymous) b 2’32

SERGEI RACHMANINOV (1873-1943) 21 In the Silent Night (Afanasy Afanasyevich Fet) e 2’55

63’09

MADISON NONOA a MARTHA JONES mezzo-soprano b ANGHARAD LYDDON mezzo-soprano c LAURENCE KILSBY d ALEX OTTERBURN e DOMINIC SEDGWICK baritone f MALCOLM MARTINEAU piano MOMENTUM: Our Future, Now is an initiative driven by leading international artists supporting younger professional colleagues in the first substantial phase of their career. Created by Barbara Hannigan, the Momentum model is an urgent artistic and human response to the situation caused by the 2020 pandemic, yet devised with long-term staying power.

Momentum: Our Future Now, sees leading soloists and conductors supporting younger colleagues by bringing them onto main stage professional engagements. Young professional soloists are invited to share the stage on leading soloists’ engagements, while young professional conductors assist leading conductors and are given invaluable opportunities to lead an orchestra during the rehearsal period. In each case the young artist receives a fee.

The collective initiative has very quickly attracted the support of a rapidly increasing list of the world’s leading solo artists, conductors, orchestras, organisations and festivals, who have agreed to incorporate Momentum into their current season and beyond.

The Call is the first recording both inspired and supported by the Momentum initiative. Momentum extends its heartfelt thanks to Malcom Martineau for his dedication and generosity, and to Roger Wright, Britten Pears Arts, Mark Stone and Andrew Mellor. I was honoured to be invited by Barbara Hannigan to be a part of the Momentum scheme to help young singers who had been hit particularly hard by lack of work during the pandemic. I thought that it would be a good idea to make a CD with six singers and I deliberately chose artists, either those whom I had worked with in the past or through recommendations, who had had virtually no work at all during Covid times. I asked them to choose songs with which they had a particular, personal connection and it has produced a wonderfully varied programme. Thank you again to Barbara for the motivation and inspiration and to Roger Wright and Carolyn Barnfield for enabling it all at the Maltings, Snape.

Malcolm Martineau New Zealand soprano and Lies Askonas Fellow Madison Nonoa holds a Masters in Music (Distinction) from the Guildhall school of Music and Drama where she studied under the tutelage of Yvonne Kenny. Madison made her debut at the Glyndebourne Festival Opera as First Siren Rinaldo, and was selected as a 2020/2021 Jerwood Young Artist for the Festival. Madison is a current Samling Artist and Britten-Pears Young Artist and a former Dame Malvina Major Emerging Young Artist with New Zealand Opera, where she made her debut as Papagena Die Zauberflöte. Madison has performed nationally and internationally with the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, the Australian Brandenburg Orchestra as a concert soloist resulting in a CD recording “Noel! Noel!” and with the London Philharmonia at the Royal Festival Hall. Competition highlights include being the first prize winner of the Dame Malvina Major Arias in Christchurch and Wellington, as well as being awarded the first prize in the Napier Aria, Tauranga competitions and receiving 2nd prize in the New Zealand Aria Competition. She was a semi-finalist in the London Bach Singing competition and the International Handel Singing Competition and a finalist in the 2016 Lexus Song Quest. She acknowledges the ongoing support of the Dame Kiri Te Kanawa and Dame Malvina Major Foundations.

Martha Jones studied at the RCMIOS where she was awarded a Susan Chilcott scholarship by the Royal Philharmonic Society. She has also taken part in young artist programmes at Carnegie Hall, Ravinia Festival and was a Britten-Pears Young Artist and a Samling Scholar. Recent engagements include Dorabella Così fan tutte (English Touring Opera and Classical Opera), Annina La Traviata and Neferneferuaten Akhnaten (English National Opera), Hermia A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Nevill Holt Opera) and Opera Highlights (Scottish Opera). Other operatic engagements include FANNY PRICE Mansfield Park (The Grange Festival), Melanto/ Amore The Return of Ulysses, Nancy and Lisetta Il Mondo Della Luna (English Touring Opera), 2nd Lady The Magic Flute (Mid Wales Opera), 2nd Witch/Lady in Waiting Macbeth (Scottish Opera) and Countess Ceprano (Opéra-Théâtre Limoges). She has sung in recital at St John’s Smith Square (Haydn Arianna a Naxos), the Ryedale Festival (Brahms and Mendelssohn duets), Kings Place (including Grieg, Hahn and Schumann) and the (Samling Showcase). Orchestral song engagements include BESSIE in Weill’s Mahagonny Songspiel (Kings Place), selections from Henze’s Stimmen (Queen Elizabeth Hall), Mahler’s Das Lied von der Erde (London Mahler Orchestra) and Mahler’s Rückert Lieder (New English Ballet Theatre).

Welsh Mezzo Soprano Angharad Lyddon is a graduate of the Royal Academy of Music. She was a member of the Academy Song Circle and a Kohn Foundation Bach Scholar working with prominent Bach experts including Sir John Eliot Gardiner and Peter Schreier. Angharad was a 2013 Glyndebourne Jerwood young artist and recipient of the Wessex Glyndebourne Association award. Angharad is also a Samling Artist taking part in masterclasses with Dame and Olaf Bär. Angharad made her professional debut in 2015 at English National Opera as Kate in Mike Leigh’s production of The Pirates of Penzance returning in 2019 as Sotopenre in Phelim McDermott’s award-winning production of Akhnaten. Other roles include: Flosshilde in at festival, Olga in Eugene Onegin for Buxton International Festival and Julia Bertram in Mansfield Park for The Grange Festival. Concert highlights include recitals at Wigmore Hall, Stravinsky’s Pulcinella and Requiem with Vladimir Jurowski and the LPO and Handel’s Messiah at the Royal Albert Hall. Following her success at the 2018 Welsh Singer Showcase at Cardiff’s St David’s Hall with the BBC National Orchestra of Wales, Angharad was chosen to represent Wales in the 2019 BBC Cardiff Singer of the World Competition and was a Finalist in the Song Prize.

A former BBC Radio 2 Young Chorister of the Year (2009), Laurence Kilsby is a British Tenor, Lies Askonas Fellow and ABRSM vocal scholar at the Royal College of Music, supported by the Victoria Robey Scholarship and the Drake Calleja Trust. He holds the Society Bursary (2018) and competes in the 2021 Das Lied: International Song Competition. Recent solo concert highlights include; Venus and Adonis with Christian Curnyn and the Early Opera Company (Wigmore Hall), St. John Passion with the Gabrieli Consort (Cathédrale de Lausanne), Elijah with Masaaki Suzuki and the OAE (Théâtre des Champs-Elysées), Peter Sellars’ staging of the St John Passion with Sir Simon Rattle and the OAE (Elbphilharmonie, Hamburg), Lieder Recital (Akademie der Künste, ), Esther with the London Handel Festival (Wigmore Hall). Recent operatic work; Apollo/Pastore/Spirito in L’Orfeo (Nederlandse Reisopera), cover Lysander/A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Nevill Holt Opera), Phoebus/The Fairy Queen (Waterperry Opera Festival), Lucano/L’incoronazione di Poppea (Longborough Festival Opera). Future engagements include cover Grimoaldo/ Rodelinda (RCMIOS), company debut with the Festival d’Aix-en-Provence as Lucano/Soldato Primo/Poppea (2022). He also joins the Verbier Festival as a Young Artist this summer.

Described as “ruling the stage” (Opera Magazine) in his debut as Pluto last season in English National Opera’s new production of Orpheus in the Underworld, British baritone Alex Otterburn delights audiences and critics alike with his bright tone and commanding stage presence. As an ENO Harewood Artist, Alex has also appeared as Morales in Calixto Bieito’s production of Carmen conducted by Valentina Peleggi, and Squibby in the world premiere of Iain Bell’s Jack the Ripper: The Women of Whitechapel, conducted by Martyn Brabbins. Alex’s critically acclaimed debut as Eddy in Mark-Anthony Turnage’s Greek at the International Festival defined him as an exciting and important artist of the new generation, with further performances given in Glasgow for Scottish Opera and on tour to the Brooklyn Academy of Arts, marking his US operatic debut. Further successes have included Chip in Antony McDonald’s new production of On the Town at the Hyogo Performing Arts Centre and on tour in Tokyo, Harlequin in Ariadne auf Naxos for both Scottish Opera and Opera Holland Park, Pallante in Agrippina for The Grange Festival, and his company debut at Opera North as Cascada in The Merry Widow. Alex gained a first-class degree in Economics from the University of Manchester before embarking on his singing studies.

British baritone Dominic Sedgwick is a recent alumnus of the Jette Parker Young Artist Programme at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, a Samling Artist and is a Rising Star of the OAE for the 2019/20 and 20/21 seasons. He trained at GSMD with Robert Dean. In the 2019/20 season he returned to the ROH as the English Clerk in a new production of by Sir David McVicar, and also made debut performances with the RLPO with Sofi Jeannin and at the Bonn Beethoven Festival with the OAE. He made his ROH debut as Marullo Rigoletto, and subsequently performed the roles of Moralès and Dancaïre Carmen, Ghost Child Coraline, Novice’s Friend (covering the title role) and Kuligin Katya Kabanova. Awards include the Audience Prize at the 2017 International Grange Competition and the WCOM Wigmore Recital Award in 2019. In 2020 Dominic was very fortunate to perform in numerous virtual performances of Bach with the OAE for their Bach, the Universe and Everything Concert Series. This season he will make his debut at the Festival d’Aix-en-Provence, return to ROH and looks forward to continuing his relationship with the OAE. He is extremely proud and grateful to be a part of Momentum.

Malcolm Martineau was born in Edinburgh, read Music at St Catharine’s College, Cambridge and studied at the Royal College of Music. Recognised as one of the leading accompanists of his generation, he has worked with many of the world’s greatest singers including Sir , Dame , Florian Boesch, Olaf Bär, Anna Netrebko, Elīna Garanča, Dorothea Röschmann, Dame Sarah Connolly, Christiane Karg, , , Thomas Hampson, , Sir , Angelika Kirchschlager, Dame , Christopher Maltman, Karita Mattila, Dame Ann Murray, , Joan Rodgers, , , Sarah Walker and Sir . He has appeared throughout Europe including London’s Wigmore Hall and the Barbican; La Scala, ; the Chatelet, ; the Liceu, Barcelona; Berlin’s Philharmonie and Konzerthaus; ’s Concertgebouw and ’s Konzerthaus and Musikverein; North America including both New York’s Alice Tully and Carnegie Halls. He was a given an honorary doctorate at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama in 2004, and appointed International Fellow of Accompaniment in 2009. Malcolm was the Artistic Director of the 2011 Leeds Lieder Festival. He was made an OBE in the 2016 New Year’s Honours. 1 Fischerweise A Fisherman’s Ditty Franz von Schlechta (1796-1875)

Den Fischer fechten Sorgen The fisherman is not beset Und Gram und Leid nicht an, With worries, grief or sorrow. Er löst am frühen Morgen First thing in the morning Mit leichtem Sinn den Kahn. He casts off his boat in good spirits.

Da lagert rings noch Friede All around him the woods, meadows and streams Auf Wald und Flur und Bach, Are still peaceful. Er ruft mit seinem Liede He wakes up the golden sun Die gold’ne Sonne wach. With his singing.

Er singt zu seinem Werke He sings as he works Aus voller frischer Brust, With a heart bursting with energy. Die Arbeit gibt ihm Stärke, The work gives him strength Die Stärke Lebenslust! And that strength, a lust for life.

Bald wird ein bunt Gewimmel Soon a multi-coloured shoal will sound In allen Tiefen laut, In the deep waters, Und plätschert durch den Himmel And will splash through the reflection of the sky Der sich im Wasser baut - In the water.

Doch wer ein Netz will stellen Anyone who wants to cast a net Braucht Augen klar und gut, Must have sharp, clear eyes, Muß heiter gleich den Wellen And must be as cheerful as the waves Und frei sein wie die Flut; And as uninhibited as the water.

Dort angelt auf der Brücke Over there, on the bridge, Die Hirtin - schlauer Wicht, A shepherdess is fishing, crafty minx! Gib auf nur deine Tücke Don’t try your tricks on this particular fish! Den Fisch betrügst du nicht! You’re not going to fool him! 2 Im Frühling In Springtime Ernst Schulze (1789-1817)

Still sitz’ ich an des Hügels Hang, Silently I sit on the side of the hill Der Himmel ist so klar, The sky is completely cloudless Das Lüftchen spielt im grünen Thal, The light breeze frolics in the valley Wo ich beym ersten Frühlingsstrahl Where I, once upon a time Einst, ach, so glücklich war; In the first beams of Spring was so happy.

Wo ich an ihrer Seite ging Where I strolled by her side, So traulich und so nah, So devoted and so close Und tief im dunkeln Felsenquell And I saw the beauteous sky, blue and bright, Den schönen Himmel blau und hell, Reflected in deep, rocky Spring waters. Und sie im Himmel sah. I saw her reflected in that heaven too.

Sieh, wie der bunte Frühling schon See how the brightly coloured Spring Aus Knosp’ und Blüthe blickt! Looks out from the buds and flowers! Nicht alle Blüthen sind mir gleich, Not every flower is equal, Am liebsten pflückt’ ich von dem Zweig, My favourite flower to pick Von welchem sie gepflückt. Is from the branch from which she picked.

Denn Alles ist wie damals noch, Everything is just like it was then, Die Blumen, das Gefild; The flowers, the fields Die Sonne scheint nicht minder hell, The sunshine is no less bright Nicht minder freundlich schwimmt im Quell The vision of the heavens swims no less invitingly Das blaue Himmelsbild. In the stream.

Es wandeln nur sich Will’ und Wahn, Only Fate and Fantasy vacillate Es wechseln Lust und Streit; Joy changes places with strife Vorüber flieht der Liebe Glück, The happiness of love flies away Und nur die Liebe bleibt zurück, And only love remains Die Lieb’ und ach, das Leid! Love and, oh the pain. O wär’ ich doch ein Vöglein nur If only I could be a little bird Dort an dem Wiesenhang, There on the slopes of this meadow Dann blieb’ ich auf den Zweigen hier Then I would remain on the branches Und säng’ ein süßes Lied von ihr And I would sing such a sweet song about her Den ganzen Sommer lang. For the entire summer.

3 Mein schöner Stern My Beautiful Star Friedrich Rückert (1788-1866)

Mein schöner Stern! ich bitte dich, My beautiful star, I ask of you, O lasse du dein heitres Licht Don’t allow your serene light to dim Nicht trüben durch den Dampf in mir, Because of the clouds which are in me, Vielmehr den Dampf in mir zu Licht, Rather help the mist in me to be transfigured, Mein schöner Stern, verklären hilf! My beautiful star!

Mein schöner Stern! ich bitte dich, My beautiful star, I ask of you Nicht senk’ herab zur Erde dich, Not to lower yourself to earth Weil du mich noch hier unten siehst, Just because you see me remain down here, Heb’ auf vielmehr zum Himmel mich, Rather raise me up to heaven, Mein schöner Stern, wo du schon bist! My beautiful star, where you already are! 4 An eine Äolsharfe To an Aeolian Harp Eduard Mörike (1804-1875)

Angelehnt an die Efeuwand Leaning against the ivy-clad wall Dieser alten Terrasse, Of this old terrace, Du, einer luftgebor’nen Muse Your strings sound the secret music Geheimnisvolles Saitenspiel, Of the Muse of the breezes. Fang’ an, Begin! Fange wieder an Begin again Deine melodische Klage! Your melodious lament. Ihr kommet, Winde, fern herüber, You, winds, come from the far-off Ach! von des Knaben, Fresh green grave Der mir so lieb war, Of the boy Frischgrünendem Hügel. I loved so much. Und Frühlingsblüten unterweges streifend, And you have brushed, on your way, Übersättigt mit Wohlgerüchen, The spring flowers which are bursting with sweet perfume. Wie süß, wie süß bedrängt ihr dies Herz! How sweetly you press on my heart. Und säuselt her in die Saiten, You rustle the strings, Angezogen von wohllautender Wehmut, Attracted by harmonious melancholy, Wachsend im Zug meiner Sehnsucht, Increasing sympathetically with my longing Und hinsterbend wieder. And then retreating again. Aber auf einmal, But all of a sudden, Wie der Wind heftiger herstößt, As the wind blows more strongly, Ein holder Schrei der Harfe Comes a lovely cry from the harp Wiederholt mir zu süßem Erschrecken Comes again as a sweet shock to me, Meiner Seele plötzliche Regung, Echoing the unexpected stirring of my soul. Und hier, die volle Rose streut geschüttelt And here, the rose in full bloom is shaken All’ ihre Blätter vor meine Füße! And scatters all its petals at my feet! 5 Aufträge Messages Christian L’Egru (fl. 1850-1850)

Nicht so schnelle, nicht so schnelle! Not so fast, not so fast Wart ein wenig, kleine Welle! Wait a second, little wave Will dir einen Auftrag geben I really want you to take a message An die Liebste mein. To my beloved Wirst du ihr vorüberschweben, As you fly past her, Grüße sie mir fein! Send her my greeting! Sag, ich wäre mitgekommen, Say that I would have come with you, Auf dir selbst herabgeschwommen: Would have ridden downstream with you Für den Gruß einen Kuß Boldly to ask for a kiss Kühn mir zu erbitten, In exchange for my greeting Doch der Zeit Dringlichkeit But the pressure of time Hätt’ es nicht gelitten. Would not allow it.

Nich so eillig! halt! erlaube, Not so hasty, stop, if you wouldn’t mind, Kleine, leichtbeschwingte Taube! Little light-winged dove Habe dir was aufzutragen I have something I would like you An die Liebste mein! To take to my beloved! Sollst ihr tausend Grüße sagen, You should give her a thousand greetings, Hundert obendrein. And another thousand on top of that Sag, ich wär’ mit dir geflogen, Say that I would have flown Über Berg und Strom gezogen: Over mountains and rivers to get there with you Für den Gruß einen Kuß Boldly to ask for a kiss Kühn mir zu erbitten, In exchange for my greeting Doch der Zeit Dringlichkeit But the pressure of time Hätt’ es nicht gelitten. Would not allow it. Warte nicht, daß ich dich treibe, Don’t wait until I have to push you, O du träge Mondesscheibe! Slow-moving moon! Weißt’s ja, was ich dir befohlen You know quite clearly what I have told you to do Für die Liebste mein: For my beloved; Durch das Fensterchen verstohlen Sneakily through the window Grüße sie mir fein! Greet her gracefully! Sag, ich wär’ auf dich gestiegen, Say that I would have climbed on top of you Selber zu ihr hinzufliegen: To ride to her myself Für den Gruß einen Kuß Boldly to ask for a kiss Kühn mir zu erbitten, In exchange for my greeting, Du seist schuld, Ungeduld Say that you are the guilty one! Impatience Hätt mich nicht gelitten. Would not allow me to make such a sluggish journey.

6 Le papillon et la fleur The Butterfly and the Flower Victor Marie Hugo (1802-1885)

La pauvre fleur disait au papillon céleste: The lowly flower said to the heavenly butterfly: Ne fuis pas! Don’t fly away! Vois comme nos destins sont différents. See how our fates are different Je reste, I stay, Tu t’en vas! You fly off!

Pourtant nous nous aimons, nous vivons sans However, we love each other, we live without les hommes mankind Et loin d’eux, And far from them Et nous nous ressemblons, et l’on dit que nous And we resemble each sommes other Fleurs tous deux! And they say we are both flowers! Mais, hélas! l’air t’emporte et la terre But, alas, the air takes you away and the earth m’enchaîne. holds me down, Sort cruel! Cruel fate! Je voudrais embaumer ton vol de mon haleine I would love to embue your flight with my breath Dans le ciel! In the sky!

Mais non, tu vas trop loin! – Parmi des fleurs But no, you go too far away – Amongst the sans nombre innumerable flowers Vous fuyez, You fly away Et moi je reste seule à voir tourner mon ombre And I remain alone and see my own shadow revolve A mes pieds. Around my feet.

Tu fuis, puis tu reviens; puis tu t’en vas You fly away, then you come back, then you fly encore away again, Luire ailleurs. To be radiant elsewhere Aussi me trouves-tu toujours à chaque aurore Even more, you always find me Toute en pleurs! In tears at every sunrise.

Oh! pour que notre amour coule des jours In order that our love can remain constant fidèles, for all time Ô mon roi, Oh my king, Prends comme moi racine, ou donne-moi Grow some roots or give me des ailes wings Comme à toi! Like yours. 7 La flûte de Pan The Pan-pipe Pierre-Félix Louis (1870-1925)

Pour le jour des Hyacinthies, For Hyacinthus day Il m’a donné une syrinx faite He gave me a pan-pipe De roseaux bien taillés, Made from the best cut reeds, Unis avec la blanche cire Joined together with white wax Qui est douce à mes lèvres comme le miel. Which is soft on my lips like honey.

Il m’apprend à jouer, assise sur ses genoux; He teaches me to play as I sit on his knee; Mais je suis un peu tremblante. But I am a little nervous. Il en joue après moi, He plays it after me, Si doucement que je l’entends à peine. So softly that I can barely hear it. Nous n’avons rien à nous dire, We have nothing to say to each other, Tant nous sommes près l’un de l’autre; As we are so close to one another; Mais nos chansons veulent se répondre, But our songs want to answer each other, Et tour à tour nos bouches And every so often our mouths S’unissent sur la flûte. Meet on the flute.

Il est tard, It is late; Voici le chant des grenouilles vertes I can hear the song of the green frogs Qui commence avec la nuit. Which begins at night. Ma mère ne croira jamais My mother will never believe Que je suis restée si longtemps That I have been out so long À chercher ma ceinture perdue. Looking for my lost belt. 8 L’heure exquise The Blissful Time Paul Verlaine (1844-1896)

La lune blanche The white moon Luit dans les bois; Shines in the woods De chaque branche From each branch Part une voix Comes only one voice Sous la ramée... Under the leafy canopy...

Ô bien aimée. O, Beloved...

L’étang reflète, The pool reflects, Profond miroir, Bottomless mirror, La silhouette The shadow Du saule noir Of the black willow Où le vent pleure... Where the wind weeps...

Rêvons, c’est l’heure. Let’s dream, it is the time...

Un vaste et tendre A vast and tender Apaisement Tranquillity Semble descendre Seems to come down Du firmament From the heavens Que l’astre irise... And the moon makes it gleam...

C’est l’heure exquise. It is the blissful time. 9 C’est l’extase It Is Ecstasy Paul Verlaine

C’est l’extase langoureuse, It is long drawn-out ecstasy C’est la fatigue amoureuse, It is the lethargy of loving C’est tous les frissons des bois It is all the trembling of the woods Parmi l’étreinte des brises, Embraced by the breezes C’est vers les ramures grises It is, reaching towards the grey branches, Le choeur des petites voix. The chorus of tiny voices.

O le frêle et frais murmure! Oh, the fragile, fresh murmuring! Cela gazouille et susurre, That prattling and whispering, Cela ressemble au bruit doux That sounds like the soft cry Que l’herbe agitée expire... Which exudes from the grass as it is ruffled, Tu dirais, sous l’eau qui vire, You would say, under the all-enveloping water, Le roulis sourd des cailloux. The soft sound of the rolling pebbles

Cette âme qui se lamente This soul which moans Et cette plainte dormante In this sleepy lament, C’est la nôtre, n’est-ce pas ? It is ours, isn’t it? La mienne, dis, et la tienne, Mine, say, and yours? Dont s’exhale l’humble antienne Out of which comes the lowly anthem Par ce tiède soir, tout bas ? On this balmy evening, so softly. 10 C C Louis Aragon (1897-1982)

J’ai traversé les ponts de Cé I crossed the bridges at Cé C’est là que tout a commencé It was there where it all began

Une chanson des temps passés A song of bygone days Parle d’un chevalier blessé Speaks of a wounded knight

D’une rose sur la chaussée It speaks of a rose on the road Et d’un corsage délacé And of an unlaced bodice

Du château d’un duc insensé Of the castle of an unhinged duke Et des cygnes dans les fossés And of the swans in the ditches

De la prairie où vient danser Of the meadow where Une éternelle fiancée An eternal fiancée comes to dance

Er j’ai bu comme un lait glacé And I imbibed, like iced milk, Le long lai des gloires faussées The long tale of false triumphs

La Loire emporte mes pensées The Loire carries away my thoughts Avec les voitures versées Along with the overturned cars

Et les armes désamorcées And the defused weapons Et les larmes mal effacées And the badly hidden tears

Ô ma France ô ma délaissée Oh, my France! Oh my deserted one! J’ai traversé les ponts de Cé. I crossed the bridges at Cé. 11 Fêtes galantes Courtship Parties Louis Aragon

On voit des marquis sur des bicyclettes You see the marquises on bicycles On voit des marlous en cheval-jupon You see pimps as carnival horses On voit des morveux avec des voilettes You see snotty-nosed children in mourning On voit les pompiers brûler les pompons You see firemen burning their pom-poms

On voit des mots jetés à la voirie You see words thrown into the trash On voit des mots élevés au pavois You see words raised to glory On voit les pieds des enfants de Marie You see the feet of orphan girls On voit le dos des diseuses à voix You see the back of cabaret diseuses

On voit des voitur’ à gazogène You see cars running on fake petrol On voit aussi des voutur’ à bras You see handcarts as well On voit des lascars que les longs nez gênent You see lying rogues impeded by their long noses On voit des coïons de dix huit carats You see top-price idiots

On voit ici ce que l’on voit ailleurs You see what you see elsewhere On voit des demoiselles dévoyées You see young ladies led astray On voit des voyous, On voit des voyeurs You see yobs, you see voyeurs On voit sous les ponts passer You see the drowned bodies passing beneath des noyés the bridges

On voit chômer les marchands de chaussures You see the unemployed shoe salesmen On voit mourir d’ennui les mireurs d’œufs You see the egg-testers dying of boredom On voit péricliter les valeurs sûres You see secure values in grave danger Et fuir la vie à la six quat’ deux. And life is hurtling towards a shoddy end. 12 Notre amour Our Love Armand Silvestre (1837-1901)

Notre amour est chose légère Our love is a feather-light thing Comme les parfums que le vent Like the perfumes that the wind collects Prend aux cimes de la fougère From the very tips of the fern Pour qu’on les respire en rêvant. So that we can inhale them while we dream – Notre amour est chose légère! Our love is a feather-light thing!

Notre amour est chose charmante, Our love is something that charms Comme les chansons du matin Like the morning songs Où nul regret ne se lamente, In which no regret is lamented Où vibre un espoir incertain. In which an unsure hope comes to life – Notre amour est chose charmante! Our love is something that charms!

Notre amour est chose sacrée Our love is a sacred thing Comme les mystères des bois Like the mysteries of the woods Où tressaille une âme ignorée, Where an abandoned soul shivers Où les silences ont des voix. Where every silence has a voice – Notre amour est chose sacrée! Our love is a sacred thing!

Notre amour est chose infinie, Our love is an infinite thing Comme les chemins des couchants Like the paths of sunsets Où la mer, aux cieux réunie, Where the sea, reunited with the sky S’endort sous les soleils penchants, Falls asleep under the setting sun – Notre amour est chose infinite! Our love is an infinite thing!

Notre amour est chose éternelle Our love is an eternal thing Comme tout ce qu’un dieu vainqueur Like everything the triumphant god A touché du feu de son aile, Has touched with his fiery wing Comme tout ce qui vient du coeur, Like everything that emanates from the heart. – Notre amour est chose éternelle! Our love is an eternal thing! 13 Gwynfyd Paradise Crwys (1875-1968)

Ei enw yw Paradwys wen, Its name is Paradise Paradwys wen yw enw’r byd, The land of beauty and peace Ac wylo rwyf o’i golli cyd, I weep when I am away from it A’i geisio hwnt i sêr y nen. And seek it beyond the stars and skies.

Nid draw ar bell-bell draeth y mae, It is not found on some far-away shore Nac obry ’ngwely’r perlau chwaith, Nor within the pearly deep Ond mil-mil nes a ber yw’r daith One does not journey a thousand miles I ddistaw byrth y byd di-wae. To find the gates to this peaceful land.

Tawelach yw na’r dyfnaf hun, More peaceful than the deepest sleep Agosach yw na throthwy’r drws, I keep it close in my heart. Fel pêrwelyau’r rhos o dlws, As beautiful as the rose Ar allwedd yn fy llaw fy hun. I hold the key to it in my own hand. 14 King David 15 The Call Walter de la Mare (1873-1956) George Herbert (1593-1633)

King David was a sorrowful man: Come, my Way, my Truth, my Life: No cause for his sorrow had he; Such a Way, as gives us breath: And he called for the music of a hundred Such a Truth, as ends all strife: harps, Such a Life, as killeth death. To ease his melancholy. Come, My Light, my Feast, my Strength: They played till they all fell silent: Such a Light, as shows a feast: Played and play sweet did they; Such a Feast, as mends in length: But the sorrow that haunted the heart Such a Strength, as makes his guest. of King David They could not charm away. Come, my Joy, my Love, my Heart: Such a Joy, as none can move: He rose; and in his garden Such a Love, as none can part: Walked by the moon alone, Such a Heart, as joys in love. A nightingale hidden in a cypress tree, Jargoned on and on.

King David lifted his sad eyes Into the dark-boughed tree -- “Tell me, thou little bird that singest, Who taught my grief to thee?”

But the bird in no-wise heeded; And the king in the cool of the moon Hearkened to the nightingale’s sorrowfulness, Till all his own was gone. 16 Silent Noon 17 The Choirmaster’s Burial Dante Gabriel Rossetti (1828-1882) Thomas Hardy (1840-1928)

Your hands lie open in the long fresh He often would ask us grass, – That, when he died, The finger-points look through like rosy After playing so many blooms: To their last rest, Your eyes smile peace. The pasture gleams If out of us any and glooms Should here abide, ’Neath billowing skies that scatter and And it would not task us, amass. We would with our lutes All round our nest, far as the eye can pass, Play over him Are golden kingcup fields with silver edge By his grave-brim Where the cow-parsley skirts the hawthorn The psalm he liked best – hedge. The one whose sense suits ’Tis visible silence, still as the hour glass. “Mount Ephraim” – And perhaps we should seem Deep in the sunsearched growths the To him, in Death’s dream, dragon-fly Like the seraphim. Hangs like a blue thread loosened from the sky: – As soon as I knew So this winged hour is dropt to us from That his spirit was gone above. I thoguht this his due, Oh! clasp we to our hearts, for deathless And spoke thereupon. dower, “I think,” said the vicar, This close-companioned inarticulate hour “A read service quicker When twofold silence was the song of love. Than viols out-of-doors In these frosts and hoars. That old-fashioned way Requires a fine day, And it seems to me It had better not be.” Hence, that afternoon, 18 Sleep Though never knew he John Fletcher (1579-1625) That his wish could not be, To get through it faster Come, Sleep, and with thy sweet deceiving They buried the master Lock me in delight awhile; Without any tune. Let some pleasing dreams beguile All my fancies; that from thence But ’twas said that, when I may feel an influence At the dead of next night All my powers of care bereaving. The vicar looked out, There struck on his ken Though but a shadow, but a sliding, Thronged roundabout, Let me know some little joy! Where the frost was graying We that suffer long annoy The headstoned grass, Are contented with a thought A band all in white Through an idle fancy wrought: Like the saints in church-glass, O let my joys have some abiding! Singing and playing The ancient stave By the choirmaster’s grave.

Such the tenor man told When he had grown old. 19 The Last Rose of Summer 20 Early One Morning Thomas Moore (1779-1852) Anonymous

’Tis the last rose of summer, Early one morning, just as the sun was rising, Left blooming alone; I heard a maid sing in the valley below. All her lovely companions “O don’t deceive me, O never leave me, Are faded and gone; How could you use a poor maiden so?” No flow’r of her kindred, No rosebud is nigh “O gay is the garland, fresh are the roses To reflect back her blushes, I’ve culled from the garden to bind on Or give sigh for sigh. thy brow. O don’t deceive me, O do not leave me! I’ll not leave thee, thou lone one, How could you use a poor maiden so?” To pine on the stem; Since the lovely are sleeping, Remember the vows that you made to Go, sleep thou with them; your Mary, Thus kindly I scatter Remember the bow’r where you vowed to Thy leaves o’er the bed, be true. Where thy mates of the garden O don’t deceive me, O never leave me. Lie senseless and dead. How could you use a poor maiden so!”

So soon may I follow, Thus sung the poor maiden, her sorrow When friendships decay, bewailing, And from Love’s shining circle Thus sung the poor maid in the valley below; The gems drop away! “O don’t deceive me! O do not leave me! When true hearts lie wither’d. How could you use a poor maiden so?” And fond ones are flown, Oh! who would inhabit This bleak world alone? 21 In the Silent Night Afanasy Afanas’yevich Fet (1820-1892)

O, dolgo budu ïa, v molchan’ïi nochi Oh, for a long while, in the silence of the taïnoï, mysterious night, Kovarnyï lepet tvoï, ulybku, vzor sluchaïnyï, Your beguiling murmur, smile, fleeting glance, Perstam poslushnuïu volos, volos tvoikh A luscious strand of your hair, obedient to gustuïu pr’ad’, my fingers, Iz mysleï izgon’at’, i snova Will I banish from my thoughts - but then recall prizyvat’; again; Sheptat’ i popravl’at’ bylyïe vyrazhen’ïa Whisper and reconsider the phrases Recheï moikh s toboï, ispolnennykh smush’en’ïa, Of my embarrassed conversations with you, I v opïanen’ïi, naperekor umu, And, as if intoxicated, against all reason, Zavetnym imenem budit’ nochnuïu With your cherished name awaken the nightly t’mu. darkness. We are very grateful to Roger Wright, Britten Pears Arts, Andrew Mellor and Malcolm Martineau for their generous support towards the making of this recording.

Produced, engineered and edited by Andrew Mellor. Recorded 8-9 December 2020 at the Britten Studio, Snape Maltings, Suffolk, U.K. Steinway technician: Graham Cooke.

Cover: photograph of Martha Jones © 2012 Raphaëlle Photography; photograph of Laurence Kilsby © 2019 Eoin Schmidt-Martin; photograph of Angharad Lyddon © 2019 Connor Wood; photograph of Alex Otterburn © 2017 Christina Riley; photograph of Madison Nonoa © 2016 Steven Godbee; photograph of Dominic Sedgwick © 2020 Clare Park. Inside front cover: photograph of Malcolm Martineau 2019 Elisenda Canals 2019. Non-literal English translations of German and French text © 2021 Malcolm Martineau. English translation of Welsh text © 2021 Angharad Lyddon. English translation of Russian text © 2017 Sergey Rybin. Sung text of Deux poèmes de Louis Aragon © Editions Salabert, reproduced with the kind authorization of Universal Music Publishing and Editions Salabert. Sung text of Gwynfyd reproduced by kind permission of Tŷ Cerdd. Sung text of King David reproduced by kind permission of The Literary Trustees of Walter de la Mare and the Society of Authors as their Representative. Design: Red Engine Design.

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