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DDD Also available in this series: The English Song Series • 7 8.557201

BRITTEN

Seven Sonnets of Michelangelo

8.557115 8.557116 The Holy Sonnets of John Donne

Winter Words

8.557117 Philip Langridge, Tenor Steuart Bedford, Piano 8.557201 16 557201bk Britten US 11/12/2003 13:31 pm Page 2

Benjamin Britten (1913-1976) Winter Words • The Holy Sonnets of John Donne • Seven Sonnets of Michelangelo Also available in this series: Britten’s song cycles, whether for voice and orchestra, the final song a cumulative statement, retrospectively piano, harp or guitar, form a substantial and important summing up all that has gone before using relatively part of his work. The three cycles on this recording span simple musical means: in the concluding Sonnet XXIV, the years 1940 to 1953, an astonishingly productive and the piano’s ascending bass solemnly introduces the fertile period for Britten that saw the completion of no descending sequences of the tenor’s unaccompanied fewer than eight operas (if one includes Paul Bunyan Spirto ben nato. Voice and piano are united before the and The Little Sweep), as well as several other by no end, but it is the piano that has the last word, rounding means insubstantial scores such as the Spring Symphony, off the cycle in a serene glow of D major. the Serenade for tenor, horn and strings, Saint Nicolas, Britten’s next cycle for voice for piano, The Holy The Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra and the first Sonnets of John Donne, Op. 35, is markedly different in and second String Quartets. The cycles are linked tone and overall mood. It was written in August 1945 in inasmuch as all three were expressly written with the the wake of the highly successful première of Peter voice of Peter Pears in mind. This specific intention, Grimes, soon after Britten had returned from a tour of however, does not seem to have deterred other singers German concentration camps with the violinist Yehudi from rising to the challenges they present and the Menuhin. The cycle certainly seems to capture some of Michelangelo and Hardy cycles especially have become the bleak intensity of that experience, but it was also a some of the most frequently performed of all twentieth- time when Britten was increasingly preoccupied with century English song cycles. the music of one of his favourite composers, Purcell, 8.557112 8.557113 The Seven Sonnets of Michelangelo, Op. 22, were whose death was being commemorated in the year this completed in October 1940 during Pears and Britten’s cycle was composed (the influence of Purcell is to be three-year stay in America, though the first performance found in other works from this period such as the String was not given until September 1942 at the Wigmore Quartet No.2 and, most obviously, the orchestral Hall in London. In 1939 Britten had set the French variations of The Young Person’s Guide). In the Donne symbolist poetry of Arthur Rimbaud in his Les settings the influence can be felt primarily in the Illuminations for high voice and strings, one of his most declamatory vocal style and moments of neo-Baroque mature and fully achieved works to that date. It was the rhetoric, while the debt is made explicit in the Purcellian success of this that must have encouraged him to meet ground-bass of the final song, Death, be not proud. The the challenge of setting texts in languages other than somewhat feverish, relentless quality of this cycle is English. In the Michelangelo Sonnets it could be said relaxed only in the sixth song, the beautiful Since she that he came of age as a song composer. It was the first whom I lov’d, the gentle melodic contours and work that Britten composed exclusively for Pears and it preponderance of warm diatonic harmony of which is significant that all seven poems deal with various contrasts sharply with the emotional urgency of the rest aspects of love. The settings are widely and effectively of the work. contrasted around this general theme; the first is The eight settings of Thomas Hardy, Winter Words, dominated by an obsessive figure in the piano which Op. 52, were written in 1953 in between labours on the throws the tenor’s broad melodic line into relief; the operas Gloriana and The Turn of the Screw. While in no 8.557114 third song is based on one of those Britten ideas that way sacrificing the abundance of musical invention and appears so simple as to court banality, but instead imagery found in the earlier cycles, the textures are succeeds in conveying a fundamental essence. As in the generally leaner and more economical with the result later Donne and Hardy cycles, Britten contrives to make that the text is projected with particular clarity. Among 8.557201 2 15 8.557201 557201bk Britten US 11/12/2003 13:31 pm Page 14

Benjamin Britten (1913-1976) the many riches to be found in this masterly work are the simplicity to symbolise a state of uncorrupted, primeval Winter Words • The Holy Sonnets of John Donne • Seven Sonnets of Michelangelo train-whistle noises in Midnight on the Great Western innocence “before the birth of consciousness, when all which also come to symbolise the “world unknown” that went well”. In this final song, Britten’s favourite theme the journeying boy is travelling towards. In The of the corruption of innocence by experience seems to The Holy Sonnets of John Donne, Op. 35 23:26 Choirmaster’s Burial (or The tenor man’s story), the be powerfully and movingly distilled. 1 Sonnet VI: Oh my blacke Soule! 3:41 departed master’s favourite hymn-tune Mount Ephraim It was fairly common when Britten was working on 2 Sonnet XIV: Batter my heart 1:15 is woven through the texture (though characteristically a song cycle for various settings to be considered for 3 Sonnet III: O might those sighes and teares 3:04 re-harmonized in parallel triads) with the magical possible inclusion, some of which reached an advanced 4 Sonnet XIX: Oh, to vex me 1:02 moment when the tenor ushers in the ghostly graveyard state of completion but ultimately came to be discarded 5 Sonnet XIII: What if this present 2:46 appearance of “the band all in white”. In At the Railway when the final form of the work was reached. The 6 Sonnet XVII: Since she whom I lov’d 3:40 Station, Upway (or The convict and boy with the violin), composition of Winter Words yielded two such extra 7 Sonnet VII: At the round Earth’s imagin’d corners 2:45 the piano part is imaginatively conceived as if it were a settings, If it’s ever Spring again and The Children and 8 Sonnet I: Thou hast made me 1:22 solo fiddle part with a particularly telling use of musical Sir Nameless, both of which are recorded here. While 9 Sonnet X: Death, be not proud 3:52 irony when the handcuffed convict breaks into song at Britten clearly felt that they were not needed in the the line “This life so free”, trapped within the confines of collected publication, they are nevertheless enjoyable an implacably reiterated C major chord. The cycle and distinctive, as well as offering a valuable and Seven Sonnets of Michelangelo, Op. 22 18:38 concludes with one of Britten’s most impressive songs, fascinating insight into what might be termed the 0 Sonetto XVI: Sì come nella penna e nell’inchiostro 2:11 Before life and after. The impassively repeated triads in composer’s creative refinery. ! Sonetto XXXI: A che più debb’io mai l’intensa voglia 1:26 the pianist’s left hand coupled with the bare octaves @ Sonetto XXX: Veggio co’ be’ vostri occhi un dolce lume 3:17 above seem, on the face of it, to be a crudely # Sonetto L: Tu sa’ ch’io so, signior mie, che tu sai 1:53 unsophisticated device, but Britten uses this studied Lloyd Moore $ Sonetto XXXVIII: Rendete a gli occhi miei, o fonte o fiume 1:59 % Sonetto XXXII: S’un casto amor, s’una pietà superna 1:20 ^ Sonetto XXIV: Spirto ben nato, in cui si specchia e vede 4:32

Winter Words, Op. 52 22:43 & At Day-close in November 1:54 * Midnight on the Great Western 4:46 ( Wagtail and Baby 2:05 ) The Little old Table 1:18 ¡ The Choirmaster’s Burial 3:56 ™ Proud Songsters 1:07 £ At the Railway Station, Upway 2:42 ¢ Before Life and After 2:52

∞ If it’s ever Spring again 3:00 § The Children and Sir Nameless 2:44

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Philip Langridge Settings of Two Poems by Thomas Hardy

Philip Langridge was born in Kent and studied at the Royal Academy of Music in London. He is one of the world’s ∞ If it’s ever spring again § The Children and Sir Nameless most distinguished singers, whose musical and dramatic qualities ensure that he is in constant demand throughout If it’s ever spring again, Sir Nameless, once of Athelhall, declared: Europe, the United States and Japan. In recognition of these qualities, he was made a Commander of the British Spring again, ‘These wretched children romping in my park Empire in the Queen’s Birthday Honours of 1994. He has also received a number of other awards, including the I shall go where went I when Trample the herbage till the soil is bared, prestigious Olivier Award for Osud, the Singer of the Year Award from the Royal Philharmonic Society and The Down the moor-cock splashed, and hen, And yap and yell from early morn till dark! Worshipful Company of Musicians’ Santay Award. He was awarded the NFMS/Charles Groves Prize 2001 for his Seeing me not, amid their flounder, Go keep them harnessed to their set routines: outstanding contribution to British Music. His remarkable versatility and command of a wide variety of styles is Standing with my arm around her; Thank God I’ve none to hasten my decay; reflected in his extensive discography, ranging from the early classical period to the present day. These recordings If it’s ever spring again, For green remembrance there are better means have gained him two Grammy Awards (Moses und Aron, and Peter Grimes), the Gramophone Award (War Spring again, Than offspring, who but wish their sires away.’ Requiem) and a Classic CD Award (The Turn of the Screw). On video he can be seen in Peter Grimes, Billy Budd, I shall go where went I then. Idomeneo, La Clemenza di Tito, From the House of the Dead, Wozzeck, Oberon, JenÛfa and Oedipus Rex, which Sir Nameless of that mansion said anon: won the Classical Music Award. International festivals and opera houses with which he is particularly closely If it’s ever summer-time, ‘To be perpetuate for my mightiness associated include Salzburg, the Metropolitan Opera New York, La Scala, Milan, Bayerische Staatsoper, Munich, Summer-time, Sculpture must image me when I am gone.’ the Royal Opera House Covent Garden, Glyndebourne, Edinburgh, and the English National Opera. In concert With the hay crop at the prime, – He forthwith summoned carvers there express Philip Langridge has appeared with the world’s major orchestras and leading conductors. And the cuckoos - two - in rhyme, To shape a figure stretching seven-odd feet As they used to be, or seemed to, (For he was tall) in alabaster stone, We shall do as long we’ve dreamed to, With shield, and crest, and casque, and sword If it’s ever summer-time, complete: Steuart Bedford Summer-time, When done a statelier work was never known. With the hay, and bees achime. Whether it is from the conductor’s podium or as an accomplished pianist, Steuart Bedford has collaborated with Three hundred years hied; Church-restorers came, many of the world’s most distinguished vocalists. Those he has performed and recorded with include Heather And, no one of his lineage being traced, Harper, Ann Murray, Margaret Marshall, Philip Langridge, Sir Thomas Allen, Dame Felicity Lott, John Tomlinson, They thought an effigy so large in frame John Shirley-Quirk and Janet Baker. Recordings include repertoire by composers such as Schubert, Walton, Britten, Best fitted for the floor. There it was placed, Holst and Berkeley. Steuart Bedford is based in London and is a highly regarded figure within the field of operatic Under the seats for schoolchildren. And they and orchestral repertoire. Kicked out his name, and hobnailed off his nose; And, as they yawn through sermon-time, they say, ‘Who was this old stone man beneath our toes?’

Thomas Hardy (1840-1928)

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Where the frost was graying And a nice one ‘tis, and good in tone!’ The Holy Sonnets of John Donne, Op. 35 The headstoned grass, The man in the handcuffs smiled; A band all in white The constable looked, and he smiled, too, 1 Oh my blacke Soule! (IV) ‘Cause I did suffer I must suffer paine. Like the saints in church-glass, As the fiddle began to twang; Oh my blacke Soule! now thou art summoned Th’hydroptique drunkard, and night-scouting thiefe Singing and playing And the man in the handcuffs suddenly sang By sicknesse, deaths herald, and champion; The itchy Lecher, and selfe tickling proud The ancient stave With grimful glee: Thou art like a pilgrim, which abroad hath done Have the remembrance of past joyes, for reliefe By the choirmaster’s grave. ‘This life so free Treason, and durst not turne to whence hee is fled, Of comming ills. To (poore) me is allow’d Is the thing for me!’ Or like a thiefe, which till deaths doome be read, No ease; for, long, yet vehement griefe hath beene Such the tenor man told Wisheth himselfe delivered from prison; Th’effect and cause, the punishment and sinne. When he had grown old. And the constable smiled, and said no word, But damn’d and hal’d to execution, As if unconscious of what he heard; Wisheth that still he might be imprisoned. 4 Oh, to vex me (XIX) ™ Proud Songsters And so they went on till the train came in - Yet grace, if thou repent, thou canst not lacke; Oh, to vex me, contraryes meet in one: The thrushes sing as the sun is going, The convict, and boy with the violin. But who shall give thee that grace to beginne? Inconstancy unnaturally hath begott And the finches whistle in ones and pairs, Oh make thy selfe with holy mourning blacke, A constant habit; that when I would not And as it gets dark loud nightingales ¢ Before Life and After And red with blushing, as thou art with sinne; I change in vowes, and in devotione. In bushes A time there was - as one may guess Or wash thee in Christs blood, which hath this might As humorous is my contritione Pipe, as they can when April wears, And as, indeed, earth’s testimonies tell - That being red, it dyes red soules to white. As my prophane Love, and as soone forgott: As if all Time were theirs. Before the birth of consciousness, As ridlingly distemper’d, cold and hott, When all went well. 2 Batter my heart (XIV) As praying, as mute; as infinite, as none. These are brand-new birds Batter my heart, three person’d God; for, you I durst not view heaven yesterday; and to day of twelve-months’ growing, None suffered sickness, love, or loss, As yet but knocke, breathe, shine, and seeke to mend; In prayers, and flattering speaches I court God: Which a year ago, or less than twain, None knew regret, starved hope, or heart-burnings; That I may rise, and stand, o’erthrow mee, and bend To morrow I quake with true feare of his rod. No finches were, nor nightingales, None cared whatever crash or cross Your force, to breake, blowe, burn and make me new. So my devout fitts come and go away Nor thrushes, Brought wrack to things. I, like an usurpt towne, to another due, Like a fantastique Ague: save that here But only particles of grain, Labour to admit you, but Oh, to no end, Those are my best dayes, when I shake with feare. And earth, and air, and rain. If something ceased, no tongue bewailed, Reason your viceroy in mee, mee should defend, If something winced and waned, But is captiv’d, and proves weake or untrue. 5 What if this present (XIII) £ At the Railway Station, Upway no heart was wrung; Yet dearely I love you, and would be loved faine, What if this present were the worlds last night? ‘There is not much that I can do, If brightness dimmed, and dark prevailed, But am betroth’d unto your enemie: Marke in my heart, O Soule, where thou dost dwell, For I’ve no money that’s quite my own!’ No sense was stung. Divorce mee, untie, or breake that knot againe, The picture of Christ crucified, and tell Spoke up the pitying child - Take mee to you, imprison mee, for I Whether that countenance can thee affright, A little boy with a violin But the disease of feeling germed, Except you enthrall mee, never shall be free, Teares in his eyes quench the amazing light, At the station before the train came in, - And primal rightness took the tinct of wrong; Nor ever chast, except you ravish mee. Blood fills his frownes, ‘But I can play my fiddle to you, Ere nescience shall be reaffirmed which from his pierc’d head fell. How long, how long? 3 O might those sighes and teares (III) And can that tongue adjudge thee unto hell, O might those sighes and teares returne againe Which pray’d forgiveness for his foes fierce spight? Into my breast and eyes, which I have spent, No, no; but as in my idolatrie Thomas Hardy (1840-1928) That I might in this holy discontent I said to all my profane mistresses, Mourne with some fruit, as I have mourn’d in vain; Beauty, of pitty, foulnesse onely is In mine Idolatry what showres of raine A signe of rigour: so I say to thee, Mine eyes did waste? To wicked spirits are horrid shapes assign’d What griefs my heart did rent? This beauteous forme assures a pitious minde. That sufferance was my sinne; now I repent; 8.557201 12 5 8.557201 557201bk Britten US 11/12/2003 13:31 pm Page 6

6 Since she whom I lovd (XVII) 8 Thou hast made me (I) Since she whom I lovd hath payd her last debt Thou hast made me, And shall thy worke decay? Knows your soul a sphere, O journeying boy, ¡ The Choirmaster’s Burial To Nature, and to hers, and my good is dead, Repaire me now, for now mine end doth haste, Our rude realms far above, He often would ask us And her Soule early into heaven ravished, I runne to death, and death meets me as fast, Whence with spacious vision you mark and mete That, when he died, Wholly on heavenly things my mind is sett. And all my pleasures are like yesterday; This region of sin that you find you in, After playing so many Here the admyring her my mind did whett I dare not move my dimme eyes any way, But are not of? To their last rest, To seeke thee God; so streames do shew their head; Despaire behind, and death before doth cast If out of us any But though I have found thee, Such terrour, and my feeble flesh doth waste ( Wagtail and Baby Should here abide, and thou my thirst hast fed, By sinne in it, which it t’wards hell doth weigh; A baby watched a ford, whereto And it would not task us, A holy thirsty dropsy melts mee yett. Onely thou art above, and when towards thee A wagtail came for drinking; We would with our lutes But why should I begg more Love, when as thou By thy leave I can looke, I rise againe; A blaring bull went wading through, Play over him Dost wooe my soule for hers; offring all thine: But our old subtle foe so tempteth me, The wagtail showed no shrinking. By his grave-brim And dost not only feare least I allow That not one houre my selfe I can sustaine; The psalm he liked best - My Love to Saints and Angels things divine, Thy Grace may wing me to prevent his art, A stallion splashed his way across, The one whose sense suits But in thy tender jealosy dost doubt And thou like Adamant draw mine iron heart. The birdie nearly sinking; ‘Mount Ephraim’ - Least the World, Fleshe, yea Devill putt thee out. He gave his plumes a twitch and toss, And perhaps we should seem, 9 Death be not proud (X) And held his own unblinking. To him, in Death’s dream, 7 At the round earths imagin’d corners (VII) Death be not proud, though some have called thee Like the seraphim. At the round earths imagin’d corners, blow Mighty and dreadfull, for, thou art not soe, Next saw the baby round the spot Your trumpets, Angells, and arise, arise For, those, whom thou think’st, A mongrel slowly slinking; As soon as I knew From death, you numberlesse infinities thou dost overthrow, The wagtail gazed, but faltered not That his spirit was gone Of soules, and to your scattred bodies goe, Die not, poore death, nor yet canst thou kill mee. In dip and sip and prinking. I thought this his due, All whom the flood did, and fire shall o’erthrow, From rest and sleepe, which but thy pictures bee, And spoke thereupon. All whom warre, dearth, age, agues, tyrannies, Much pleasure, then from thee, A perfect gentleman then neared; ‘I think,’ said the vicar, Despaire, law, chance, hath slaine, much more must flow, The wagtail, in a winking, ‘A read service quicker and you whose eyes, And soonest our best men with thee doe goe, With terror rose and disappeared; Than viols out-of-doors Shall behold God, and never tast deaths woe. Rest of their bones, and soules deliverie. The baby fell a-thinking. In these frosts and hoars. But let them sleepe, Lord, and mee mourne a space, Thou art slave to Fate, Chance, kings, That old-fashioned way For, if above all these, my sinnes abound, and desperate men, ) The Little Old Table Requires a fine day, ‘Tis late to aske abundance of thy grace, And dost with poyson, warre, and sicknesse dwell, Creak, little wood thing, creak, And it seems to me When wee are there; here on this lowly ground, And poppie, or charmes, When I touch you with elbow or knee; It had better not be.’ Teach mee how to repent; for that’s as good can make us sleepe as well, That is the way you speak As if thou hadst seal’d my pardon, with thy blood. And better than thy stroake; Of one who gave you to me! Hence, that afternoon, why swell’st thou then? Though never knew he One short sleepe past, wee wake eternally, You, little table, she brought - That his wish could not be, And death shall be no more; death, thou shalt die. Brought me with her own hand, To get through it faster As she looked at me with a thought They buried the master John Donne (1572-1631) That I did not understand. Without any tune. But ‘twas said that, when - Whoever owns it anon, At the dead of next night And hears it, will never know The vicar looked out, What a history hangs upon There struck on his ken This creak from long ago. Thronged roundabout, 8.557201 6 11 8.557201 557201bk Britten US 11/12/2003 13:31 pm Page 10

^ Sonetto XXIV ^ Sonnet XXIV Seven Sonnets of Michelangelo, Op. 22 Spirto ben nato, in cu’ si specchia e vede Noble spirit, in you and in your dear, Nelle tue belle membra oneste e care true and lovely form, is reflected 0 Sonetto XVI 0 Sonnet XVI Quante nature e’l ciel tra no’ può fare, all that Nature and Heaven can make of us, Si come nella penna e nell’inchiostro Just as pen and ink can create Quand’a null’altra sua bell’opra cede: second to no other work of art: E’ l’alto e’l basso e’l mediocre stile, high, low and mediocre art, E ne’marmi l’imagin ricca e vile, and marble be carved into beautiful and ugly forms, Spirto leggiadro, in cui si spera e crede graceful spirit, in you one hopes and believes, Secondo che’l sa trar l’ingegnio nostro; according to what our talents can take from it, Dentro, come di fuor nel viso appare, knowing the fairness of your face, Amor, pietà, mercè, cose sì rare, dwell love, pity and mercy, such rare qualities, Cosi, signior mie car, nel petto vostro so, my beloved, in your breast Che ma`furn’ in beltà con tanta fedei: never found in beauty with such truth. Quante l’orgoglio, è forse ogni atto umile: there may be as much humility as pride: Ma io sol quel c’a me propio è e simile but I only take from it that which I deserve L’amor mi prende, e la beltà mi lega; Love takes hold of me and beauty binds me; Ne traggo, come fuor nel viso mostro. and which is like to mine own expression. La pietà, la mercé con dolci sguardi pity and mercy with gentle glances Ferma speranz’al cor par che ne doni. seem to give my heart true hope. Chi semina sospir, lacrime e doglie, He who sows sighs, tears and sorrow, (L’umor dal ciel terreste, scietto e solo, (heaven’s dew on earth, pure and simple, Qual uso o qual governo al mondo niega, What power or custom in the world, A vari semi vario si converte), works on different seeds in different ways), Qual crudeltà per tempo o qual più tardi, what cruelty now or ever, C’a sì bel viso morte non perdoni? could deny such a lovely face death’s pardon? Però pianto e dolor ne miete e coglie: reaps only weeping and suffering: Chi mira alta beltà con si gran duolo, he who regards great beauty with such dreadful pain, Michelangelo Buonarroti (1475-1564) English translations by Susannah Howe Dubbie speranze, e pene acerbe e certe. reaps uncertain hopes and sure and bitter grief.

! Sonetto XXXI ! Sonnet XXXI Winter Words, Op. 52 A che più debb’ io mai l’intensa voglia Why should I try and unburden my intense desire Sfogar con pianti o con parole meste, with tears and words of sorrow, & At Day-close in November * Midnight on the Great Western Se di tal sorte’l ciel, che l’alma veste, when heaven, who clothes my soul, The ten hours’ light is abating, or The Journeying Boy Tard’o per tempo, alcun mai non ne spoglia? never, be it on time or too late, saves me from its fate. And a late bird wings across, In the third-class seat sat the journeying boy Where the pines, like waltzers waiting, And the roof-lamp’s oily flame A che’l cor lass’a più morir m’invoglia, Why does my weary heart aspire to die, Give their black heads a toss. Played down on his listless form and face, S’altri pui dee morir? Dunque per queste when all must die? For these eyes then Bewrapt past knowing to what he was going, Luci l’ore del fin fian men moleste; shall my final hours be less painful; Beech leaves, that yellow the noon-time, Or whence he came. Ch’ogn’ altro ben val men ch’ogni mia doglia. for my grief outweighs any joy. Float past like specks in the eye; I set every tree in my June-time, In the band of his hat the journeying boy Però se’l colpo, ch’io ne rub’ e ’nvolo, Yet if the blow, which I cannot avoid, cannot escape, And now they obscure the sky. Had a ticket stuck; and a string Schifar non poss’; almen, s’è destinato, is inevitable; at least, if it is destined, Around his neck bore the key of his box, Ch’entreran ’nfra la dolcezza e’l duolo? who will stand between joy and suffering? And the children who ramble through here That twinkled gleams of the lamp’s sad beams Conceive that there never has been Like a living thing. Se vint’ e pres’ i’ debb’esser beato, If my happiness means being conquered and taken A time when no tall trees grew here, prisoner, That none will in time be seen. What past can be yours, O journeying boy Maraviglia non è se’, nud’e solo, no wonder then that, alone and unarmed, Towards a world unknown, Resto prigion d’un Cavalier armato. I remain the captive of an armed cavalier. Who calmly, as if incurious quite On all at stake, can undertake This plunge alone? 8.557201 10 7 8.557201 557201bk Britten US 11/12/2003 13:31 pm Page 8

@ Sonetto XXX @ Sonnet XXX $ Sonetto XXXVIII $ Sonnet XXXVIII Veggio co’ be’ vostri occhi un dolce lume, With your lovely eyes I see a soft light Rendete a gli occhi miei, o fonte o fiume, Give back to mine eyes, o source and river, Che co’ miei ciechi già veder non posso; which mine, now blinded, cannot see; L’onde della non vostra e salda vena, the waves of those floods that belong not to you, Porto co’ vostri piedi un pondo adosso, with your feet I bear a heavy body, Che più v’innalza e cresce, e con più lena, which make you rise and surge, with more force Che de’ mie’ zoppi non è lor costume. mine being too lame to do so. Che non è ’l vostro natural costume. than is your usual custom.

Volo con le vostr’ale e senza piume, Lacking my own feathers, I fly with your wings, E tu, folt’air, che ’l celeste lume And you, heavy air, who veil the light of heaven Col vostro ingegno al ciel sempre son mosso; your spirit bearing me ever toward heaven; Tempri a’ tristi occhi, from my melancholy eyes, Dal vostro arbitrio son pallido e rosso; your will decides whether I grow pale or flushed; de’ sospir miei piena, and are filled with my sighs, Freddo al sol, I am cold in the sun, Rendigli al cor mio lasso, e rasserena give it back to my weary heart, and lighten caldo alle più fredde brume. warm in the coldest mists. Tua scura faccia al mio visivo acume. your darkened face to my sight.

Nel voler vostro è sol la voglia mia, My will lies in yours alone, Renda la terra i passi alle mie piante, Let the earth give back the steps I have taken I miei pensier nel vostro cor si fanno, my thoughts spring from your heart, C’ancor l’erba germogli, che gli è tolta, that the downtrodden grass may grow again, Nel vostro fiato son le mie parole. my words from your breath. E ’l suono eco, già sorda a’ miei lamenti; and echo, deaf to my lamenting, give back its sound;

Come luna da sé sol par ch’io sia; I am like the moon alone; Gli sguardi agli occhi miei, tue luci sante, and your blessed eyes give back their regard to mine, Ché gli occhi nostri in ciel veder non sanno for we cannot see it above in the sky Ch’io possa altra bellezza un’altra volta that some time I may love another beauty, Se non quel tanto che n’accende il sole. unless it is illumined by the sun. Amar, po’ che di me non ti contenti. since you are so little satisfied with me.

# Sonetto LV # Sonnet LV % Sonetto XXXII % Sonnet XXXII Tu sa’ ch’io so, Signor mio, che tu sai, You know that I know, my lord, that you know, S’un casto amor, s’una pietà superna, If there is a chaste love, a heavenly mercy, Ch’i’ venni per goderti più da presso, that I am here the more to enjoy your presence, S’una fortuna infra dua amanti equale, a destiny shared by two lovers, E sai ch’i’ so, che tu sa’, and you know that I know, S’un’aspra sorte all’un dell’altro cale, a bitter fate endured by both, ch’i’ son desso: that you know this is true: S’un spirto, s’un voler duo cor governa; a single spirit and will governing two hearts; A che più indugio a salutarci omai? why then delay our greeting? S’un’anima in duo corpi è fatta etterna, if one soul is made eternal in two bodies, Se vera è la speranza che mi dai, If the hope you give me is true, Ambo levando al cielo e con pari ale; both rising to heaven on the same wings; Se vero è ‘1 buon desio che m’è concesso if the fervent desire granted me is sincere, S’amor d’un colpo e d’un dorato strale if love with a single shot of a golden arrow Rompasi il mur fra l’uno e l’altro messo, let the wall between us be laid flat, Le viscier di duo petti arda e discierna; burns and pierces two hearts to the core; Chè doppia forza hann’ i celati guai. for hidden sorrows are twice as strong. S’amar l’un l’altro e nessun se medesmo if each loves the other and not himself S’i’ amo sol di te, Signor mio caro, If, my beloved, I love only in you D’un gusto e d’un diletto, a tal mercede, with joy and delight, and such thanks Quel che di te più ami, non ti sdegni, that which you most love, do not scorn me, C’a un fin voglia l’uno e l’altro porre: that both strive toward a single goal: Che l’un dell’altro spirto s’innamora. for thus one soul begins to love another. Se mille e mille if thousands and thousands Quel che nel tuo bel volto bramo e’mparo, That which I long for in your handsome face, non sarien centesmo make not a hundredth part E mal compres’è degli umani ingegni, is ill understood by human minds, A tal nodo d’amore, a tanta fede; of such a bond of love, of such faith; Che ‘l vuol veder, convien che prima mora. and any man who would see it, must first die. E sol l’isdegnio il può rompere e sciorre. anger alone can break and shatter it.

8.557201 8 9 8.557201 557201bk Britten US 11/12/2003 13:31 pm Page 8

8.557201 8 9 8.557201 557201bk Britten US 11/12/2003 13:31 pm Page 10

Philip Langridge Settings of Two Poems by Thomas Hardy

Thomas Hardy (1840-1928)

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∞ If it’s ever Spring again 3:00 § The Children and Sir Nameless 2:44

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DDD Also available in this series: The English Song Series • 7 8.557201

BRITTEN

Seven Sonnets of Michelangelo

8.557115 8.557116 The Holy Sonnets of John Donne

Winter Words

8.557117 Philip Langridge, Tenor Steuart Bedford, Piano 8.557201 16 CMYK N

Britten’s song cycles form a substantial and important part of his work. The Seven Sonnets of AXOS Michelangelo belong to the period when Britten had begun to set foreign languages in an attempt to broaden his musical horizons. It is his first work composed exclusively for Peter Pears and deals with various aspects of love. Written in August 1945, soon after Britten had returned from a tour of German 8.557201 concentration camps with Yehudi Menuhin, The Holy Sonnets of John Donne captures some of the bleak DDD intensity of that experience. In the eight settings of Thomas Hardy, Winter Words, written in 1953, there is THE ENGLISH SONG SERIES • 7 no less abundance of the musical invention and imagery found in the earlier cycles, but the textures are 8.557201 generally leaner and more economical. Playing Time Benjamin 66:35 BRITTEN BRITTEN (1913-1976)

1-9 The Holy Sonnets of John Donne, Op. 35 23:26

0-^ Seven Sonnets of Michelangelo, Op. 22 18:38

&-¢ Winter Words, Op. 52 22:43 www.naxos.com Sung texts included • Made in Canada Booklet notes in English g h 2004 Naxos Rights International Ltd. 1996 Lambourne Productions Ltd.

∞ If it’s ever Spring again 3:00 BRITTEN § The Children and Sir Nameless 2:44

Philip Langridge, Tenor • Steuart Bedford, Piano

THE ENGLISH SONG SERIES • 7 Recorded at Blackheath Concert Halls, London, 16th - 18th December 1995 & 22nd January, 1996. Producer: John H West • Engineers: Mike Hatch & Geoff Miles (Floating Earth) 8.557201 First issued on Collins Classics in 1996 • MCPS • Publishers: Boosey & Hawkes Booklet Notes: Lloyd Moore • A complete track list can be found in the booklet Cover Picture: End of the Day by James George Bingley (1840-1920) AXOS (Elgin Court Designs Ltd., London, UK / Bridgeman Art Library) N