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Home , I Get a Kick Out of You, John Wilson Orchestra, List song, Miss Otis Regrets, Sarah Fox, So in Love

THE SONGBOOK ARTIST’S NOTE Cole Porter (1891-1964) Arranged by James Burton I knew Cole Porter long before I knew who Cole Porter was. My parents met at London University in the swinging sixties and Ella 1 [2.53] Fitzgerald and were their number 2 In the still of the night [3.11] one loves. They still have their records with 3 Mrs Lowsborough-Goodby [2.13] the shillings and pence markings in the corner! 4 What is this thing called love? [2.29] I can’t remember a time when I wasn’t aware 5 You do something to me [3.43] of this music but I first really increased my 6 My heart belongs to Daddy [2.47] knowledge of his vast repertoire when I went 7 [3.05] to University and had my own CD player 8 Where would you get your coat? [3.05] 9 It’s de-lovely [2.48] and freedom to spend at HMV! Although the 0 [3.43] subsequent path I took was geared much more q The Physician [3.09] towards and the classical world, I have w [2.24] never stopped listening to these wonderful e I’ve got you under my skin [3.11] songs: they are timeless and speak to everybody, r The tale of the oyster [2.57] whatever their background or generation, and t You’d be so nice to come home to [3.18] I love them as much as I love anybody else’s y Night and day [3.41] music. I hope you enjoy our interpretations u Don’t fence me in [3.08] of them and will be encouraged to have a go i True love [2.33] at them yourselves! o Brush up your Shakespeare [3.25] p Ev’ry time we say goodbye [2.49] Total timings: [60.33]

SARAH FOX JAMES BURTON

www.signumrecords.com - 3 - Sarah and I met when we were teenagers singing (understandable) formality of most classical PROGRAMME NOTE and this, as well as many others are still in choirs, and we have made music of one recitals, the concert has acquired a looser sung at Yale to this day. Porter wrote sort or another together regularly ever since. feel and we hope to have captured the same Cole Porter wrote a huge number of the songs several musicals while at Yale and although The Cole Porter Songbook idea came about atmosphere on the record. We both hope that you that make up the ‘’. upon graduating he enrolled at Harvard Law when we needed to fill in a late night concert enjoy singing along with us. His songs marry memorable tunes with clever, School, he soon switched to studying music. at fairly short notice. Sarah and I had been witty rhymes, and are all the more impressive This was kept secret from Porter’s grandfather performing this sort of music together informally We have collected what we think is a given that Porter was one of the few Tin Pan who disapproved of careers in . Porter for years for friends and family, and this was a representative spread of Porter’s incredibly Alley composers to have written both lyrics and then moved to New York City to pursue a chance to see if it could stand up as a ‘proper’ varied output. Inevitably we perform many of music for his songs. Just one example is the musical career. concert. I’d known a lot of these songs since the most familiar standards, and I have enjoyed brilliant: “This verse I’ve started seems to me / childhood, but during my more classical music the challenge of creating our own versions of The Tin Pantithesis of melody / So to spare In 1915, aged just 24 Porter had his first career I had only periodically had opportunities those well-worn musical paths. But we have you all the pain, I’ll skip the darn thing and Broadway success with a song, “Esmeralda”, to play and sing them. Sarah has sung serious also had the opportunity to include some lesser sing the refrain.” from It’s de-lovely (Track 9). appearing in the Hands Up. The quick classical music in some of the world’s leading known numbers which we think stand up Porter was born in Peru, Indiana, to a wealthy success was immediately followed by several opera houses and concert halls. But she has alongside the others, and shed yet more family. His mother provided her maiden name failures; in 1916 his first Broadway production was always performed lighter music too, not least complimentary light on Porter’s outstanding as his first and started Porter in musical a flop, closing after two weeks. Contemporaries appearing alongside Sir in that talent for combining melody, text and wit. training at an early age. He learned both the and found success unforgettable MGM musicals BBC Prom with violin (which he did not care for) and the in their early years, but it was not to be for in 2009. We recorded the album as we approached the piano. He began composing songs as a child Porter. Dismayed, Porter went to , selling 50th anniversary of Porter’s death in October and dedicated his early efforts to his mother. songs and living off an allowance partly from Over the last three years we have performed 2014, and this seemed a natural moment for Aged just ten, he composed his first operetta. his grandfather and partly from his mother. the Songbook in venues and festivals all over us to celebrate both an incredible song writing Porter’s grandfather J.O. Cole sent him to the UK and we’ve had a terrific response, not talent in Porter, and also to celebrate a musical Worcester Academy in 1905 and then Yale Paris was a place Cole flourished socially least when we invite the audience to join in friendship and collaboration which has been a University beginning in 1909, having decided and he managed to be in the best of all singing some of the songs with us. We’ve constant for Sarah and I for over twenty years. that his grandson ought to be a lawyer. possible worlds. He lied to the American both been pleasantly surprised just how quick press about his military involvement and audiences are to dust off their vocal chords James Burton At Yale Porter sang in the Glee Club and wrote made up stories about working with the and share our renditions of some of the a number of student songs, including the French Foreign Legion and the French army. most well known Porter songs. Given the football fight song “Bingo, That’s The Lingo!”, This allowed him to live his days and nights

- 4 - - 5 - as a wealthy American in Paris, a socialite some of Porter’s most brilliant rhymes: “Do Daddy (Track 6) in which the character singing many of his best-known songs. Naturally, the with climbing status, and still be considered a do that voodoo that you do so well.” The is stranded at a Siberian railway station, title number Anything goes (Track 1) is well ‘war hero’ back home, an ‘official’ story he show also features the very amusing, but wearing only a fur coat, and performs a known, but the show features many others encouraged throughout the rest of his life. lesser known Where would you get your striptease while singing the song. Indeed, that exemplify Porter’s enormous skill as a coat? (Track 8) and The tale of the oyster Porter was very proud of the sexual , All Through the Night, a fantastic In 1918, Porter met Linda Lee Thomas, a wealthy (Track 14). The latter appears to be a sophistication in his show , also ‘list’ song, You’re the Top, Blow, Gabriel, Blow divorcee. The two were not an obvious match; parody of a Schubert song, perhaps “The Trout.” from the 1930s, which is based on a rather and I get a kick out of you (Track 7). On this she was eight years his senior, and he was The song’s lyrics tell the story of an oyster controversial story concerning a young disc, this song is transformed into a charming gay. Nevertheless, they married the following who, after being consumed by the rich Mrs English lady intent upon losing her virginity. jazz waltz, rather than the usual swinging, year. Linda was always one of Cole’s firmest Hoggenheimer and gliding “to the middle of The song The Physician (Track 11) is from big band orchestrations. supporters and being married increased his her gilded insides”, reemerges and proclaims this show. In this, Porter’s rhymes for chance of success. Together they enjoyed living “I’ve had a taste of society, and society has various anatomical parts are not only very Porter was now established as a huge success the high life and were married until Linda had a taste of me”. The song was cut after clever, but often very funny – as is the constant on Broadway and in Hollywood where he passed away 34 years later. several critics complained about the animal double-entendre. provided scores for many films including Born imagery. A popular revue in 1929; Wake Up to Dance, which featured I’ve got you under Porter continued to write during his time away and Dream included the beautiful What is He said my vertebrae were sehr schöne, my skin (Track 13) and Rosalie which included from Broadway and when he returned in the this thing called love? (Track 4). Porter claimed and called my coccyx plus que gentil, In the still of the night (Track 2). Porter was late 1920s, he did so having already written that the title gave him the haunting, poignant He murmured “Molto bella” asked to write Don’t fence me in (Track 17) many of the songs which would later melodic phrase and that the rest of the song When I sat on his patella, in 1934 but the musical film was never become his biggest hits. His big break came almost wrote itself in a matter of a few hours. But he never said he loved me. produced. It didn’t become famous until with the musical Paris. The producer wanted the 1940s. It’s de-lovely (Track 9) from the the duo Rodgers and Hart to write the music Porter’s lyrics are sophisticated and as well In 1932 Porter wrote The , which musical Red Hot and Blue is from this period, for the show, but as they were unavailable as often featuring both ingenious, humorous featured what might be Porter’s best-known as is the lesser known Thank you so much Porter’s agent convinced him to hire Porter rhyming, they are frequently risqué. His song song, Night and day (Track 16), here given Mrs Lowsborough-Goodby (Track 3), the tale instead. Paris was hugely successful and Love for Sale which was featured in the revue some new harmonic twists by James Burton of a hostess who gives weekends which are following the French theme, his next show was about a streetwalker, who sings at the piano. In 1934 the show “not a success”. Miss Otis regrets (Track 12) included several great and was considered too explicit for radio at the was made into a musical film starring Fred was for a show that was un-produced but the numbers, including the popular You do time. Nevertheless it has gone on to become Astaire. Also in 1934, Porter wrote the song became a great hit. Several performers something to me (Track 5) which demonstrates a standard, along with My heart belongs to outstanding score for Anything goes, including claimed that he had written the song for them,

- 6 - - 7 - and several more that they had given him When you’re near, there’s such an air of spring Kiss Me, Kate was Porter’s biggest and TEXTS the idea for the song. One critic wondered about it, possibly best show. The production won the if it was in fact Goethe’s mother who was I can hear a lark somewhere, begin to sing Tony Award for Best Musical, and Porter won 1 Anything goes Porter’s inspiration. In answer to an invitation about it, Best Composer and Lyricist. she replied “I must ask to be excused as I There’s no finer, Times have changed have to die.” Porter had always loved living but how strange the change from major to minor, Very much back on top, Porter wrote the music And we’ve often rewound the clock the high life, and during the 1930s he and Ev’ry time we say goodbye. for several big Hollywood movies during the Since the Puritans got a shock Linda were enjoying wonderful opening nights, late 1940s and 50s including scores for two When they landed on Plymouth Rock. lavish parties and famous friends. Just as he Porter enhances the poignancy of the lines movies and songs for High Society, If today arrived at the pinnacle of his success in 1937, with a chord change that goes from A-flat starring , Frank Sinatra and Grace Any shock they should try to stem Porter had a horse riding accident in which major to A-flat minor in tandem to the lyric Kelly. True love (Track 18) from this film was ‘Stead of landing on Plymouth Rock, both his legs were crushed. Despite several “how strange the change from major to minor”. to be Porter’s last big hit. Eventually, the Plymouth Rock would land on them. operations on his legs, Porter was left in Despite this song, the show was a flop, and pain from his injuries, the loss of his mother agony for the rest of his life, which led to following this many thought that Porter’s best in 1952 and wife in 1954 became too much In olden days, a glimpse of stocking severe depression. period was over. for Porter. He stopped writing in 1958 and Was looked on as something shocking. spent the remaining years of his life in relative But now, heaven knows, Despite his terrible pain, throughout the 1940s In 1948 though, Porter made a great comeback. seclusion. Cole Porter died of kidney failure on Anything goes. Porter continued to write successful shows, Kiss Me, Kate which includes Brush up your October 15, 1964, at the age of 73. several of which were big hits. The 1943 Shakespeare (Track 19), features the fantastic Good authors too who once knew better words Now only use four-letter words film Something to Shout About included lyric “Just declaim a few lines from ‘Othella’ James Woodhall, 2014 the touching song You’d be so nice to / And they think you’re a helluva fella”, Writing prose. come home to (Track 15) to which was a and the wonderfully constructed So in love Anything goes. big hit and was nominated for an Academy (Track 10). This song’s melodic shape The world has gone mad today Award. Seven Lively Arts featured the now exemplifies a composer who has truly mastered And good’s bad today, famous Ev’ry time we say goodbye (Track 20) his craft. The melody perfectly conveys the And black’s white today, which exemplifies Porter’s skill as a composer tragedy of the lyrics, as while the rising And day’s night today, of deeply moving music with a masterful intervals convey hope and aspiration the When most guys today approach to harmony. melody falls at its end. Although Porter was That women prize today in complete agony while writing these songs, Are just silly gigolos.

- 8 - - 9 - So though I’m not a great romancer and end by answering “Yes.” your brother, You do something to me. I know that you’re bound to answer When we left Mrs. Lowsborough-Goodby’s And for making us swear to ourselves there Something that simply mystifies me. When I propose, The letter we wrote was polite and then Tell me, why should it be Anything goes. But it would have been bliss Never to go for a weekend again. You have the power to hypnotize me? Had we dared write her this, Thank you so much, Mrs. Lowsborough-Goodby, Let me live ‘neath your spell. 2 In the still of the night The letter we wanted to write. Thank you, thank you so much. Do do that voodoo that you do so well, For you do something to me In the still of the night, Thank you so much, Mrs. Lowsborough-Goodby, 4 What is this thing called love? That nobody else could do. As I gaze from my window, Thank you so much. At the moon in its flight, Thank you so much for that infinite weekend What is this thing called love? 6 My heart belongs to Daddy My thoughts all stray to you. with you. This funny thing called love? Thank you a lot, Mrs. Lowsborough-Goodby, Just who can solve its mystery? While tearing off a game of golf In the still of the night, Thank you a lot, Why should it make a fool out of me? I may make a play for the caddy, While the world is in slumber And don’t be surprised if you suddenly should I saw you there one wonderful day But when I do, I don’t follow through Oh the times without number be quietly shot. You took my heart and threw it away, ‘Cause my heart belongs to Daddy. Darling when I say to you: That’s why I ask the Lord in Heaven above For the clinging perfume What is this thing called love? If I invite a boy some night Do you love me, as I love you? And that damp little room, To dine on my fine finnin haddie, Are you my life to be, my dream come true? For those cocktails so hot 5 You do something to me I just adore his asking for more Or will this dream of mine fade out of sight? And the bath that was not, But my heart belongs to Daddy. Like the moon growing dim, on the rim of the hill, For those guests so amusing and mentally bracing I was mighty blue, In the chill, still of the night. Who talked about racing and racing and racing, Thought my life was through, Yes, my heart belongs to Daddy For the ptomaine I got from your famous Till the heavens opened, So I simply couldn’t be bad, Yes, my heart belongs to Daddy 3 Mrs Lowsborough-Goodby tinned salmon, And I gazed at you. For the fortune I lost when you taught Won’t you tell me, dear, Da, Da, Da, Da, Da, Da, Da, Da-ad! Mrs. Lowsborough-Goodby gives weekends me backgammon, Why, when you appear, So I want to warn you, laddie and her weekends are not a success, For those mornings I spent with your dear but Something happens to me Though I know you’re perfectly swell but she asks you so often deaf mother, And the strangest feeling goes through me? That my heart belongs to Daddy you finally soften For those evenings I passed with that bounder, ‘Cause my Daddy, he treats it so well.

- 10 - - 11 - 7 I get a kick out of you Is my idea of nothing to do. For if the dear little foxes had hysteria Quit her mate ‘cause he was virile, Yet I get a kick out of you. When their mates fondly grabbed them by Tell me, where would you get your coat? My story is much too sad to be told, the throat, But practic’ly everything 8 Where would you get your coat? If the dear little rabbits 9 It’s de-lovely Leaves me totally cold. Weren’t so bourgeois in their habits, The only exception I know is the case, As a buyer for a firm that deals in ladies’ fur coats Tell me, where would you get your coat? I feel a sudden urge to sing When I’m out on a quiet spree, I get sort of pessimistic now and then. The kind of ditty that invokes the Spring Fighting vainly the old ennui, ‘Cause so many women who invest in our fur coats For if the dear little lamb in Lithuania So, control your desire to curse, And I suddenly turn and see, Spend so many evenings out with other men. Ever had a flirtation with a goat, While I crucify the verse. Your fabulous face. I wish they’d simply take a few notes And if home life didn’t thrill a This verse I’ve started seems to me From the animals who make their coats. South American chinchilla The Tin Pantithesis of melody I get no kick from Champagne, Tell me, where would you get your coat? So to spare you all the pain, Mere alcohol doesn’t thrill me at all, For if the dear little ermines in Siberia I’ll skip the darn thing and sing the refrain. So tell me why should it be true, On their dear little husbands didn’t dote, If the dear little skunk in Pennsylvania That I get a kick out of you. If the dear little possum Over her dear little husband didn’t gloat, Mi mi mi mi mi, Re re re re re Didn’t let their husbands boss ‘em, If the dear little beaver Do sol mi do la si, take it away Some like the perfume in Spain, Tell me, where would you get your coat? Were a birth-control believer, I’m sure that if I took even one sniff, Tell me, where would you get your coat? The night is young, the skies are clear That would bore me terrific’ly too, If the dear little caraculs in Syria And if you want to go walking, dear Yet I get a kick out of you. All their time to their mates did not devote, If each wife I see It’s delightful, it’s delicious, it’s de-lovely. If the dear little sables Would only try to be I get a kick every time I see ever told their husbands fables, Content to make her husband’s bed, I understand the reason why You standing there before me, Tell me, where would you get your coat? Cholly Knickerbocker might have nothing more You’re sentimental, ‘cause so am I I get a kick though its clear to me to write It’s delightful, it’s delicious, it’s de-lovely. You obviously don’t adore me. And if modern wives led more domestic lives And Town Topics would cease to be read. And started singing, “Home, Sweet Home,” You can tell at a glance I get no kick in a plane, There’d be no more divorce For if the dear little mink should get a mania What a swell night this is for romance, Flying too high, In Paris, and of course, For some hell-raising gigolo of note, You can hear, dear Mother Nature With some guy/gal in the sky, There’d be no more annulments in Rome. If the dear little squirrel murmuring low, “Let yourself go!”

- 12 - - 13 - So please be sweet, my chickadee, q The Physician With my oesophagus he was ravished, w Miss Otis regrets and when I kiss you, just say to me, Enthusiastic to a degree, “It’s delightful, it’s delicious, Once I loved such a shattering physician, He said ‘twas just enormous Miss Otis regrets she’s unable to lunch today, it’s delectable, it’s delirious, Quite the best-looking doctor in the state, My appendix vermiformis, Madam, It’s dilemma, it’s de-limit, He looked after my physical condition But he never said he loved me. Miss Otis regrets she’s unable to lunch today. it’s deluxe, it’s de-lovely.” And his bedside manner was great. She is sorry to be delayed, When I’d gaze up and see him there above me, He said my vertebrae were sehr schöne, But last evening down in Lover’s Lane she strayed, 0 So in love Looking less like a doctor than a Turk, and called my coccyx plus que gentil, Madam, I was tempted to whisper, “Do you love me, He murmured “Molto bella” Miss Otis regrets she’s unable to lunch today. Strange dear, but true dear, Or do you merely love your work?” When I sat on his patella, When I’m close to you, dear, But he never said he loved me. When she woke up and found that her dream of The stars fill the sky, He said my bronchial tubes were entrancing, love was gone, Madam, So in love with you am I. My epiglottis filled him with glee, He said my maxillaries were marvels, She ran to the man who had led her so far astray, Even without you, He simply loved my larynx And found my sternum stunning to see, And from under her velvet gown My arms fold about you, And went wild about my pharynx, He did a double hurdle She drew a gun and shot her lover down. You know darling why, But he never said he loved me. When I shook my pelvic girdle, Madam, So in love with you am I. But he never said he loved me. Miss Otis regrets she’s unable to lunch today. He said my epidermis was darling, In love with the night mysterious, And found my blood as blue as can be, He seemed amused when he first made a When the mob came and got her and dragged her The night when you first were there, He went through wild ecstatics test of me from the jail, Madam, In love with my joy delirious, When I showed him my lymphatics, to further his medical art, They strung her upon the old willow across the way, When I knew that you could care. But he never said he loved me. Yet he refused, when he’d fixed up the rest of me, And the moment before she died So taunt me, and hurt me, To cure that ache in my heart. She lifted up her lovely head and cried Deceive me, desert me, And though, , it was not very smart of me, Madam I’m yours, till I die, I kept on a-wracking my soul, I know he thought my pancreas perfect, “Miss Otis regrets she’s unable to lunch today.” So in love, To figure out why he loved every part of me, And for my spleen was keen as could be, So in love, And yet not me as a whole. He said of all his sweeties, So in love with you, my love, am I. I’d the sweetest diabetes, But he never said he loved me.

- 14 - - 15 - e I’ve got you under my skin And longed to travel with the upper set. They’re tossed about ‘til that fine young oyster Day and night why is it so, Poor little oyster. Finds that it’s time he should quit his cloister, That this longing for you follows wherever I go? I’ve got you under my skin Up comes the oyster! In the roaring traffic’s boom I’ve got you deep in the heart of me, Fate was kind to that oyster we know, In the silence of my lonely room, So deep in my heart, you’re really a part of me When one day the chef from the Park Casino Back once more where he started from, I think of you, night and day. I’ve got you under my skin. Saw that oyster lying there, He murmured, “I haven’t a single qualm, And said, “I’ll put you on my bill of fare.” ‘Cause I’ve had a taste of society, Night and day, under the hide of me I tried so not to give in Lucky little oyster. And society has had a taste of me.” There’s an oh, such a hungry yearning, I said to myself this affair never will go so well, Wise little oyster. Burning inside of me, So why should I try to resist, when darling I know See him on his silver platter, And this torment won’t be through so well Watching the queens of fashion chatter, t You’d be so nice to come home to Till you let me spend my life making love to you I’ve got you under my skin. Hearing the wives of millionaires Day and night, night and day. Discuss their marriages and their love affairs. You’d be so nice to come home to I’d sacrifice anything come what might Thrilled little oyster. You’d be so nice by the fire, u Don’t fence me in For the sake of having you near, While the breeze on high, sang a lullaby In spite of a warning voice that comes in the night See that bivalve social climber You’d be all that I could desire. Wild Cat Kelly, looking mighty pale, And repeats and repeats in my ear. Feeding the rich Mrs. Hoggenheimer; Under stars chilled by the winter Was standing by the sheriff’s side. Think of his joy as he gaily glides Under an August moon burning above, And when that sheriff said, “I’m sending you “Don’t you know, little fool, you never can win Down to the middle of her gilded insides. You’d be so nice, you’d be paradise, to jail,” Use your mentality, wake up to reality.” Proud little oyster. To come home to and love. Wild Cat raised his head and cried: But each time I do, just the thought of you Makes me stop before I begin After lunch Mrs. H. complains, y Night and day “Oh, give me land, lots of land under starry ‘Cause I’ve got you under my skin. And says to her hostess, “I’ve got such pains. skies above I came to town on my yacht today, Night and day, you are the one Don’t fence me in, r The tale of the oyster But I think I’d better hurry back to Oyster Bay.” Only you beneath the moon and under the sun. Let me ride through the wide open country Scared little oyster. Whether near to me or far that I love Down by the sea lived a lonesome oyster, It’s no matter, darling, where you are. Don’t fence me in. Ev’ry day getting sadder and moister. Off they go thru the troubled tide, I think of you night and day. He found his home life awf’lly wet, The yacht rolling madly from side to side.

- 16 - - 17 - Let me be by myself in the evenin’ breeze i True love But the poet of them all Brush up your Shakespeare ... Listen to the murmur of the cottonwood trees, Who will start ‘em simply ravin’, Send me off forever but I ask you please Suntanned, windblown, Is the poet people call If you can’t be a ham and do Hamlet Don’t fence me in. Honeymooners at last alone, The bard of Stratford-on-Avon. They will not give a damn or a damlet, Feeling far above par. Just recite an occasional sonnet Just turn me loose, let me straddle my old saddle Oh, how lucky we are. Brush up your Shakespeare And your lap’ll have “Honey” upon it. Underneath the western skies, Start quoting him now, When your baby is pleading for pleasure On my cayuse, let me wander over yonder While I give to you and you give to me Brush up your Shakespeare Let her sample your Measure for Measure. Till I see the mountains rise. True love, true love, And the women you will wow. Brush up your Shakespeare So on and on it will always be And they’ll all kow-tow - Forsooth I want to ride to the ridge where the True love, true love. Just declaim a few lines from Othella And they’ll all kow-tow - I’ faith West commences For you and I have a guardian angel And they’ll think you’re a helluva fella, And they’ll all kow-tow. Gaze at the moon till I lose my senses, On high with nothing to do If your blonde won’t respond when you flatter ‘er, Can’t look at hobbles and I can’t stand fences, But to give to you and to give to me Tell her what Tony told Cleopaterer. p Ev’ry time we say goodbye Don’t fence me in.” Love forever true. If she fights when her clothes you are mussing What are clothes? Much ado about Nussing. Ev’ry time we say goodbye, I die a little, Wild Cat Kelly, back again in town, o Brush up your Shakespeare Brush up your Shakespeare Ev’ry time we say goodbye, I wonder why a little, Was sitting by his sweetheart’s side. And they’ll all kow-tow. Why the Gods above me, who must be in the know, And when his sweetheart said, “Come on, The girls today in society Think so little of me, they allow you to go. let’s settle down,” Go for classical poetry, Brush up your Shakespeare ... Wild Cat raised his head and cried: So to win their hearts one must quote with ease When you’re near, there’s such an air of Aeschylus and Euripides. With the wife of the British Embessida spring about it, “Oh, give me land, lots of land ...” Try a crack out of Troilus and Cressida, I can hear a lark somewhere, begin to sing about it, One must know Homer, and b’lieve me, bo, If she says she won’t buy it or tike it There’s no love song finer, Sophocles, also Sapphoho, Make her tike it, what’s more As You Like It. but how strange the change from major to minor, Unless you know Shelley and Keats and Pope, If she says your behaviour is heinous Ev’ry time we say goodbye. Dainty debbies will call you a dope. Kick her right in the Coriolanus. Brush up your Shakespeare And they’ll all kow-tow.

- 18 - - 19 - SARAH FOX Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Concerto Nobis Pacem (Colorado Symphony Orchestra/ Cologne, Colorado Symphony Orchestra, Hallé, Litton) and Poulenc Songs (with Graham Johnson) Born in Yorkshire, Sarah Fox is one of the Minnesota Orchestra, Orchestra of the Age of both for Hyperion; Leighton’s 2nd Symphony leading English sopranos of her generation. Enlightenment, Philharmonia, the San (BBC National Orchestra of Wales/Hickox) for She was educated at Giggleswick School, Francisco Symphony and the Vienna Tonklunster Chandos; “That’s Entertainment” (John Wilson London University and the Royal College of Orchestra with conductors including Elder, Orchestra) for EMI classics; and “Cole Porter Music. A former winner of the Kathleen Ferrier Hickox, Maazel, Mackerras, Pappano & Rattle. in Hollywood” () for Award and the John Christie Award, she is also She has appeared several times at the Warner Classics. an Honorary Fellow of Royal Holloway College, BBC Proms, the Edinburgh Festival & the London University. She is equally at home in Three Choirs Festival and is a regular guest JAMES BURTON many musical genres including opera, folksong with the Classical Opera Company and at and . London’s Wigmore Hall. She is also a highly Born in London, James Burton began singing accomplished recitalist with a particular affinity and playing the piano at an early age. He was a Roles at the , Covent Garden for French Song. boy chorister at Westminster Abbey where, as have included Micaela/Carmen, Asteria/, well as singing at many state occasions, he Zerlina/ and Woglinde/Der Ring She performs frequently with John Wilson and his started improvising at the piano: the school’s des Nibelungen. Other highlights include Orchestra; she is a regular guest on BBC Radio film club played mostly silent movies and the Asteria in and (opposite 2’s “Friday Night is Music Night”; and has musical accompaniment was provided by the Domingo); Zerlina at Glyndebourne and in performed a series of concerts with Rufus boys. James has gone on to become an Cincinnati; Woglinde for Salzburg & Aix-en- Wainwright in Europe. She was a judge on the outstanding musical communicator in a Provence festivals; Susanna/Le Nozze di Figaro second series of BBC TV’s “The Choir : Sing variety of musical genres. Well known as an for Glyndebourne & The Royal Danish Opera; While You Work” with Gareth Malone. orchestral and opera conductor, he is also one Ilia/ with De Vlaamse Opera; and of the UK’s leading choral conductors, and a Mimi/La Bohème for . Her discography includes Poulenc Songs (with respected composer and arranger. and Bermuda as well as tours Malcolm Martineau) for Signum Classics; Her prestigious concert career has taken her throughout the UK, Europe & Scandinavia. She Mahler’s 4th Symphony (Philharmonia/Mackerras A graduate of Cambridge University and the worldwide. Highlights have included engagements has worked with many of the world’s and Philharmonia/Maazel) both for Signum; Peabody Conservatory, James has conducted in Denver, Minneapolis, New York, San leading orchestras including the Academy of Vaughan Williams’ 3rd Symphony (Hallé/Elder) concerts with leading UK orchestras including Francisco, Tel Aviv, Tokyo, The Faeroe Islands Ancient Music, Berlin Philharmonic, City of for the Hallé label; Vaughan Williams’ Dona the RLPO, the OAE, the Orchestra of Scottish

- 20 - - 21 - English Touring Opera. James has worked at orchestral work for the 100th anniversary of Recorded in All Saints Church, East Finchley, London from 20th to 22nd March 2014 the Metropolitan Opera, Opera de Paris and the Titanic disaster. His most recent work Producer & Editor – Tim Oldham Opera Rara, and in 2012 he conducted The was commissioned by the National Portrait Recording Engineer – Mike Hatch Magic Flute at West Green for Garsington Gallery as part of its World War I Recording Assistant – Robin Hawkins Opera from whom he received the Leonard commemorations, and a new carol will be All words and music by Cole Porter Ingrams Award for outstanding work. premiered next year by the choir of St John’s © Warner/Chappell Music Publishing Ltd All rights administered by Warner/Chappell North America Ltd College, Cambridge. James is widely known for his choral conducting Cover Image & Booklet Images – © Grahame Mellanby Design and Artwork - Woven Design www.wovendesign.co.uk and has enjoyed guest invitations with the Gabrieli Consort, the Wrocław Philharmonic P 2015 The copyright in this CD booklet, notes and design is owned by Signum Records Ltd © 2015 The copyright in this CD booklet, notes and design is owned by Signum Records Ltd Choir and the BBC Singers. He was Choral Any unauthorised broadcasting, public performance, copying or re-recording of Signum Compact Director at the Hallé from 2002-9, and under Discs constitutes an infringement of copyright and will render the infringer liable to an action by law. his leadership the Hallé Choir and the Hallé 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, Youth Choir, which he founded in 2003, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or received outstanding critical coverage for their otherwise, without prior permission from Signum Records Ltd. performances and recordings. Their recording SignumClassics, Signum Records Ltd., Suite 14, 21 Wadsworth Road, Perivale, of The Dream of Gerontius received the 2009 Middx UB6 7JD, UK. +44 (0) 20 8997 4000 E-mail: [email protected] www.signumrecords.com Gramophone Choral Award. James is Music Director of the renowned chamber choir Schola Cantorum of Oxford with which he has toured Argentina, China, Italy, France, Mexico, Poland and the USA, made recordings and appeared frequently on BBC TV and radio.

Opera, Royal Northern Sinfonia and also James is a published composer, and the Hallé with whom he has had a long and commissions have included the music for fruitful relationship. James’s operatic the 2010 World Equestrian Games opening conducting has included Don Giovanni and ceremony, an orchestral album with the folk La Bohème at ENO, and Cosi fan tutte for legend Arlo Guthrie and a large scale choral/

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