divine art DONALD SWANN - The Isles of Greece Lucinda Broadbridge, soprano Juliet Alderdice, mezzo-soprano Jeffrey Cresswell, tenor 25010 1 Casos Sonnet I Far, far off in a distant southern sea - Donald Swann (with Bill Skeat) [2.45] 25010 2 Samiotissa - Lucinda Broadbridge, Juliet Alderdice, Jeffrey Cresswell [1.31] 3 Miranda - Lucinda Broadbridge [3.04] 4 Pes Mou ti - Jeffrey Cresswell [1.18] Tracks 2 - 20 (DDD) SWANN - The Isles of Greece - The SWANN 5 Casos Sonnet II I ve always feared the night before dawn - Juliet Alderdice [2.08] recorded at the Church 6 The Women of Souli - Lucinda Broadbridge, Juliet Alderdice [2.56] of St. Mary Magdalene, 7 Casiot Journey - Orchestral [3.26] London, 22/23 February 1996 8 The Favours - Lucinda Broadbridge, Jeffrey Cresswell [3.17] Producer: Brian Hunt 9 Casos Sonnet III With only a red night light for my pen - Jeffrey Cresswell [2.33] Engineers: Steven Evans Jonathan Mellor 10 Anatoli - Juliet Alderdice [5.17] Track 1 (ADD - 1991) 11 Nanourisma - Lucinda Broadbridge [3.53] Tracks 21-28 (ADD - 1986) 12 Casos Sonnet IV When shall I land on you, distant island - Lucinda Broadbridge [2.12] recorded by Donald Swann 13 Militsa - Juliet Alderdice, Lucinda Broadbridge, Jeffrey Cresswell [3.57] at Albert House, Battersea 14 Nikotsaras - Jeffrey Cresswell [3.32] Greek Language Coach: 15 Casos Sonnet V Casos, today I m writing you a letter - Juliet Alderdice [1.25] Robyn Sevastos 16 The Shepherdess - Jeffrey Cresswell [3.20] Music published by Thames Publishing 17 Idle Tears - Juliet Alderdice, Jeffrey Cresswell [5.13] Original sound recording 18 Casos Sonnet VI So far you re licking me, Casos, for real - Lucinda Broadbridge [2.36] made for the Donald Swann 19 The Isles of Greece - Juliet Alderdice [4.36] Estate. Issued under licence 20 Casos Sonnet VII Everywhere is Casos - Lucinda Broadbridge, Juliet Alderdice, Jeffrey Cresswell [3.25] by the Divine Art Record Company 21-28 Casos Sonnets I - VIII - Donald Swann (Individual timings in booklet) [14.47] SWANN - The Isles of Greece - The SWANN Total playing time: [77.41] 1999 Divine Art Ltd. Orchestrated and Conducted by John Jansson Jennifer Stinton (Flute/Piccolo), David Roach (Oboe/Soprano Saxophone), Bernard Lafontaine (Clarinet), Philip Gibbon (Bassoon), Mark Smith, Kevin Pritchard (Horns), Paul Cameron, Nicholas Ormrod (Percussion), 25010 Kelvin Thomson (Piano), Sophie Cartledge (Harp), Tim Amherst (Bass). THE BLOOMFIELD QUARTET Anna Hemery, Anne Wood (Violins), Paul Martin (Viola), Nicholas Cooper (Cello) divine art divine art 25010 Back cover: Six Chapels, Panagia, Casos (Alison Smith 1992) Panagia, Six Chapels, Back cover: Cover Design: Inglewood Graphics/Red Admiral Design Graphics/Red Design: Inglewood Cover The Isles of Greece The Front cover: Donald Swann, Greece, 1945 Greece, Donald Swann, cover: Front by DONALD SWANN DONALD including the Casos Sonnets Photographs: Helen Brown Printed & made in the UK 1999 DivineArt Ltd. A Cycle of Songs for Voices and Chamber Orchestra including The Casos Sonnets by DONALD SWANN LUCINDA BROADBRIDGE - JULIET ALDERDICE - JEFFREY CRESSWELL Orchestrated and Conducted by JOHN JANSSON DONALD SWANN - The Isles of Greece Lucinda Broadbridge, soprano Juliet Alderdice, mezzo-soprano Jeffrey Cresswell, tenor 1 Casos Sonnet I “Far, far off in a distant southern sea” - Donald Swann (with Bill Skeat) [2.45] 2 Samiotissa - Lucinda Broadbridge, Juliet Alderdice, Jeffrey Cresswell [1.31] 3 Miranda - Lucinda Broadbridge [3.04] 4 Pes Mou ti - Jeffrey Cresswell [1.18] A full catalogue of all recordings on the 5 Casos Sonnet II “I’ve always feared the night before dawn” - Juliet Alderdice [2.08] 6 The Women of Souli - Lucinda Broadbridge, Juliet Alderdice [2.56] Divine Art, Diversions, Athene and Pilgrim Star labels 7 Casiot Journey - Orchestral [3.26] is on our website at: 8 The Favours - Lucinda Broadbridge, Jeffrey Cresswell [3.17] 9 Casos Sonnet III “With only a red night light for my pen” - Jeffrey Cresswell [2.33] www.divine-art.com 10 Anatoli - Juliet Alderdice [5.17] together with reviews, artist profile and full track listings. 11 Nanourisma - Lucinda Broadbridge [3.53] 12 Casos Sonnet IV “When shall I land on you, distant island” - Lucinda Broadbridge [2.12] Also available is the fine catalogue of Move Records (Australia) 13 Militsa - Juliet Alderdice, Lucinda Broadbridge, Jeffrey Cresswell [3.57] Order on-line with our secure web store 14 Nikotsaras - Jeffrey Cresswell [3.32] Or 15 Casos Sonnet V “Casos, today I’m writing you a letter” - Juliet Alderdice [1.25] 16 The Shepherdess - Jeffrey Cresswell [3.20] Send an S.A.E. for full details of releases to: 17 Idle Tears - Juliet Alderdice, Jeffrey Cresswell [5.13] The Divine Art Record Company 18 Casos Sonnet VI “So far you’re licking me, Casos, for real” - Lucinda Broadbridge [2.36] 8, The Beeches, East Harlsey, Northallerton, N. Yorks, DL6 2DJ. 19 The Isles of Greece - Juliet Alderdice [4.36] 20 Casos Sonnet VII “Everywhere is Casos” - Lucinda Broadbridge, Juliet Alderdice, Jeffrey Cresswell [3.25] Tel: 01609 882062 21-28 Casos Sonnets I - VIII - Donald Swann (Individual timings in booklet) [14.47] e.mail: [email protected] Total playing time: [77.41] For many years Donald was haunted by Casos, The Isles of Greece one of the smallest and probably the most The Isles Of Greece is a compilation of songs humble of the islands in the Dodecanese. He and music composed and collated over a period first alighted on Casos early in 1945 when he was dispatched to help rehabilitate refugees of fifty years from the time Donald Swann lived forced to flee the Greek islands during the in Greece as a young relief worker with the German occupation. He was alerted by the FAU (Friends Ambulance Unit) from 1944-46, surging foam which Homer spoke of, also by right up to his final visit in late August 1992. the intimacy which lay behind the island’s violent and rocky exterior. Casos receded on Donald first heard the haunting folk songs his musical horizon as his creative energies which feature on this recording (including were gradually channelled into the professional Nanourisma, Militsa and Nikotsaras) sung by world of theatre and music; yet it re-emerged refugees in the Nuseirat camp in the Gaza as a dream which came on good nights and became a symbol of the anonymity he craved strip, and later, on the Dodecanese islands and – a paradox where the polarities of creativity, the villages of Epirus on the Albanian border. love and death were resolved. Donald returned These he wrote down and later adapted for to Casos in May 1986 – the culmination of a personal performance. It was only when he visit in which he retraced the footsteps of his returned to Oxford University after the war earlier experiences in Epirus, Corfu and the that he started setting verses by Greek poets Dodecanese. The Casos Sonnets were written such as Palamas and Gryparis to music, and on this journey, and became a dialogue between began to infuse his own melodic style with the himself and the island he yearned for and yet exotic rhythms he had heard in Greece. feared to confront. Would the reality shatter the memory, the vision? All tensions were Miranda was a regular feature in At The Drop WARNING: Copyright subsists in all recordings resolved beside the six chapels in Panagia, issued under this label. Any unauthorised Of A Hat, and, when his partnership with broadcasting, public performance, copying, or re- Casos, where Donald wrote the celebratory recording thereof in any manner whatsoever will Michael Flanders broke up in 1967, his constitute an infringement of such copyright. In the paean Everywhere is Casos. Upon return to United Kingdom, licences for the use of recordings collaboration was with the Cretan soprano Lily for public performance may be obtained from London he started setting these lyrics to music. Phonographic Performance Ltd., 1, Upper James Malandraki, for whom he wrote the dramatic The sonnets were never performed publicly Street, London W1R 3HG. Manedes Anatoli. in his life; it was only in the later stages of his [16] [1] illness that he evolved, together with Andrew saxophonist Bill Skeat in a one-off studio Visnevski of the Cherub Theatre Company, session and becomes the first track on our the idea of presenting these interwoven with Greek journey. Bonus tracks 21-28 consist of the entire cycle performed by Donald at home the folk songs and other recent compositions. on his Blüthner piano, taped on a cassette Swann Among The Sirens was staged after his machine for his own use. This is such a unique death in September 1994. interpretation that we have included it despite the very poor recording quality. Keen listeners John Jansson’s idea of orchestrating Donald will notice some ur-textual variants: echt Swann’s Greek music as The Isles Of Greece Donald Swann. stemmed from the above project. The title is LEON BERGER, FEBRUARY 1999. taken from the final poem written by the short All enquiries about the availability of Donald lived poet Dimitrios Capetanakis – who taught Swann’s work and recordings should be addressed to his archivist, Leon Berger, at 13 Donald modern Greek in the FAU – a poem Albert Bridge Road, Battersea, London, SW11 that throws into startling relief the darker, 4PX. disillusioned side of the Greek dream. The Isles The Casos Cycle and Seven Greek Songs for Of Greece thus represents far more than the medium voice and piano, edited by John Northern European yearning for the South: it Jansson, are currently in preparation as part is a spiritual journey that led this composer to of the series The Songs Of Donald Swann, face the uncertainties and contradictions within Volumes 3 & 4 (Thames Publishing, distr.