This album presents a new arrangement of Franz Schubert's song cycle Die schone Mullerin, performed by baritone Roderick Williams with the Carducci Quartet. Originally composed in 1823 for voice and piano, the cycle sets poems by Wilhelm Muller that trace the emotional journey of a young miller through hope, love, jealousy and despair. In this recording, the piano part is reimagined for string quartet, drawing out the implied instrumental textures in Schubert's writing while preserving the narrative flow of the songs. The arrangement offers a fresh perspective on the work's structure and atmosphere, highlighting it's central Romantic themes of nature, longing and reflection.

This is the best of me wrote Edward Elgar in 1900 at the end of the manuscript of The Dream of Gerontius. This impressive and modern new recording of Elgar's magnum opus by the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra and conductor Nicholas Collon features alongside mezzo-soprano Christine Rice, tenor John Findon and baritone Roderick Williams, singers from five different choirs: Helsinki Music Centre Choir, Cambridge University Symphony Chorus, Dominante, Helsinki Chamber Choir and Alumni of the Choir of Clare College Cambridge.

The 37 songs in this recital, written by 27 composers – male, female, English, French, Swiss, German, Romantic, modern and contemporary – bear witness to the richness of Shakespeare’s works to which this recital is dedicated. Organised in the form of a play in five acts, including prologue and epilogue, the songs, which include several duets, are in turn cheerful and sad, light and profound, classical and jazzy – thus allowing, in Carolyn Sampson’s words, ‘a breadth of responses to these great texts’. Alongside well-known melodies, such as those by Schubert, there are musical adaptations by different composers of the same texts, as well as a contemporary reflection for the two voices by Hannah Kendall exploring the question of gender fluidity and identity through the elusive character of Rosalind from As You Like It.

After many acclaimed releases on BIS, including Album für die Frau, a collection of songs by Clara and Robert Schumann, A Soprano’s Schubertiade and Elysium, two Schubert recitals, as well as a number of themed recitals, some of which were named ‘Recording of the Month’ by MusicWeb International and ‘CD-Tipp’ by BR Klassik, Carolyn Sampson and Joseph Middleton are joined here by renowned British baritone Roderick Williams.

REVIEW:

Soprano Carolyn Sampson and baritone Roderick Williams are prolific singers who can handle almost any kind of repertory but have a strong connection to the English tradition from the Baroque to the 20th century. It would be hard to imagine better singers for this collection of Shakespeare songs, for on one hand, Shakespeare settings are about as traditional as one can get, while on the other, this is an exceptionally diverse collection. Listeners unaware that Haydn set Shakespeare should make it their business to hear Sampson in She never told her love, as soon as possible. There are settings of German Shakespeare translations by Schubert, Schumann, and Hugo Wolf, a French one by Arthur Honegger, and an entrancing English-language Fancy by Poulenc. This album represents, in short, an embarrassment of riches, and it is one of the finest Shakespeare song releases to come along in quite some time.

-- AllMusic.com (James Manheim)

CONTENTS:

• Ireland: Full fathom five
• Vaughan Williams: Dirge for Fidele
• Moeran: The Lover and his Lass
• Castelnuovo-Tedesco: Arise, "Sea Murmurs"
• Smith, J C: You spotted snakes
• Tippett: Songs for Ariel
• Arne: Under the Greenwood Tree
• Gurney: Under the greenwood tree
• Parry: Sonnet LXXXVII
• Ireland: When daffodils begin to peer
• Haydn: She Never Told Her Love, Hob. XXVIa:34
• Schubert: An Silvia, D 106
• Schubert: Ständchen 'Horch! Horch! die Lerch!', D889
• Schubert: Trinklied D888
• Schumann: Schlusslied des Narren, Op.127 No. 5
• Wolf, H: Lied des transferierten Zettel
• Cornelius: Komm herbei, Tod, Op.16 No. 3
• Frances-Hoad: Rosalind
• Poulenc: Fancy
• Britten: Fancie
• Honegger: Deux Chants d'Ariel
• Bridge: Blow, blow, thou winter wind
• Dring: Take, O Take Those Lips Away
• Dankworth: Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?
• Horder: Under the greenwood tree
• Coleridge-Taylor: The Willow Song
• Beach, A: Fairy Lullaby
• Williams, Roderick: Sigh no More, Ladies
• Sullivan, A: Orpheus with his Lute

Bernard Herrmann is widely regarded as one of Hollywood’s most important composers, responsible for more than fifty film scores (in addition to his work for TV, radio, and the concert hall), and noted for his collaborations with Orson Welles and, later, with Alfred Hitchcock.

Welles was unofficially involved with Robert Stevenson’s film of Jane Eyre in the 1940s, and it was Welles that suggested Herrmann as composer for the project. Herrmann became obsessed with all things Brontë, and within months was writing to friends of his plans to write an opera on Wuthering Heights. It took him eight years to complete the vocal score, using a libretto written by his wife, Lucille Fletcher. Although he conducted a recording of the work, in 1966, he failed to see a live production in his lifetime. Although the opera features eight solo roles, Cathy and Heathcliff dominate the action and are the only singers in Hans Sørensen’s Suite of excerpts – recorded here for the very first time.

Keri Fuge and Roderick Williams take the vocal roles in this recording. Echoes was composed in 1965 for string quartet, and was later arranged for string orchestra by Hans Sørensen – the version heard on this album. The recording was made in the Esplanade Concert Hall, Singapore. in Surround Sound, and is available as a Hybrid SACD and in Spatial Audio.

Rebecca Clarke (1886-1979) wrote vocal chamber music over the whole of her career, from Wandrers Nachtlied, her first completed composition, in 1903, through her overhaul of Lethe, in the winter of 1976-77. Taken together, her songs and duets constitute one of the greatest and most distinctive contributions to the vocal repertoire of the twentieth century.

SOMM Recordings adds to it's already extensive catalogue of music by the British composer and BBC Radio 3 broadcaster Stephen Dodgson�(1924�- 2013) with a third volume of his songs titled Turn Ye to Me. SOMM's previous Dodgson song releases include The Peasant Poet [SOMMCD 0659], hailed by Opera Today as "an incredibly interesting and engaging disc... done excellent service by all the performers;" and The Distances Between [SOMMCD 0673], about which the�British Music Society�said "the performances (by some prestigious names) and the warm, lifelike recording are impeccable." The performers on this third volume of Dodgson songs include prior SOMM�artists also featured in Volumes I and II: Irish soprano Ailish Tynan and British mezzo-soprano Katie Bray, both past winners of the BBC Cardiff Singer of the World competition; doctor-turned-tenor James Gilchrist, who is noted for his forthright and passionate style; Roderick Williams, one of the most sought-after baritones of his generation; guitarist and Dodgson specialist, Mark Eden; and GRAMMY� Award-winning pianist, Christopher Glynn. The recital opens with a first release of Three Songs to words of Thomas Lovell Beddoes, who died by suicide in 1849 aged 45. Tandaradei is his translation of the 13th-century German love poem, Under der linden, by�Walther von der Vogelweide. Dirge and The Old Crow of Cairo are from Beddoes's posthumously published drama Death's Jest Book. Three single songs include settings of Andrew Marvell's pastoral poem The Mower to the Glow-Worms; George Meredith's sonnet Winter Heavens; and Matthew Prior's poem Daphne to Apollo inspired by Greek myth and set to guitar accompaniment. Two short solo piano pieces are from a set of Eight Fanciful Pieces-included in full on SOMM's 2024 release of piano music by Dodgson [SOMMCD 0684.] The marcato (marked) tempo of Il Zoppo suggests an irregular gait, while the contemplative Mirage hints at an Impressionistic style. Dodgson composed three sets of Bush Ballads based on texts by Australian poets and Australian folk verses. This release of the third series is a first recording. All Got a Mate sets an anonymous text as a folk duet. Rollicking, but steady is the tempo marking for Song of the Squatters to words by A.B. "Banjo" Paterson. The group closes with a quieter setting of Waitin'-a-While by Jim Grahame. Two single songs from 1950 include The Stone, marked Moderato: Calmo, to words adapted from Hal Summers, and the title song, Turn Ye to Me, which is a gently haunting Hebridean air with lyrics by Christopher North. The recital closes with London Lyrics, a cycle of five songs for tenor and guitar set to poetry by five different poets across four centuries-including Wilfred Owen and Cecil Day-Lewis-all inspired by Dodgson's home city. The composer draws expressive and captivating range from voice and guitar, exquisitely executed here by James Gilchrist and Mark Eden.

In the Poet's Garden: Choral settings by John Rutter of Shakespeare, Wordsworth, James Weldon Johnson, Charles Causley and others. John is joined by The Cambridge Singers, Melanie Marshall, Roderick Williams, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Taplow Young Voices, Catrin Finch and Matthew Jorysz (solo piano) in this recording of choral works by John Rutter. I'll make me a world; London Town; Dancing Tree; Three Shakespeare Songs; When music sounds. John Rutter writes: Any composer interested in vocal and choral music is both inspired and nourished by poetry. Second only to music, words are my great love, and from my earliest years I have enjoyed seeking out poetry that seems to invite musical setting. This album brings together some of my recent choral music where the words provided the first inspiration and the music followed.

Multi-part music�for the same instrument, dating back to Elizabethan consorts of viols,�remains outside the typical orchestral repertoire nowadays, but�as ever, SOMM remains true to�it's stellar reputation for presenting rare and singular releases.�Habanera, Music for Eight Cellos and Voice�is�a joyous recording that�grew�out of a collaboration�between baritone�Roderick Williams�and cellist�Joely Koos, joint Artistic Directors at the 2023 Endellion Summer Music Festival.�The camaraderie enjoyed by the artists and the�Endellion Cellists�was particularly strong, and a special concert was devised for cello ensemble and voice featuring British-Spanish soprano Ana Beard Fernandez.� Now, SOMM presents the formidable Endellion Cellists, soprano Ana Beard Fernandez, and baritone Roderick Williams in a recording of these two artists' uniquely colourful arrangements. The musicians are led by award-winning choral, orchestral, and operatic�conductor William Vann. As an added bonus, Roderick Williams plays eighth cello, and recorder-player Iain Hall joins the artists for this recital of shared pleasure and a sense of fun that is palpable. The programme opens with the most famous original composition for cello ensemble: Bachianas Brasilieras No. 5 for soprano solo and eight cellos. From the set of nine Bach-inspired Brazilian pieces by Heitor Villa-Lobos, it's two movements are a haunting A�ria and a Danc�a inspired by a Brazilian saudades song. When the Spanish composer and pianist Manuel de Falla was asked by a soprano for his advice about Spanish songs, he was inspired to arrange some himself. The result was Siete Canciones Populares based on seven folksongs from different parts of Spain, for which he composed wholly original accompaniment, here transcribed for eight cellos. The best-known works by Spanish composer Xavier Montsalvatge are born of his fascination for the music of the Antilles and West Indian music. His Cinco canciones Negras came out of this aesthetic, and are among the finest examples of late twentieth-century Spanish art-song. The individual songs that make up the second half of this recital include the haunting Vocalise-etude en forme de Habanera by Maurice Ravel, who was born in Basque country near the Spanish border. Three varied songs collected as Tres Canciones include I am madness by the seventeenth-century French composer Henri du Bailly; an anonymous song, So the Oak; and Black Shadow from Six Galician Ballads by the nineteenth-century Spanish composer Xoan Montes. Two twentieth-century Russian songs are the much-transcribed Vocalise by Sergei Rachmaninoff from his Melodies; and a relatively unknown gem by Dmitri Shostakovich, Farewell, Granada, from Six Traditional Spanish Folksongs. By way of a rambunctious encore, the recital closes with the duet, For�ts paisibles (Peaceful forests) by the eighteenth-century French master Jean Philippe Rameau from his opera-ballet Les Indes Galantes.

Christopher Glynn continues his Lieder in English series by joining three of today’s foremost singers to perform Robert Schumann’s best-loved song cycles in new English versions by Jeremy Sams – a new way to encounter and enjoy some of the most romantic and atmospheric songs ever composed. ‘Schumann is one of music’s great storytellers – and never more so than in the song cycles of 1840. These vivid new translations by Jeremy Sams recreate the immediacy and intimacy of his storytelling for modern English-speaking listeners, offering a new perspective on these famous songs of loneliness and love, joy and sorrow, marriage and separation.’ – Christopher Glynn

Christopher Glynn continues his Schubert in English series by joining baritone Roderick Williams and soprano Rowan Pierce for songs of loneliness and companionship, nature and the seasons, faith and doubt, wandering and homecoming, caution and consolation - all in new English versions by Jeremy Sams.

SOMM RECORDINGS is delighted to announce Vaughan Williams – A Birthday Garland, the debut on disc of baritone Roderick Williams and pianist Susie Allan’s popular concert tribute to Ralph Vaughan Williams originally marking the 150th anniversary of the composer’s birth in 2022.

Curating a “fantasy birthday party concert” in tribute to “the grand-daddy of 20th-century English song”, Williams has assembled pieces by RVW and 18 fellow composers. The result is a wide-ranging celebration of the rich variety of English song over a century and more that pays tribute to Vaughan Williams’ influence with songs inspired by poets ranging from Shakespeare and Tennyson to W.B. Yeats and Walt Whitman.

First recordings include Herbert Howell’s The Sorrow of Love, a setting of the Irish poet Seamus O’Sullivan; Sarah Cattley’s A Square and Candle-lighted Boat, treating verses by RVW’s cousin, Frances Cornford; and Roderick Williams’ own distinctive take on William Blake’s The Shepherd.

The 30-song recital includes songs by RVW’s teachers (Stanford, Parry, Wood, Bruch, Ravel), friends (Holst, Gurney, Howells, Butterworth, Finzi and others), and pupils (Grace Williams, Ina Boyle, Ruth Gipps, Elizabeth Maconchy and Madeleine Dring). Vaughan Williams’ biographer Simon Heffer provides authoritative booklet notes.

SOMM’s previous Vaughan Williams releases include the widely acclaimed four-volume Vaughan Williams Live series (SOMM ARIADNE 5016, 5018, 5019-2, 5020); Mark Bebbington and Rebeca Omordia’s “compelling” (International Piano) survey of his Piano Music (SOMMCD 0164); and the “priceless document” (MusicWeb International) coupling the Fifth Symphony and Dona nobis pace (SOMMCD 071).

Roderick Williams and Susie Allan’s previous SOMM releases include Celebrating English Song (SOMMCD 0177), lauded by Gramophone as “a treat”; the Ivor Gurney-focused Severn & Somme (SOMM 057), “strongly recommended” by BBC Music Magazine; and Somervell’s A Shropshire Lad and Maud (SOMMCD 0615), “performances of much beauty, empathy and sensitivity” (British Music Society).

Vasari Singers is one of the UK’s leading chamber choirs with a series of acclaimed albums released on Naxos. Music on a Christmas Morning presents an uplifting seasonal programme including the world premiere recording of Helena Paish’s beautiful setting of words by the youngest of the Brontë sisters. Vasari Singers’ previous Christmas release A Winter’s Light is available on Naxos 8.573030.

Cecilia McDowall writes: "Da Vinci Requiem brings together my chosen Latin texts from the Missa pro Defunctis with extracts from The Notebooks of Leonardo da Vinci, and is structured in seven movements in the shape of an arch … It has been a fascinating exploration, aligning Leonardo’s extraordinary insights, both artistic and philosophical, with such a profound and ancient text. Seventy degrees below zero is a three-movement work for chamber orchestra and tenor soloist. [Inspired by work carried out by the Scott Polar Research Institute], the phrase for the title was taken from Scott’s Letter to his wife: ‘Dear, it is not easy to write because of the cold – 70 degrees below zero’. The scientific exploration and data collected by Captain Scott’s team at the beginning of the 20th century still powerfully underlies the research which continues to this day. It was with a desire to join the past with the present that I asked the poet, Seán Street, to write two poems to accompany Scott’s words: words from ‘then’ and words from ‘now’.”

Wimbledon Choral has been described as “one of the most substantial and formidable choirs in London … a vigorous and sophisticated choral ensemble”. The choir is over 100 years old, re-founded in the early stages of the First World War, but its earliest recorded roots go back to 1870. Today we are a modern, dynamic group of singers, always ready to stretch ourselves and try new things, making sure we keep up our reputation as one of the finest amateur symphonic choirs in south-east England.

SOMM Recordings is delighted to announce a thrilling first collaboration between long-time SOMM stablemates, baritone Roderick Williams and the Coull Quartet, joined by tenor James Gilchrist and soprano Sophie Bevan. With six world premiere recordings, On This Shining Night is a ravishing recital focusing revealingly on a 20th-century phenomenon: works for voice and string quartet. It takes its title from a James Agate setting by Samuel Barber (whose masterly "Dover Beach" is also heard), here in a sublime arrangement by Roderick Williams. Williams also provides arrangements of Barber’s "Sleep Now" and three Frederick Delius pieces from his Seven Songs from the Norwegian: the evocative "Twilight Fancies," vivacious "Young Venevil" and exotic "I-Brasil." They serve, as Robert Matthew-Walker’s erudite booklet notes observe, as companions to 11 songs by Delius’s close friend and associate, Peter Warlock, including the gentle intimacy of "Corpus Christi," the “mini-cantata” "Sorrow’s Lullaby," and unique free-recitative of "My gostly vader."

Composed for Williams and the Coull Quartet, Sally Beamish’s five-part Tree Carols offer striking, variegated settings of poems by Fiona Sampson in their premiere recording. Roderick Williams’ SOMM catalogue include the acclaimed three-volume Twelve Sets of English Lyrics by Hubert Parry (SOMMCD 257, 270, 272), Sally Beamish’s Four Songs from Hafez (Birdsong, SOMMCD 0633), and the classic English song cycles A Shropshire Lad and Maud (SOMMCD 0615), which MusicWeb International declared a “game changer… in terms of our appreciation of Arthur Somervell’s songs”. The Coull Quartet has recorded a wide repertoire for SOMM. Their recording of Nicholas Maw and Benjamin Britten quartets (SOMMCD 065) was a Gramophone Editor’s Choice and a BBC Music Magazine Benchmark Recording. Gramophone declared their recent SOMM release with Clélia Iruzun, Treasures from the New World, featuring piano quintets by Amy Beach and Henrique Oswald (SOMMCD 0609), “a delight”.

Signed copies of our October release COLCD 141. Choral settings of Shakespeare, Wordsworth, James Weldon Johnson, Charles Causley and others, by John Rutter