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Naxos

English Song Series 2 - Somervell: Shropshire Lad, James Lee's Wife

$19.99

Details

Composer
SOMERVELL
Artist
Catherine, Patricia, Wyn-Rogers, Christopher, Rozario, Graham, Maltman, Johnson
Format
CD
Label
Naxos
Released
Nov 01, 2002
Catalog #
8557113
UPC
747313211326

About

Somervell's four songs on poems from William Blake's Songs of Innocence were written in 1889, dedicated to Dolly and Gwen, and simple and child-like in form and appeal, perfectly crafted examples of such work. The song cycle based on Tennyson's monodrama Maud dates from 1898. There are thirteen songs in the whole work that traces the story from the memories of the suicide of the protagonist's father, ruined by unfortunate speculation, making his son's match with Maud, daughter of his father's closest friend, and his betrayer, impossible. Three of these are included here. Maud's family return to the Hall and gradually the young man at the heart of the drama falls in love with her again. In the fifth song of Somervell's cycle, Birds in the high Hall-garden, the lovers meet, before Maud returns to the house, with the flowers she has picked. The verses that tell of the arrival of another to woo her are omitted. The seventh song, Go not, happy day, expresses the love of the couple. The first part of the poem ends with the words that provide the ninth song of Somervell's cycle, Come into the garden, Maud, words perhaps more familiar in the setting by Balfe. The singer calls Maud to the garden, as he hears the sound of music from the Hall, where he has not been invited. As she approaches, he is in ecstasy, but the song does not tell how their meeting is to be interrupted by Maud's brother, his quarrel with her lover, and her brother's death in the dreadful hollow, where the drama had started. In the remaining songs Maud's lover seeks exile abroad and goes out of his mind, while Maud, in his absence, dies. The cycle ends with the singer's resolve to meet his fate in war for his country. The song cycle derived from Robert Browning's James Lee's Wife was published in 1907 with a dedication to Marie Brema, a Liverpool-born singer of German-American parentage who, in 1894, was the first English-born singer to appear at Bayreuth, where she sang Ortrud in Lohengrin and Kundry in Parsifal. James Lee's Wife first appeared, under the title James Lee, in 1864 in Browning's Dramatis Personae and from the original nine poems Somervell takes five. The first version has an orchestral accompaniment, but the songs were later arranged for an accompaniment of piano quintet, and then simply with a piano accompaniment. As in other dramatic monologues by Browning, the woman of the title reveals her story, telling first of changing love, more dramatically in the second song, By the Fireside, as she tells of the rot and rust, run to dust, of a ship seemingly safe in port, as she and her husband had seemed. The same idea continues in the third song, In the Doorway, from which the middle two verses of the original poem are omitted. In the fifth of Browning's poems, On the Cliff, she sings of the parched vegetation on the rock and how from this may come color and life, as with the minds of men. The cycle ends with the seventh of Browning's poems, Among the Rocks, in which she proclaims her message that If you loved only what were worth your love, / Love were clear gain.

Tracklist 31 tracks

  1. 1 O mistress mine 01:36
    Track
    1
    Title
    O mistress mine
    Duration
    01:36
    Composer
    Arthur Somervell
    Performer
    Christopher Maltman, Graham Johnson
  2. 2 Orpheus with his lute 02:29
    Track
    2
    Title
    Orpheus with his lute
    Duration
    02:29
    Composer
    Arthur Somervell
    Performer
    Patricia Rozario, Graham Johnson
  3. 3 Sweet Kate 01:56
    Track
    3
    Title
    Sweet Kate
    Duration
    01:56
    Composer
    Arthur Somervell
    Performer
    Christopher Maltman, Graham Johnson
  4. 4 No. 1. The shepherd 01:16
    Track
    4
    Title
    No. 1. The shepherd
    Duration
    01:16
    Composer
    Arthur Somervell
    Performer
    Catherine Wyn-Rogers, Graham Johnson
  5. 5 No. 2. The blossom 01:08
    Track
    5
    Title
    No. 2. The blossom
    Duration
    01:08
    Composer
    Arthur Somervell
    Performer
    Catherine Wyn-Rogers, Graham Johnson
  6. 6 No. 3. The lamb 02:07
    Track
    6
    Title
    No. 3. The lamb
    Duration
    02:07
    Composer
    Arthur Somervell
    Performer
    Catherine Wyn-Rogers, Graham Johnson
  7. 7 No. 4. Nurse's Song 01:34
    Track
    7
    Title
    No. 4. Nurse's Song
    Duration
    01:34
    Composer
    Arthur Somervell
    Performer
    Catherine Wyn-Rogers, Graham Johnson
  8. 8 No. 5. Birds in the high Hall-garden 02:44
    Track
    8
    Title
    No. 5. Birds in the high Hall-garden
    Duration
    02:44
    Composer
    Arthur Somervell
    Performer
    Christopher Maltman, Graham Johnson
  9. 9 No. 7. Go not, happy day 02:01
    Track
    9
    Title
    No. 7. Go not, happy day
    Duration
    02:01
    Composer
    Arthur Somervell
    Performer
    Christopher Maltman, Graham Johnson
  10. 10 No. 9. Come into the garden, Maud 04:09
    Track
    10
    Title
    No. 9. Come into the garden, Maud
    Duration
    04:09
    Composer
    Arthur Somervell
    Performer
    Christopher Maltman, Graham Johnson
  11. 11 No. 1. James Lee's Wife speaks at the window 02:18
    Track
    11
    Title
    No. 1. James Lee's Wife speaks at the window
    Duration
    02:18
    Composer
    Arthur Somervell
    Performer
    Catherine Wyn-Rogers, Graham Johnson
    Ensemble
    Duke Quartet
  12. 12 No. 2. By the fireside 03:06
    Track
    12
    Title
    No. 2. By the fireside
    Duration
    03:06
    Composer
    Arthur Somervell
    Performer
    Catherine Wyn-Rogers, Graham Johnson
    Ensemble
    Duke Quartet
  13. 13 No. 3. In the doorway 02:07
    Track
    13
    Title
    No. 3. In the doorway
    Duration
    02:07
    Composer
    Arthur Somervell
    Performer
    Catherine Wyn-Rogers, Graham Johnson
    Ensemble
    Duke Quartet
  14. 14 No. 4. On the cliff 04:29
    Track
    14
    Title
    No. 4. On the cliff
    Duration
    04:29
    Composer
    Arthur Somervell
    Performer
    Catherine Wyn-Rogers, Graham Johnson
    Ensemble
    Duke Quartet
  15. 15 No. 5. Among the rocks 03:23
    Track
    15
    Title
    No. 5. Among the rocks
    Duration
    03:23
    Composer
    Arthur Somervell
    Performer
    Catherine Wyn-Rogers, Graham Johnson
    Ensemble
    Duke Quartet
  16. 16 The Bargain 01:48
    Track
    16
    Title
    The Bargain
    Duration
    01:48
    Composer
    Arthur Somervell
    Performer
    Patricia Rozario, Graham Johnson
  17. 17 Fain would I change that note 03:01
    Track
    17
    Title
    Fain would I change that note
    Duration
    03:01
    Composer
    Arthur Somervell
    Performer
    Patricia Rozario, Graham Johnson
  18. 18 Shepherd's cradle song 02:48
    Track
    18
    Title
    Shepherd's cradle song
    Duration
    02:48
    Composer
    Arthur Somervell
    Performer
    Patricia Rozario, Graham Johnson
  19. 19 Come to me in my dreams 02:54
    Track
    19
    Title
    Come to me in my dreams
    Duration
    02:54
    Composer
    Arthur Somervell
    Performer
    Catherine Wyn-Rogers, Graham Johnson
  20. 20 Long in Springtime: No. 2. Dainty little maiden 01:30
    Track
    20
    Title
    Long in Springtime: No. 2. Dainty little maiden
    Duration
    01:30
    Composer
    Arthur Somervell
    Performer
    Patricia Rozario, Christopher Maltman, Graham Johnson
  21. 21 When Spring returns 02:49
    Track
    21
    Title
    When Spring returns
    Duration
    02:49
    Composer
    Arthur Somervell
    Performer
    Patricia Rozario, Graham Johnson
  22. 22 No. 1. Lovliest of trees 02:12
    Track
    22
    Title
    No. 1. Lovliest of trees
    Duration
    02:12
    Composer
    Arthur Somervell
    Performer
    Christopher Maltman, Graham Johnson
  23. 23 No. 2. When I was one-and-twenty 01:15
    Track
    23
    Title
    No. 2. When I was one-and-twenty
    Duration
    01:15
    Composer
    Arthur Somervell
    Performer
    Christopher Maltman, Graham Johnson
  24. 24 No. 3. There pass the careless people 01:40
    Track
    24
    Title
    No. 3. There pass the careless people
    Duration
    01:40
    Composer
    Arthur Somervell
    Performer
    Christopher Maltman, Graham Johnson
  25. 25 No. 4. In summer-time on Bredon 03:51
    Track
    25
    Title
    No. 4. In summer-time on Bredon
    Duration
    03:51
    Composer
    Arthur Somervell
    Performer
    Christopher Maltman, Graham Johnson
  26. 26 No. 5. The street sounds to a soldier's tread 01:56
    Track
    26
    Title
    No. 5. The street sounds to a soldier's tread
    Duration
    01:56
    Composer
    Arthur Somervell
    Performer
    Christopher Maltman, Graham Johnson
  27. 27 No. 6. On the idle hill of summer 02:18
    Track
    27
    Title
    No. 6. On the idle hill of summer
    Duration
    02:18
    Composer
    Arthur Somervell
    Performer
    Christopher Maltman, Graham Johnson
  28. 28 No. 7. White in the moon the long road lies 03:06
    Track
    28
    Title
    No. 7. White in the moon the long road lies
    Duration
    03:06
    Composer
    Arthur Somervell
    Performer
    Christopher Maltman, Graham Johnson
  29. 29 No. 8. Think no more lad, laugh, be jolly 01:38
    Track
    29
    Title
    No. 8. Think no more lad, laugh, be jolly
    Duration
    01:38
    Composer
    Arthur Somervell
    Performer
    Christopher Maltman, Graham Johnson
  30. 30 No. 9. Into my heart an air that kills 01:55
    Track
    30
    Title
    No. 9. Into my heart an air that kills
    Duration
    01:55
    Composer
    Arthur Somervell
    Performer
    Christopher Maltman, Graham Johnson
  31. 31 No. 10. The lads in their hundreds 02:57
    Track
    31
    Title
    No. 10. The lads in their hundreds
    Duration
    02:57
    Composer
    Arthur Somervell
    Performer
    Christopher Maltman, Graham Johnson