The Song of the Severn
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IAN VENABLES
The Song of the Severn
Roderick Williams (baritone) / Carducci String Quartet, with Graham J Lloyd (piano)
[ Signum Classics / CD ]
Release Date: Thursday 20 August 2015
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Venables' reputation as 'one of the finest song composers of his generation' (BBC Music Magazine) finds voice in this disc of premiere recordings of two of his substantial song cycles. International baritone, Roderick Williams is joined by the Carducci String Quartet and pianist Graham J Lloyd in The Song of the Severn, a celebration of Venables' home county of Worcestershire and The Pine Boughs Past Music, a poignant tribute to the poetic talents of Ivor Gurney. Other songs include those with solo piano and arrangements by Graham J Lloyd, for string quartet. Each work highlights Venables' gift of being able to take poetry to a higher level of appreciation and at the same time create works of lasting beauty.
"Venables' music is unashamedly rooted in the English pastoral tradition...The two song cycles that Roderick Williams sings with his usual exemplary musicality and tact show how convincing Venables' occupation of that world can be...Anachronistic though Venables' music sometimes seems to be, as if yearning for a world that cannot be recovered, it can be powerfully convincing." The Guardian, 16th July 2015 ****
"Williams is in stellar form throughout (his lustrous tone beautifully captured by the microphones), and he enjoys outstandingly sympathetic support from Graham J. Lloyd (whose pianism is of a very high order) and the Carducci Quartet…No lover of the early-20th-century English art song or pastoral tradition should fail to investigate this notable issue." Gramophone Magazine, September 2015
'Venables's songs... find in Roderick Williams a deeply sympathetic interpreter, who lavishes as much attention on the words as the notes.' BBC Choral & Song Choice November 2015
Tracks:
The Song of the Severn, Op. 43
The Pine Boughs Past Music, Op. 39
Break, break, break, Op. 33 No. 5
Midnight Lamentation, Op. 6
The Hippo, Op. 33 No. 6
The Invitation to the Gondola, Op. 22, No. 3
Frutti di Mare, Op. 41, No. 1
