Berlioz & Duparc - Les Nuits d'été, etc.(1989)

Liner Notes:

To their contemporaries, Berlioz and Duparc must have seemed unlikely torchbearers for the rarefied art of French song. Whereas the langourously heavy-lidded Fauré was surely made for what Pierre Bernac has described as the 'sensitive perceptions and impressions' of the French mélodie (in itself a more gently evocative word than its German counterpart, the lied), Berlioz appeared too much a fiery revolutionary, and Duparc a bluff and sensible bourgeois.

As the poet Théophile Gautier wrote: 'Berlioz represents the romantic musical idea: the breaking up of old moulds... unexpected effects in sound, tumultuous and Shakespearean depth of passion.' In prosaic contrast, Duparc was described by a friend as 'broadly built, stout, rather florid, with rosy cheeks, a golden moustache, a hearty voice and manner, and ever a twinkle in his eye'.

But for both men the outward form masked an extraordinary sensitivity to poetry and the singing voice: a genius for the fusion of French language and music. Gautier went on to say of Berlioz—and the description could just as easily apply to Duparc—that he also displayed 'an amorous and melancholy dreaminess, longings and questionings of the soul, infinite and mysterious sentiments, and that something more than all which escapes language but may be divined in music.' In Duparc's case, this well disguised, but extreme sensibility resulted in a debilitating nervous illness which prevented him from composing from 1885 until his death almost fifty years later in 1933.

Gautier was the poet whose texts Berlioz chose for his uniquely expressive song cycle Les Nuits d'été, originally composed for voice and piano in 1840-41. The fourth song, Absence, was the first to be orchestrated, in 1843, and Berlioz completed the others in 1856. The cycle opens optimistically with Villanelle—a pastoral love song—but then the mood changes to the gentle lament of Le Spectre de la rose and the yearning for dead and absent love in Sur les lagunes and Absence. The final two songs are visions of mythical places: the sombre Au cimetière, 'the white tomb... where at sunset a solitary dove sings her sad song', and L'Ile inconnue, the elusive island where love is eternal.

That last image held a particular fascination for 19th century French artists as they rediscovered the wistfully nostalgic world of the fêtes galantes, typified by Watteau's painting L'Embarquement pour Cythère. It is not surprising, therefore, to find Baudelaire's complementary poem, L'Invitation an voyage, among the texts chosen by Duparc. Duparc's setting, which dates from 1870, was dedicated to his wife, and as Lotte Lehmann observed: 'the music begins with a delicate weaving, like billowing veils of mist, warmed by the sun, light and silvery'. The atmosphere is similar to that of the almost mystical mountain landscapes of Charles-Marie Dulac—a contemporary painter much admired by Duparc who owned several of his canvasses.

The other Duparc songs recorded here include two from his first set published in 1868: Chanson triste, on a poem by Jean Lahor, dedicated to Duparc's brother-in-law (an excellent amateur singer); and the wistfully intimate Soupir, on a poem by Sully Prudhomme, dedicated to Duparc's mother. Next in chronological order comes the dramatic Le Manoir de Rosemonde (1879), dedicated to Robert de Bonnières who supplied the text. Here we can imagine Duparc following the advice he once gave to a fellow composer: 'Do not write the music to even one line of verse without declaiming it to yourself out loud, with the stresses and gestures'. Sérénade Florentine (1880) again draws on the poetry of Jean Lahor, while Phidylé (1882), dedicated to Ernest Chausson, and La Vie antérieure (1884), dedicated to Guy Ropartz, are settings of Leconte de Lisle and Baudelaire.

La Vie antérieure was Duparc's last song, and with its closing reference to 'the sorrowful secret that made me languish' it poignantly reflected the tragedy of Duparc's own creative life. 'Since then', he later wrote, 'I have never been able to compose. Many people believe I have a number of works in my files. There is nothing. I live in regret for what I have not done, without caring about the little that I have done'. Nevertheless, the slim legacy of mélodies by both Duparc and Berlioz was to prove a vital inspiration for succeeding generations of French composers.

Edward Blakeman

Bernadette Greevy is recognised and acclaimed internationally as one of the finest mezzo-sopranos singing today. She has sung in concert with many of the great orchestras and has given innumerable recitals in all the major capitals of the world.

While it could be said that the art of recital is her first love, she has sung, with conspicuous success, several major operatic roles, including Eboli in Verdi's Don Carlos, Charlotte in Massenet's Werther, Delilah in Saint-Saëns' Samson and Delilah, the title role in Massenet's Hérodiade and Orfeo in Gluck's Orfeo ed Euridice.

Bernadette Greevy has made many highly successful recordings, among them a nomination for Gramophone's Record of the Year. She has a particular affinity with the music of Mahler and has recently taken part in a major Mahler series in London with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra under Charles Dutoit, and another highly acclaimed series with the RTE Symphony Orchestra under Janos Furst.

Among the awards with which Bernadette Greevy has been honoured are the Harriet Cohen International Music Award for 'outstanding artistry' and the Order of Merit of the Order of Malta. She has been given an Honorary Doctorate of Music by the National University of Ireland. Most recently the honour of 'Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice' was conferred on her by the Holy See.

In 1985 at the invitation of the Chinese Ministry of Culture, Miss Greevy toured the People's Republic of China where he gave recitals and Master Classes. She has also given Master Classes in New Zealand and gives regular series at the National Concert Hall in Dublin and on RTE Radio and Television.

In March 1988, and as part of the Dublin City Millennium, Trinity College, University of Dublin, conferred on Bernadette Greevy the degree of Doctor of Music.

Yan Pascal Tortelier was born in Paris in 1947. He studied piano and violin from the age of four and at fourteen won first prize for the violin at the Paris Conservatoire. Following early studies with Nadia Boulanger, he went to study conducting with Franco Ferrara in Siena. From 1974 -1983 he was leader and Associate Conductor of the Orchestre du Capitole in Toulouse. From 1989/90 he is Principal Conductor and Artistic Director of the Ulster Orchestra in Northern Ireland.

Tortelier has worked with all the major symphony and chamber orchestras in London and throughout the United Kingdom. Guest engagements worldwide include the Cincinnati Symphony, Seattle Symphony, Chamber Symphony of New York, Vancouver Symphony, Helsinki Philharmonic, Warsaw Philharmonic, Barcelona Symphony, Madrid Radio Symphony and Tokyo's Yomiuri Nippon Symphony.

His operatic debut was in 1978 in Toulouse with 'Cosi fan tutte'. He has guested in the opera houses of Paris, Lyon, Naples, Scottish Opera and has done several productions for English National Opera.

Tortelier now makes his home in London and records exclusively for Chandos Records.

Credits:

• BERNADETTE GREEVY - mezzo-soprano
• ULSTER ORCHESTRA - Leader, Richard Howarth
• YAN PASCAL TORTELIER - conductor

Track List:

1. Hector Berlioz - Les Nuits d'été, op. 7 I. Villanelle
2. Hector Berlioz - Les Nuits d'été, op. 7 II. Le Spectre de la rose
3. Hector Berlioz - Les Nuits d'été, op. 7 III: Sur les lagunes (Lamento)
4. Hector Berlioz - Les Nuits d'été, op. 7 IV. Absence
5. Hector Berlioz - Les Nuits d'été, op. 7 V. Au cimetière
6. Hector Berlioz - Les Nuits d'été, op. 7 VI. L'Ile inconnue
7. Henri Duparc - Chanson triste
8. Henri Duparc - Le Manoir de Rosemonde
9. Henri Duparc - L'Invitation au voyage
10. Henri Duparc - Soupir
11. Henri Duparc - Phidylé
12. Henri Duparc - La Vie antérieure
13. Henri Duparc - Serenade florentine

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Other recordings by Bernadette Greevy

• A Sheaf of Songs from Ireland
• MAHLER: Kindertotenlieder / Ruckert-Lieder
• Victory: Ultima Rerum
• Sings Bach Arias
• Sings Brahms
• Handel: Arias

We'll Meet Again: Love Songs of World War II (1994)

This is a 2 disc compilation of popular songs from the WWII era. A lot of well-known artists and songs.

Track List:

1. Benny Goodman And His Orchestra Featuring Peggy Lee - We'll Meet Again
2. Tony Martin - The Last Time I Saw Paris
3. Artie Shaw & His Orchestra - Moonglow
4. Dinah Shore - A Boy In Khaki - A Girl In Lace
5. Adelaide Hall - As Time Goes By
6. Glenn Miller Orchestra - Intermezzo
7. Bing Crosby with Woody herman and His Woodchoppers - I'm Thinking Tonight Of My Blue Eyes
8. The Ink Spots - Don't Get Around Much Anymore
9. Connie Boswell - Sand In My Shoes
10. Artie Shaw & His Orchestra - I Cover The Waterfront
11. Marlene Dietrich - Lili Marlene
12. Jimmy Dorsey and his Orchestra featuring Bob Eberly - I Remember You
13. Dorothy Lamour - Moon Over Burma
14. Duke Ellington and his Famous Orchestra Featuring Herb Jeffries - Flamingo
15. Mary Martin - I'll Walk Alone
16. Lew Stone and his Orchestra featuring Benny Lee - (There'll Be Bluebirds Over) The White Cliffs of Dover
17. The Jesters - Ma, I Miss Your Apple Pie
18. Bud Flanagan & Chesney Allen - If A Grey-Haired Lady (Says How's Your Father)
19. Vera Lynn with Mantovani and his Orchestra - White Christmas
20. Dick Haymes - You'll Never Know
21. Harry Leader and his Orchestra featuringHelen Clare - Goodnight, Wherever You Are
22. Ray Eberle - When The Swallows Come Back To Capistrano
23. The Ink Spots - Someone's Rocking My Dream Boat
24. Anne Shelton - A Nightingale Sang In Berkeley Square
25. Woody Herman - I'll Get By (As Long As I Have You)
26. Betty Jane Rhodes - I Don't Want To Walk Without You
27. Bing Crosby - San Antonio Rose
28. Beryl Davis - Star Eyes
29. Tommy Dorsey - Moonlight On The Ganges
30. Carmen Castillo - Time Was (Duerme)
31. Frankie Carle - A Little On The Lonely Side
32. Anita Boyer - Love Of My Life
33. Frank Sinatra,The Pied Pipers - I'll Never Smile Again (Frank Siantra)
34. Jane Lee - We'll Gather Lilacs
35. Benny Lee - When They Sound The Last All Clear
36. Dinah Shore - The Nearness Of You
37. Connie Boswell - One Dozen Roses
38. The Mills Brothers - I Met Her On Monday (Mills Brothers)
39. Doris Day - My Dreams Are Getting Better All The Time
40. The Merry Macs - Sentimental Journey
41. Bing Crosby - It's Been A Long, Long Time
42. Julie Dawn - I'll Be Seeing You

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Carl Nielsen - Songs, Vol. 1 (1988)

Liner Notes:

Carl Nielsen's songs are part of the Danish national heritage, but it may surprise many people to learn that these popular songs amount to only one fifth of his total production of approximately 250 songs. There are many reasons for this. When Carl Nielsen published his first songs—»Five Poems« and »Songs and Verse« with texts by J.P. Jacobsen—at the end of the last century, they seemed singularly odd in comparison with the romantic song tradition familiar from the works of Heise and Lange-Müller. It was not until he composed songs like »O, Danish Man« and, in particular, Jeppe Aakjær's »Jens the Roadman« that he struck a popular note which was to make him widely loved, even by people who did not generally appreciate his music. It was strophic songs that Carl Nielsen came to concentrate on in his vocal music, one of the few exceptions being »The Song of the Bear«, which, with its use of polytonality and dissonance, stands in sharp contrast to the songs that have become known through the Folk High School Song Book.

But Carl Nielsen's song production is richer and more varied than these songs suggest, as for example his »Four Jutland Songs«, in which he, a native of Funen, so successfully brings out the essentially Jutland character of the poems by Anton Berntsen, or his settings for Johannes V. Jensen's two humorous though bitter ballads from The Fall ofthe King.

Hans Christian Andersen's »Studies from Nature«, which could well be the motto for all Carl Nielsen's works,—not the outward appearance of nature, but nature as he himself formed—was composed in 1916 and published separately the same year.

»Ariel's Song« was written for a small play by Helge Rode, performed at Kronborg, Elsinore, also in 1916, on the occasion of the tercentenary of Shakespeare's death. It was published separately and dedicated to the singer Anders Brems.

During the years 1902-1907 Carl Nielsen composed two volumes of »Strophic Songs«, which were published in 1907 as Op. 21. »Shall the Flowers Wither Then« and »The Hawk« are from the first volume, while the two ballads from The Fall of the King—»Homeless« and »Good Nights—are from the second.

»Songs and Verse by J.P. Jacobsen«, Op. 6, were composed in the same year as Carl Nielsen's first collection of Jacobsen poems, Op. 4, and were published in 1893. The piano part plays an important role here. In many places, as for example in The Seraphs«, Carl Nielsen seems to hover between major and minor keys—a peculiarity that was later to become characteristic.

Like, »The Golden River«, »The Land of the Future«, was printed for the first time in Ubberup High School's yearbook. The latter is dated 28 November, 1929, but was not included in the Folk High School Music Book until 1940; the former was composed in the previous year and printed in the Folk High School Paper in 1928. It has never been reprinted.

In 1924 Carl Nielsen became interested in Anton Berntsen's collection GjemmÆvvel. From this he first of all set to music, partly in through-composed form, the amusing and dramatic account of the fisherman Jens Madsen, who was out spearing eels when the ice started to break up. In 1925 he composed another three songs originating from the same collection. The four songs were published posthumously in 1941 under the title »Four Jutland Songs«.

»The Song of the Bear« has acquired an opus number of its own, and it the longest through-composed song Carl Nielsen ever wrote. In a letter to his friend, the composer Rudolf Simonsen, dated 29 June, 1922, he writes: » ... and I have meet the Swedish poet Almqvist (1793-1866), a most remarkable, extremely distinctive and varied poet (I feel as if I were »Wahlverwandt« with this strange man)—and I shall probably become closer acquainted with him later on . . .«

This was to be in the following year. Carl Nielsen had persuaded Aage Berntsen, the poet responsible for »Springtime in Funen«, to re-create Almqvist's saga of the wilderness, »The She-Bear« from Book of the Rose, in rhymed verse. This extremely complicated tone poem was finally dated 15 November, 1923. Carl Nielsen wrote to his son-in-law Emil Telmanyi: » ... my daughter Irmelin thinks it very dramatic, and I my self am reasonably satisfied with the work.«

On 21 December, 1929, Carl Nielsen wrote a melody in a ballad style entirely his own to Thøger Larsen's poem »Denmark, Now Sleeps the Light Night«. Oluf Ring's well-known setting to this poem was then already eight years' old, and has retained its popularity:

»Danish Weather«, a poem by Ove Rode set to music by Carl Nielsen, was published separately by Borup's Music Publishers in 1927, the same year as it was composed.

»Reunion«—to a text by Paludan-Müller—was composed on Saturday 4 January, 1930, and printed in the April edition of the Folk High School Paper in the same year. It has never been reprinted.

From the two famous collections »Twenty Danish Songs I-II«, respectively 1915 and 1917, come »She Knows Me Not« and »My Little Bird«—both to poems by Hans Christian Andersen—as well as »Look Around, One Summer Day«. These are all from the second volume, while »Farewell, My Blessed Town of Birth« and »The Refsnæs Lads« are from the first.

»The Groves Are Shining Green Now« was printed for the first time in the collection »Twenty Folk Melodies, 1921« and, with its simple, catching melody, it became part of the Danish national heritage when included in the Folk High School Music Book together with another song from the same collection: »Morning Dew Which Gently Trembles.«

The melody to »In Cooling Shadows« from Johannes Ewald's »The Joys of Rungsted« was published for the first time in Johan Borup's Danish Song Book from 1926, for which Carl Nielsen had been asked, as previously, to write melodies. However, to judge from some correspondence with, for example, the High School principal Harald Balslev, Carl Nielsen does not appear to have been entirely satisfied with them.
Thus, in a letter to Balslev dated 10 May, 1926, he writes: » ... but don't you think I could soon stop composing these popular songs?« What Carl Nielsen does not mention, however, is that he also composed an arrangement, with independent piano passages. It is this version, the manuscript of which is housed in the Royal Library, that has been used in this recording.

»My Native Soil« was composed in 1929 to a text by Frederik Poulsen, but was not printed until 1940, nine years after Carl Nielsen's death.

Peder Severin. Trained at the Opera Academy of the Royal Theatre in Copenhagen. Thereafter awarded grants for continued studies at St. Cecilia in Rome, with Professor Georges Cunelli in London and Anton Dermota in Vienna.

Debut in 1971 at the Jutland Opera—in 1972 at the Royal Theatre, Copenhagen. Since then Peder Severin has sung a great many lyrical tenor parts, in opera and operetta and as a soloist in classical oratorio both with Danish symphony orchestras and symphony orchestras abroad, such as the Hamburg Philharmonic Orchestra, Philharmonia Slask and the Bamberg Symphony Orchestra. He has also given many lieder recitals.

His collaboration with Dorte Kirkeskov began in 1981 with a lieder concert in the Tivoli Concert Hall. Since then they have given many recitals, their repertoire ranging from Danish and Norwegian composers like Carl Nielsen, Lange-Müller, Peter Heise, Grieg, Sibelius, and Peterson-Berger to lieder by Schubert, Schumann, Liszt, Beethoven and Mahler.

Dorte Kirkeskov was taught by Esther Vagning at the Royal Danish Academy of Music in Copenhagen, graduating in 1973. Thereafter she studied for a period with Hans Leygraf at the Mozarteum in Salzburg and the Staatliche Hochschule für Musik and Theater in Hannover. From 1975-77 she studied in the soloist class under John Damgaard at the Royal Danish Academy of Music, from which she made her debut in 1977. She has since supplemented her education with international master classes, and today she is very much in demand in Denmark as a chamber music player, and not least as an accompanist of lieder.

Henrik Poulsen, designer and one of Denmark's leading Carl Nielsen specialists, has taken the initiative regarding this recording of Carl Nielsen's songs, most of which are relatively little known, and many of which have never been published or recorded before.

Credits:

• Peder Severin, tenor
• Dorte Kirkeskov, piano

Track List:

1. Studie efter naturen (Study after Nature), song for voice and piano, FS 82
2. Ariel's Song ('Selv naar Tordenen tynger'), for voice and piano (from FS 80)
3. Strophic Songs (7), for voice and piano, FS 42 (Op. 21): No 1, Skal Blomsterne da visne? (Shall the Flowers Wither Then?)
4. Strophic Songs (7), for voice and piano, FS 42 (Op. 21): No 2, Høgen (The Hawk)
5. Viser og vers (Songs and Verses) (5), FS 14 (Op. 6): No 1, Genrebillede (Genre Piece)
6. Viser og vers (Songs and Verses) (5), FS 14 (Op. 6): No 2, Seraferne (The Seraphs)
7. Viser og vers (Songs and Verses) (5), FS 14 (Op. 6): No 3, Silkesko over gylden Læst (Silken Shoes on a Golden Last)
8. Viser og vers (Songs and Verses) (5), FS 14 (Op. 6): No 4, Det bødes der for (A Moment of Pleasure, and Age of Pain)
9. Viser og vers (Songs and Verses) (5), FS 14 (Op. 6): No 5, Vise af Mogens (Song from Mogens)
10. Fremtidens land (The Land of the Future), song for voice and piano, FS 145
11. Strophic Songs (7), for voice and piano, FS 42 (Op. 21): No 6, Husvild (Homeless)
12. Strophic Songs (7), for voice and piano, FS 42 (Op. 21): No 7, Godna (Good Night)
13. Fire Jydske sange (Jutish Songs) (4), for voice and piano, FS 115: Jens Madsen a An-Sofi (Jens Madsen)
14. Fire Jydske sange (Jutish Songs) (4), for voice and piano, FS 115: Wo Dætter (Our Daughter)
15. Fire Jydske sange (Jutish Songs) (4), for voice and piano, FS 115: Den Jenn a den Anden (One and the Other)
16. Fire Jydske sange (Jutish Songs) (4), for voice and piano, FS 115: Ae Lastræ (The Haypole)
17. Balladen om bjørnen (The Ballad of the Bear), song for voice and piano, Op. 47 (FS 109)
18. Guldfloden (The Golden River), song for voice and piano, FS 127
19. Danmark, nu blunder den lyse Nat (Denmark, now sleeps the pale Night), song for voice and piano, FS 146
20. Dansk vejr (Danish Weather), song for voice and piano, FS 122
21. Gensyn (Reunion), song for voice and piano, FS 151: Gensyn
22. En snes danske vise (20 Danish Songs), FS 70: Hun mig har glemt (She Knows Me Not)
23. En snes danske vise (20 Danish Songs), FS 70: Min lille Fugl (My Little Bird)
24. En snes danske vise (20 Danish Songs), FS 70: Farvel min velsignede Fødeby (Farewell, My Blessed Town of Birth)
25. En snes danske vise (20 Danish Songs), FS 70: De Refsnædrenge, de Samsøpiger (The Refsnæs Lads, the Samsø Lasses)
26. En snes danske vise (20 Danish Songs), FS 70: Se dig ud Sommerdag (Look Around, One Summer Day)
27. En snes danske vise (20 Danish Songs), FS 70: Nu lyser Løv i Lunde (The Groves Are Shining Green Now)
28. En snes danske vise (20 Danish Songs), FS 70: Morgendug der sagte bæver (Morning Dew Which Gently Trembles)
29. En snes danske vise (20 Danish Songs), FS 70: Rungsteds Lyksaligheder: I kølende Skygger (The Joys of Rungsted: In Cooling Shadows)
30. En snes danske vise (20 Danish Songs), FS 70: Hjemstavn (My Native Soil)

Download Links: Enjoy the Music, or here.

Other recordings of music by Carl Nielsen:

• Carl Nielsen: Orchestral Music
• Carl Nielsen: Symphonies
• Carl Nielsen: Chamber Music, Vol. 1
• Carl Nielsen: String Quartets, Vol. 2 [Hybrid SACD]
• Carl Nielsen: Violin Concerto & Songs; Rued Langgaard: String Quartet No. 3
• Carl Nielsen: Complete Symphonies (Box Set)
• Nielsen: Orchestral Works
• Carl Nielsen: Complete Piano Works
• Carl Nielsen: Complete Symphonies 1-6 - London Symphony Orchestra / Ole Schmidt
• Carl Nielsen: Symphony No. 2 "The Four Temperaments"; Aladdin Suite
• Nielsen: Clarinet Concerto & Works for clarinet & orch.
• Carl Nielsen: Symphony No. 5/Bohemian-Danish Folk Tune/Symphonic Rhapsody
• Carl Nielsen: String Quartets Op. 5 & 13Carl Nielsen: Songs
• Carl Nielsen: Chamber Works for Wind
• Carl Nielsen: Chamber Works for Violin & Strings
• Jean Sibelius / Carl Nielsen: Violin Concertos

Gustav Mahler - Des Knaben Wunderhorn (1991)

Mahler has always been one of my favorite composers. I especially like his symphonies, but his Lieder are on a par with the symphonies, and Des Knaben Wunderhorn is my favorite in this genre. This recording is good. I have heard better interpretations, but this one is skillfully done, and I have always liked Mackerras' approach to Mahler.

Liner Notes:

Here we feel the heartbeat of the German people... Here German passion burns and German jesting makes merry; here German love blooms. Here sparkle truly German wine and truly German tears. The book contains some of the loveliest flowering of the German spirit.

The enthusiasm of the celebrated poet Heinrich Heine confirms that the collection of over seven hundred verses entitled Des Knaben Wunderhorn (The Boy's Magic Horn) is an important expression of German nationalism. The anthology was the work of Achim von Arnim and Clemens Brentano, and was published in three volumes between 1805 and 1808. The source material, some of it three centuries old, was collected throughout German-speaking Europe, probably in response to the trauma of the Napoleonic occupation.

The title Des Knaben Wunderhorn is derived from the opening poem of Volume One. Its dedicatee, Goethe, had recommended the verses 'to all intelligent people', and in his view their varied subjects—fairy tales, ghost stories, miracles, murders, nursery rhymes and recollections of war—were well suited to musical treatment. Although neither Beethoven nor Schubert showed interest, Weber certainly did, for it was in the Leipzig library of Weber's grandson Karl in 1888 that Mahler, who had already set several of the poems for voice and piano, discovered the edition to which he would return so often in the years to come. Together Karl Weber and Mahler embarked upon an operatic project which was abandoned, but eventually gave rise to the song 'Der Schildwache Nachtlied', completed in 1892.

Mahler was the first composer to make extensive use of Des Knaben Wunderhorn, setting twenty-one poems in all, of which the finest are those with orchestra composed between 1888 and 1901. Furthermore, the verses became so important to him that they pervaded the symphonies of these years: the Second, Third and Fourth are collectively known as the Wunderhorn Symphonies, and incorporate song material both vocally and orchestrally.

Like Arnim and Brentano before him, Mahler had no qualms about changing the verses to suit his own expressive ends. To achieve brevity for instance, he omitted stanzas in 'Das irdische Leben' and 'Verlor'ne Will'', while elsewhere he sought musical balance by repeating words or sentences, and occasionally by adding words of his own. In keeping with the nature of the originals, he avoided complex musical structures, though in the more extended songs there is thematic development and a unifying role for the orchestra. Instrumental textures often have a chamber music clarity, emphasising contrasted colours rather than rich sonorities. Although the orchestra is not large it is always varied, with percussion frequently significant; for these songs typify the subtle calculation of Mahler's orchestral language.

The moods of the poems suited Mahler well, contrasting humour and sadness, jesting and bitterness, with recurring macabre images. The songs fall into three groups: the military songs which use march-like music; the lyrical, mainly love songs and those in humorous vein. But such classifications must be approached with caution, since each song has its own special sound world.

'Revelge' (Reveille) is one of Mahler's most sinister creations: a regiment returns from battle to stage its last parade, but the soldiers are skeletons. The military aspect is vividly drawn both in the accompaniment and in several interludes, while the opening phrase of the orchestral prelude, the basis of the spectral atmosphere, was later used in 'Nachtmusik I' in the Symphony No. 7.

'Das irdische Leben' (Earthly Life) is a short song of considerable psychological depth. A hungry child appeals to its mother, only to be given empty promises of bread tomorrow. Mother and child have their own themes which are doubled by the woodwind, while the strings scurry relentlessly on towards the bitter conclusion, the child's death.

The playful love song 'Verlor'ne Müh" (All in Vain), in Swabian dialect, is a sensuous ländler for male and female singers in which the girl's personality is wittily drawn by the grace-notes in her vocal line.

The charmingly Schubertian 'Rheinlegendchen' (A Little Rhine Legend) is in the form of a ländler; here the most subtle musical feature is the extent of the tonal range beyond the home key of A major.

'Der Tamboursg'sell' (The Drummer-Boy) of 1901, the last of the songs to be written, concerns a drummer-boy awaiting execution as a deserter. A funereal tread expresses his melancholy as he bids farewell to life.
In 'Der Schildwache Nachtlied' (The Sentinel's Night Song) a sentry is killed because the apparition of his lover lures him from his duty. The effect created is suitably eerie: the girl's music has a sustained lyrical flow, while the sentry is characterised by a march tune and military motifs.

'Wer hat dies Liedlein erdacht?' (Who made up this little song?) is a light-hearted nonsense verse set to a flowing moto perpetuo. Again the model is that of the ländler, the vocal line doubled by strings or woodwind.

'Lob des hohen Verstandes' (Praise from a lofty intellect) is a comic verse in which a singing contest between a cuckoo and a nightingale is judged by a donkey. It mocks pomposity and self-importance characterised especially as the donkey's braying 'Ija' motif. Interestingly, Mahler used the opening theme of this song in the complex Rondo-finale of the Fifth Symphony. Of 'Des Antonius von Padua Fischpredigt' (Anthony of Padua's Sermon to the Fishes) Mahler wrote: 'Not one of the fish is the wiser for the sermon, even though the saint has performed for them! But only a few people will understand my satire on mankind.' A smoothly-contoured ostinato represents the swimming fish; this parodistic song became the basis of the orchestral scherzo of the Resurrection Symphony.

'Lied des Verfolgten im Turm' (Song of the Prisoner in the Tower) concerns a prisoner who maintains his thoughts of freedom while locked in his cell. All the while his sweetheart stands outside the tower, and her music has a gracefulness and charm which contrasts with the prisoner's passionate vigour.

While 'Trost im Unglück' (Solace in Sorrow) is a lively duet between a Hussar and his former sweetheart, it is also a negation of love with an undercurrent of bitterness.

'Wo die schönen Trompeten blasen' (Where the shining trumpets blow), a lovers' rendezvous at midnight, became in Mahler's hands an eerie meeting between a girl and the ghost of her dead soldier sweetheart. The mood is tender and intimate, though the structure is among the most sophisticated in the Wunderhorn songs, with recurring quasi-military music for woodwind, horns and trumpet. Fanfare figures surround the soldier's ghost, while his sleeping lover has string music of melting lyricism.

TERRY BARFOOT, 1991

PRODUCER'S NOTE

In 1899, Mahler published twelve orchestral songs from Des Knaben Wunderhorn, under the title 'Humoresken'. Of these twelve songs however, two had been later incorporated into symphonies ('Urlicht' into the fourth movement of the Second and 'Es sungen drei Engel' into the fifth movement of the Third). For this reason they are usually omitted from modern performances of the songs, and are not recorded here.
The two remaining songs which make up the twelve on this disc—'Revelge' and 'Der Tamboursg' sell'—were published independently in 1905.

Hailed by the Guardian newspaper as the leading baritone of the day, and perhaps the best British baritone ever, THOMAS ALLEN has received international acclaim for his operatic performances, concerts and recitals in the major musical centres of Europe, America and the Far East. Particularly renowned for his interpretations of Count Almaviva, Papageno and especially Don Giovanni, his repertoire ranges over a broad spectrum to include such roles as Eugene Onegin, Rossini's Figaro, Orestes in Iphigénie en Tauride, Valentin, Pelléas, Wolfram von Eschenbach, Mandryka, Prince Andrei in War and Peace, Busoni's Doctor Faust, Malatesta and Billy Budd.

On the concert platform he appears regularly with all the great orchestras under such conductors as Abbado, Davis, Muti, Haitink, Giulini, Sawallisch, Rattle, Tate, Ozawa, Sinopoli and Solti. As a recitalist he works closely with Roger Vignoles and Geoffrey Parsons, and has appeared at the Royal Opera House Covent Garden, the Prague Spring Festival, the Salzburg Festival and the Aldeburgh Festival. He has made numerous highly-praised recordings.

Thomas Allen has received honorary degrees from the Universities of Newcastle and Durham, an Hon RAM from the Royal Academy of Music and is a Fellow of the Royal College of Music. In 1989 he was invested with the order of Commander of the British Empire by Her Majesty the Queen.

ANN MURRAY has built a formidable international reputation and is one of the world's most sought after mezzo-sopranos in the repertoire of Handel, Mozart, Rossini and Strauss. She sings with the world's great orchestras working with such conductors as Levine, Muti, Solti, Boulez, Ozawa, Harnoncourt and Sawallisch.

She has sung in all the world's great opera houses. In the UK she is a regular guest with the Royal Opera House Covent Garden and the English National Opera. Her career now centres on the Munich and Vienna State Operas, La Scala Milan (where she has sung all her major roles—Cherubino, Dorabella, Donna Elvira and Sesto) and the Salzburg Festival, where she has appeared every year since her debut there in 1981.

Credits:

• Thomas Allen, baritone
• Ann Murray, soprano
• The London Philharmonic
• Sir Charles Mackerras, conductor

Track List:

1. Revelge (baritone)
2. Das irdische Leben (soprano)
3. Verlor'ne Müh (duet)
4. Rheinlegendchen (baritone)
5. Der Tamboursg'sell
6. Das Schildwache Nachtlied (duet)
7. Wer hat dies Liedlein erdacht? (soprano)
8. Lob des hohen Verstandes (baritone)
9. Des Antonius von Padua Fischpredigt (soprano)
10. Lied des Verfolgten im Turm (duet)
11. Trost im Unglück (duet)
12. Wo die schönen Trompeten blasen (soprano)

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Other recordings of Des Knaben Wunderhorn:

• Des Knaben Wunderhorn - The Gustav Mahler Song Edition, Vol. 1 
• Mahler I: Complete Recordings on Deutsche Grammophon [Box Set]
• Mahler - Des Knaben Wunderhorn / von Otter, Quasthoff, Berlin Phil., Abbado
• Mahler: Des Knaben Wunderhorn
• Mahler: Des Knaben Wunderhorn, Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, baritone
• Mahler: Des Knaben Wunderhorn
• Gustav Mahler: Orchestral Songs
• Des Knaben Wunderhorn, Thomas Hampson
• Mahler: Des Knaben Wunderhorn

Richard Lewis - Arias by handel & English Folk Songs (1997)

Liner Notes:

To many people Richard Lewis's career began when an informed source in Brussels wrote towards the end of 1945 to Rudolf Bing, then general manager of the Glyndebourne Festival Opera: 'I have a really excellent English tenor for you, who looks wonderful, has a very beautiful voice, is a superb musician and has absolute mastery of Mozart's style... I have not heard such beautiful Mozart singing for a long time.' Glyndebourne acted, but it was another three years before Lewis actually sang Mozart for the Company, and then only at the Edinburgh Festival (Don Giovanni); his real association with Glyndebourne began in 1950, but then he sang there virtually every season between 1950-67, and made his final appearance only in 1979.

Richard Lewis (1914-90) was a Welshman, born Thomas Thomas in Manchester. He studied at the Royal Manchester College with Norman Allin and joined the Carl Rosa Opera Company in 1941, singing Pinkerton and Almaviva, before war service claimed him for the next four years. In 1946 he came to the attention of Benjamin Britten, who immediately engaged him for the English Opera Group as the Male Chorus in The Rape of Lucretia which the Company was performing as guests of Glyndebourne in 1947. Malcolm Sargent also heard him at this time and set him on his twin career as an oratorio singer. During the next few years he sang Ferrando for Sadler's Wells and Dmitri and Peter Grimes at Covent Garden, and made his first recordings (for Decca, including a stylish 78rpm coupling in French of Nadir's Je crois entendre encore from The Pearl Fishers and En ferment les yeux from Manon: both on Dutton CDLX7020).

When Glyndebourne reopened in Sussex in 1950 Richard Lewis sang the first of many Ferrando's there, and the following year made an even bigger impression as Idomeneo when Fritz Busch and Carl Ebert staged the first professional performances of the opera in England. In subsequent years he appeared in Don Giovanni, Die Zauberflöte, Alceste, Fidelio, Ariadne auf Naxos, L'incoronazione di Poppea and Jephtha (Glyndebourne's staged version of Handel's oratorio), and he created the role of Tom Rakewell in the first UK performance of The Rake's Progress. Altogether he sang in over 350 stage performances at Glyndebourne, and was last seen in the 1979 revival of Il rittorno d'Ulisse in patria. At Covent Garden he extended his repertoire to take in Don Jose, Alfredo, Hoffman, and Hermann in The Queen of Spades. Then he sang in other Britten operas, notably as Captain Vere in Billy Budd, and created the roles of Troilus in Walton's Troilus and Cressida, Mark in Tippett's The Midsummer Marriage and Achilles in his King Priam.

Unsurprisingly, he became much in demand overseas, and was seen at opera houses in Vienna, Berlin, Paris, Chicago, Zagreb and Buenos Aires. He had the distinction of appearing in the French and American premières, as well as the British (at Covent Garden), of Schönberg's Moses and Aaron. Lewis was especially popular in the USA where the San Francisco Opera became a second home. Don José was his debut role there (1955) and in a 13-year association he took in Puccini's Des Grieux and Pinkerton, Jenik in The Bartered Bride, Eisenstein in Die Fledermaus, Herod in Salome, the Captain in Wozzeck and Jason in Samuel Barber's Medea. Between 1968-71 he taught at the Curtis Institute in Philadelphia.

Meanwhile, alongside his success on the operatic stage he became equally well known on the concert platform. Here it had quickly became obvious that he was set to inherit the mantle of the tenors of previous generations such as John Coates, Gervase Elwes and Heddle Nash, and he established himself in works such as Messiah, Elijah and The Dream of Gerontius. He sang over eighty performances of Gerontius, recorded it with both Sir Malcolm Sargent and Sir John Barbirolli, and made his farewell in it (1983). He became particularly associated with Sargent, to whose celebrated recording of Coleridge-Taylor's Hiawatha's Wedding Feast he contributed a mellifluous 'Onaway! Awake beloved'. Together they embarked on a famous series of recordings of The Savoy Operas, in nearly all of which Lewis took the principal tenor role. With Beecham he sang in Beethoven's Choral Symphony and Mass in C (recording the latter) and Berlioz's Grande Messe des Morts. One work in which he was especially admired was Mahler's Das Lied von der Erde of which recordings exist with both George Szell and Fritz Reiner. Stravinsky chose him for the first performance of his Canticum Sacrum (1956), and he sang in the première recording of Tippett's A Child of Our Time.

One does not need to delve into Richard Lewis's career for very long before its outstanding feature becomes evident: his sheer versatility. Few singers of his day were as at home on the operatic stage as on the concert platform. In opera houses his handsome stage presence lent credibility to whatever role he undertook, and in the concert hall he established himself as the lyric tenor of the day. His range was from light opera to the most sophisticated modern score, and in everything he did he was as much admired for his sound musicianship and quick learning ability as for his flexible and evenly produced tone quality, which remained astonishingly constant throughout his career.

Richard Lewis's famous recording in English of nine extracts drawn from the oratorios of Handel, reissued on this disc in its entirety, was first published in 1957. It gathered together a number of favourite arias which in the days of 78s had been much sought after from English tenors such as Walter Widdop, Heddle Nash and Webster Booth, while for other admirers up and down the country who flocked to hear Lewis and Sargent in Messiah it was more of the admired same. Its public appeal was instantaneous, despite a few critical murmurings about Sargent's favoured use of a substantial orchestra and the resulting absence of authenticity; but, with the tenor at his best and the LSO's accompaniments most sympathetic and stylish, nothing could prevent it from becoming a huge popular success.

Tracks 11-22 have been selected from an LP entitled 'Folksongs of the British Isles' which appeared in 1960. Twelve of the original nineteen songs are included, which Richard Lewis sings to a variety of accompaniments ranging from harp alone (Tina Bonifacio) to a chamber orchestra led by Robert Masters. The sleeve of the original issue suggested that all were arranged by the Norwegian composer Arne Dörumsgaard (b. 1921). All are sung in English, except for An Eriskay Love Lilt (in Gaelic) and Ar hyd y nos, in which the singer reminds us of his Welsh origins.

Credits:

Handel arias -

• London Symphony Orchestra conducted by Sir Malcolm Sargent
• No.1 Studio, Abbey Road, London 28-30 September 1957 HMV ASD291 (2XEA1105/6) 1958

English Folk Songs -

• Chamber Orchestra conducted by Charles Mackerras with Tina Bonifacio (harp)
• No.1 Studio, Abbey Road, London 16-17 April 1959 HMV ALP1777 (2XEA1105/6) 1960 First stereo release

Track List:

1. War, he sung, is toil and trouble (Alexander's Feast)
2. Total Eclipse! (Samson)
3. Where'er you walk (Semele)
4. Thanks to my brethren... How vain is man (Judas Maccabeus)
5. So long the memory shall last... While Kedron's brook (Joshua)
6. Recit: Deeper, and deeper still...
7. Waft her, angels (Jephtha)
8. Would you gain the tender creature (Acis and Galatea)
9. For ever blessed (Jephtha)
10. My arms! ... Sound an alarm (Judas Maccabeus)
11. The Maypole song
12. I will give my love an apple
13. Bingo
14. The foggy, foggy dew
15. The Helston Furry Dance
16. O Waly, Waly
17. The briery bush
18. O love it is a killing thing
19. The stuttering lovers
20. An Eriskay Love Lilt
21. All through the night
22. There's none to soothe

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Other recordings featuring Richard Lewis:

• Monteverdi - Il Ritorno d'Ulisse in Patria / Benjamin Luxon, Janet Baker, Robert Lloyd, Richard Lewis, Anne Howells, Raymond Leppard, Glyndebourne Opera
• Mozart - Idomeneo / Barstow, Goeke, Betley, Lewis, Oliver, Pritchard, Glyndebourne Opera
• Berlioz: Grande Messe des Morts
• Great Choruses From Messiah
• Handel: Messiah
• Verdi: Messa da Requiem; I vespri siciliana Overture; Schubert: Mass in E flat, D950
• Elgar: The Dream of Gerontius
• Gilbert & Sullivan: The Pirates of Penzance; Overtures
• Beethoven: Symphony No. 9 "Choral"
• Beethoven: Missa Solemnis
• Mozart: Mitridate, re di Ponto, KV 87 (79)
• Gilbert & Sullivan: The Yeoman of the Guard
• Walton: Scenes From Troilus & Cressida
• Johann Strauss II: Die Fledermaus
• Mendelssohn: ElijahRichard Wagner: Der Fliegende Hollander [The Flying Dutchman] [COMPLETE RECORDING] (Leonie Rysanek, George London, Karl Liebl, Giorgio Tozzi, Richard Lewis, Rosalind Elias; Orchestra and Chorus of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden; Antal Dorati)
• Tippett: The Midsummer Marriage
• Mozart: Sacred Choral Masterpieces
• Mozart: Die Zauberflöte
• Arnold Schönberg: Gurre-Lieder