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Described by his teacher, Stanford, as “the one who most fulfilled the accepted ideas of genius”, the poet and composer Ivor Gurney composed more than 300 songs despite suffering from bipolar disorder and tuberculosis.
The Five Elizabethan Songs show the young composer’s astonishing limpid fluency, while Tears and Sleep rank among his most exquisite creations.
Comedy, heavenly rapture, tender urgency and lovelorn longing all touch the music of this ‘lover and maker of beauty’, whose songs find ideal interpreters in Susan Bickley and Iain Burnside.
“Susan Bickley’s sensitivity and vocal allure confirming her among the finest mezzos of her generation” Classical Source
Ivor Gurney: On the Downs
On the Downs
Ivor Gurney: Ha'nacker Mill
Ha'nacker Mill
Ivor Gurney: The Bonny Earl of Murray
The Bonny Earl of Murray
Ivor Gurney: The Cherry Trees
The Cherry Trees
Ivor Gurney: By a Bierside
By a Bierside
Ivor Gurney: 5 Elizabethan Songs
No. 1. Orpheus with his lute
No. 2. Tears
No. 3. Under the greenwood tree
No. 4. Sleep
No. 5. Spring
Ivor Gurney: 7 Sappho Songs
7 Sappho Songs: The Apple Orchard
Ivor Gurney: All night under the moon
All night under the moon
Ivor Gurney: The Latmian Shepherd
The Latmian Shepherd
Ivor Gurney: I will go with my father a-ploughing
I will go with my father a-ploughing
Ivor Gurney: Last Hours
Last Hours
Ivor Gurney: Cathleen ni Houlihan
Cathleen ni Houlihan
Ivor Gurney: A cradle song
A cradle song
Ivor Gurney: The Fiddler of Dooney
The Fiddler of Dooney
Ivor Gurney: Snow
Snow
Ivor Gurney: The Singer
The Singer
Ivor Gurney: Nine of the clock
Nine of the clock
Ivor Gurney: Epitaph in old mode
Epitaph in old mode
Ivor Gurney: The Ship
The Ship
Ivor Gurney: The Scribe
The Scribe
Ivor Gurney: Fain would I change that note
Fain would I change that note
Ivor Gurney: An Epitaph
An Epitaph
Ivor Gurney: When Death to either shall come
When Death to either shall come
Ivor Gurney: Thou didst delight my eyes
Thou didst delight my eyes
Ivor Gurney: The boat is chafing
The boat is chafing
Ivor Gurney: Lights Out
Lights Out: No. 4. Lights Out
Christmas 2009
****
“…Susan Bickley shares with Gurney a direct and instinctive response to the inflections, metres and emotional colours of the English language.”
November 2009
“…the settings of John Masefield are especially memorable, notably "By a Bierside" with a wonderful final climax, superbly conveyed here by Susan Bickley. Wherever you turn, these songs offer illumination and refreshment, splendidly captured not only by Susan Bickley but by her ever-sensitive accompanist, Iain Burnside.”
Opera Britannia
26th August 2009
***
“Bickley’s attractive mezzo is the perfect interpreter for Gurney, gutsy one moment, restrained the next, whilst textual clarity is always given paramount importance. Iain Burnside accompanies her superbly on the piano, with real passion for the music.”
7th August 2009
****
“...as Susan Bickley's beautifully understated performances with pianist Iain Burnside show, Gurney was not only an important figure in early 20th-century English song, but also a distinctive one detached from its folksy mainstream. Gurney's style is much more European, much more conscious of the German Lieder tradition, and Schumann especially; this is a well-conceived and important disc for all English music enthusiasts.”
Click on any of the works listed above for alternative recordings.
On the Downs
