“Clearly Herbert’s taste in lyrics was above the average.” MusicWeb International
The “Songs of Muriel Herbert” is an album featuring many premiere recordings of songs by the twentieth century English composer. They are beautifully delivered by soprano Ailish Tynan and tenor James Gilchrist, accompanied by David Owen Norris on piano.
Muriel Herbert (1897 – 1984) studied with Charles Stanford and Roger Quilter at the Royal College of Music, London. Her works consist mainly of songs inspired by poetry and works for violin and piano. This album focuses on her songs.
Herbert was inspired by the poetry of many including Yeats and Joyce whom she met on many occasions. She was also intrigued by female poets such as Christina Rossetti. These songs have been brought back to life thanks to Herbert's daughter - the biographer Claire Tomalin. The songs are now all housed at the British Library Archive.
The songs are hugely compelling and delightful and influences of one Herbert's favourite composers Debussy can be heard. Many of these songs are premiere recordings. Among the most popular are: Daffodils, Mirage, Autumn, Lost nightingale and Hips and haws.
James Gilchrist is in demand as a recitalist and chorus member and is a regular voice on BBC Radio 3 and a popular performer at the BBC Proms. He has sung at venues across Europe, America and the UK. His voice has been described as pure and sensitive with an even and beautiful tone. His first two solo albums on Linn Records were very well received; BBC Music Magazine listed “Oh Fair To See” as a Benchmark Recording, and “On Wenlock Edge” was a finalist in the Solo Vocal Album of the Year category at the 2008 Classic FM Gramophone Awards.
In 2003 Ailish Tynan won the Rosenblatt Recital Prize at the BBC Cardiff Singer of the World Competition. Other awards include the Maggie Teyte Competition, Miriam Licette Award and the RTÉ Millennium Singer of the Future • David Owen Norris has been a featured artist in the Gilmore Festival in Michigan and in the English Music Festival in Dorchester. In 2008 he has given recitals from Edinburgh to Guernsey, including the City of London Festival, the Tate Gallery conference on Vauxhall Gardens, the Three Choirs Festival at Worcester and Cheltenham.
“Beautifully sung by Ailish Tynan and James Gilchrist. It shows that Herbert's literary taste was as discriminating as her music; the settings here range from medieval lyrics to James Joyce, as well as the inevitable Housman and Hardy. If her music is innately conservative, her harmonic palette and melodic invention are individual; these songs linger in the memory.” The Guardian, 29th May 2009 ****
“Muriel Herbert's music deserves it place alongside the more famous names of the time. Her work has been magnificently serves by the artists on this disc. Both Ailish Tynan and James Gilchrist seem to have made a leap forward as interpreters of English song; their diction is beautifully clear, without any recourse to archness or over-emphasis that can so quickly spoil this sort of repertory. David Owen Norris plays all the songs with evident affection and devotion.” Gramophone Magazine, August 2009
