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Acclaimed as a concert soloist, recitalist and a recording artist, James Gilchrist is one of the finest British tenors of today. In his first solo disc for Chandos, he performs a representative survey of the songs of Lennox Berkeley which demonstrates the distinctly Gallic flavour inspired by his time in France along with a spiritual intensity from his devotion to Roman Catholicism. James is accompanied by Anna Tilbrook on piano and Alison Nicholls on harp.
This collection, of complete song cycles and individual songs is offered in a more-or-less chronological layout and presents five premiere recordings: Autumn’s Legacy, Cocteau’s Tombeau, Bells of Cordoba, Five Herrick Poems and Sonnet Op. 102. The miniature cycle, Cocteau’s Tombeau dates from Berkeley’s first year in Paris where he went to study with Nadia Boulanger and is characteristic of Les six. Autumn’s Legacy is recognised as Berkeley’s most ambitious cycle, commissioned by the Cheltenham Festival. The seven songs draw on a variety of poets including Beddoes, Lawrence Durrell, Tennyson and Hopkins – which show the range of Berkeley’s reading.
James Gilchrist writes of the recording project, ‘I was enormously excited to be given this opportunity to record some of Berkeley’s songs. I’ve long known and loved many. But putting together this disc has allowed Anna and me to study his songs in some detail and find many new treasures. There is a strikingly varied approach to his setting of song, from sparse simplicity to almost over-egged lusciousness. But throughout is a truly individual voice. Recording the monumental Autumn’s Legacy was a huge challenge, and Berkeley is able to find a convincing musical voice for Hopkins, a poet whom I feel often sees composers stumble. And it’s striking how Berkeley kept coming back to setting French poems, with great success.’
This collection helps to reveal the status of Berkeley’s vocal music, which makes an unrivalled contribution to the central repertoire of songs in the English – and partly French – tradition. Peter Dickinson provides extensive booklet notes about each individual song.
Lennox Berkeley: D'un vanneur de ble aux vents
D'un vanneur de ble aux vents
Lennox Berkeley: Tombeaux
No. 1. De Sapho: Tres lent
No. 2. De Socrate: Moderato
No. 3. D'un fleuve: Con moto
No. 4. De Narcisse: Triste et lent
No. 5. De Don Juan: Vif
Lennox Berkeley: How love came in
How love came in
Lennox Berkeley: 7 Songs, Op. 14, No. 2
7 Songs, Op. 14, No. 2: No. 2. Bells of Cordoba
Lennox Berkeley: 5 Poems of W.H. Auden, Op. 53
No. 1. Lauds (Among the leaves the small birds sing): Allegretto - Meno vivo
No. 2. O Lurcher-loving collier, black as night: Andante
No. 3. What's in your mind, my dove, my coney?: Moderato
No. 4. Eyes look into the well: Lento
No. 5. Carry her over the water: Moderato
Lennox Berkeley: 5 Herrick Poems, Op. 89
No. 1. Now is your turne, my dearest, to be-set: Andante
No. 2. Dearest of thousands, now the time draws neare: Lento
No. 3. These springs were maidens once that lov'd: Allegretto
No. 4. My God! look on me withe'eye: Slow and freely
No. 5. If nine times you your bridegroom kisse: Allegro
Lennox Berkeley: Autumn's Legacy, Op. 58
No. 1. The mighty thoughts of an old world: Allegro moderato
No. 2. All night a wind of music: Vivace
No. 3. Lesbos: Andante
No. 4. Tonight the winds begin to rise: Allegro - Un poco meno vivo - Tempo I
No. 5. Hurrahing in Harvest: Moderato - Un poco piu vivo - Allegro
No. 6. Rich Days: Allegretto
No. 7. When we were idlers with the loitering rills: Andante
Lennox Berkeley: Automne, Op. 60, No. 3
Automne, Op. 60, No. 3
Lennox Berkeley: 7 Songs, Op. 14, No. 2
7 Songs, Op. 14, No. 2: No. 7. Ode du premier jour de Mai
Lennox Berkeley: Sonnet, Op. 102
Sonnet, Op. 102
Lennox Berkeley: 5 Chinese Songs, Op. 78
No. 1. People Hide Their Love: Andante con moto
No. 2. Autumn Wind: Allegretto
No. 3. Dreaming of a Dead Lady: Slow, sustained and intense - Warm
No. 4. Late Spring: Moderato - Meno vivo
No. 5. The Riverside Village: Calm and slow (Andante tranquillo)
25th June 2009
****
“The tenor James Gilchrist sings sweetly and cleanly, without affectation, and Anna Tilbrook is finely responsive to the subtleties of the piano parts.”
September 2009
****
“Gilchrist's smooth, lightish tenor is the ideal voice for this repertoire: few singers have his ease in floating a line without guttural interruption - in the melisma of 'De Socrate' from the Cocteau cycle Tombeaux, for example. Anna Tilbrook partners with insight and a subtle ear for capturing a song's mood through timbre; and Alison Nicholls proves equally involving in the harp-accompanied Five Herrick Poems.”
September 2009
“They are songs for a fastidious ear and a mind that shuns overstatement… There is a kinship with Britten, and in some of the later songs one may guess at a little of Tippet. …Gilchrist is his own man: a fine artist and particularly well suited to these songs. Anna Tilbrook is the totally admirable accompanist, with Alison Nicholls the harpist in the attractive Herrick settings.”
Click on any of the works listed above for alternative recordings.
D'un vanneur de ble aux vents
