Rubbra: The Complete Chamber Music & Songs With Harp

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Release Date: 13th May 2016
Catalogue No: SRCD353
Label: Lyrita
Length: 67 minutes

Usually despatched in 3 - 4 working days

Rubbra: 3 Songs, Op. 13

Work length2:36

$1.00

$1.30

Tracey Chadwell, Danielle Perrett

No. 2, Hymn to the Virgin

Track length2:36

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Rubbra: 2 Songs, Op. 2

Work length2:23

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Tracey Chadwell, Danielle Perrett

No. 2, Rosa Mundi

Track length2:23

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trad.: Deep River (Arr. E. Rubbra for Harp)

Work length2:48

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Danielle Perrett

Rubbra: Pezzo ostinato, Op. 102

Work length8:04

$2.00

$2.60

Danielle Perrett

Rubbra: 2 Songs, Op. 4

Work length2:51

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$2.60

Tracey Chadwell, Danielle Perrett

No. 1, The Mystery

Track length1:13

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No. 2, Jesukin

Track length1:38

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Rubbra: 4 Songs, Op. 8

Work length1:49

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Tracey Chadwell, Danielle Perrett

No. 2, Orpheus

Track length1:49

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Rubbra: Transformations, Op. 141

Work length13:21

$3.00

$3.85

Danielle Perrett

Rubbra: The Jade Mountain, Op. 116

Work length9:36

$5.00

$6.50

Tracey Chadwell, Danielle Perrett

No. 1, A Night Thought on Terrace Tower

Track length2:40

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No. 2, On Hearing Her Play the Harp

Track length1:07

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No. 3, An Autumn Night Message

Track length1:24

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No. 4, A Song of the Southern River

Track length1:04

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No. 5, Farewell to a Japanese Buddhist Priest Bound Homeward

Track length3:21

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Rubbra: Improvisation, Op. 124

Work length5:00

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Timothy Gill

Rubbra: Discourse, Op. 127

Work length6:52

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Timothy Gill

Berkeley, L: Nocturne, Op. 67 Pt. 2

Work length3:55

$1.00

$1.30

Danielle Perrett

Howells: Prelude No. 1 for Harp

Work length7:57

$2.00

$2.60

Danielle Perrett

About
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About

The meditative qualities in so much of the music of Edmund Rubbra (1901-86) resonate strongly with our present day search for the spiritual. This aspect of his work stems both from his roots in Western Christianity and from his lifelong interest in Eastern thought and music.

The earliest of the Orient-inspired pieces on this disc is the Japanese dance Fukagawa (Deep River) arranged by Rubbra in in the late 1920s. It was originally written for piano, but the texture and sonority of the harp fit the piece perfectly. The Orient is again immediately obvious in the songs which comprise The Jade Mountain (1962), a song cycle for soprano and harp, setting poems from the T'ang Dynasty (618-906 AD) in translations by the American poet Witter Bynner. The work is a sma ll masterpiece and the last song is one of extraordinary intensity.

Although in no way are these pastiches of Chinese music, there is, nonetheless, a Chinese flavour to the textures, melodies, harmonies and modes used.

Rubbra's first major composition for solo harp was the Pezzo Ostinato of 1958. This time the comparison is with an Indian raga. Rubbra and his friend, ethnomusicologist Peter Crossley-Holland, had been to hear the great Indian musician Ali Akbar Khan perform in London, and this had led to the idea of writing the harp piece.

Sir Lennox Berkeley (1903-89) wrote his delightful Nocturne for harp in 19 67. Today it is not often performed, which is a pity, as it is fully characteristic of the composer and is Berkeley's only work for solo harp. Even more of a rarity is the final piece on the CD, by Herbert Howells (1892-1983). His Prelude (No.1) for harp was written in 1915 for Kate Wilson, a student at the RCM, but never published. The manuscript only came to light when Kate died and it was bequeathed to the Royal College of Music by her sister-in-law in the 1970s. Like the Rubbra masterworks for harp, this rich and yearning piece is set to count amongst the most significant in the harp repertoire.

Rubbra: The Complete Chamber Music & Songs With Harp

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