The Very Best Of English Song (5 CDS)

1-1 Ralph Vaughan Williams– Linden Lea—A Dorset Song
Mezzo-soprano Vocals – Janet Baker
Piano – Gerald Moore
Words By – William Barnes
2:54
1-2 John Ireland– The Salley Gardens
Mezzo-soprano Vocals – Janet Baker
Piano – Gerald Moore
Words By – William Butler Yeats
2:13
1-3 Charles Hubert Hastings Parry– O Mistress Mine (English Lyrics Set II No. 1)
Mezzo-soprano Vocals – Janet Baker
Piano – Gerald Moore
Words By – William Shakespeare
1:31
1-4 Roger Quilter– Love’s Philosophy Op.3 No.1
Mezzo-soprano Vocals – Janet Baker
Piano – Gerald Moore
Words By – Percy Bysshe Shelley
1:28
1-5 Roger Quilter– Now Sleeps The Crimson Petal Op.3 No.2
Baritone Vocals – Sir Thomas Allen*
Piano – Geoffrey Parsons (2)
Words By – Alfred Lord Tennyson
2:13
1-6 Graham Peel (2)– Bredon Hill
Baritone Vocals – Sir Thomas Allen*
Piano – Geoffrey Parsons (2)
Words By – Alfred Edward Housman
3:40
1-7 George Butterworth– Loveliest Of Trees (A Shropshire Lad No.1)
Piano – David Willison
Tenor Vocals – Anthony Rolfe Johnson
Words By – Alfred Edward Housman
2:51
1-8 Ivor Gurney– Down By The Salley Gardens
Piano – David Willison
Tenor Vocals – Anthony Rolfe Johnson
Words By – William Butler Yeats
2:35
1-9 Ivor Gurney– Black Stitchel
Piano – David Willison
Tenor Vocals – Anthony Rolfe Johnson
Words By – Wilfrid Gibson
2:10
1-10 Peter Warlock– My Own Country
Piano – David Willison
Tenor Vocals – Anthony Rolfe Johnson
Words By – Hilaire Belloc
2:34
1-11 Peter Warlock– Passing By
Piano – David Willison
Tenor Vocals – Anthony Rolfe Johnson
Words By – Bruce Blunt
2:30
1-12 Peter Warlock– Pretty Ring Time
Piano – David Willison
Tenor Vocals – Anthony Rolfe Johnson
Words By – William Shakespeare
1:11
1-13 Ralph Vaughan Williams– The Lamb (Ten Blake Songs No.5)
Oboe – Janet Craxton
Tenor Vocals – Ian Partridge
Words By – William Blake
2:17
1-14 Ralph Vaughan Williams– The Shepherd (Ten Blake Songs No.6)
Oboe – Janet Craxton
Tenor Vocals – Ian Partridge
Words By – William Blake
0:50
1-15 Ralph Vaughan Williams– Silent Noon (The House of Life No.2)
Piano – Julius Drake
Tenor Vocals – Ian Bostridge
Words By – Dante Gabriel Rossetti
4:18
1-16 Roger Quilter– Come Away, Death Op.6 No.1
Piano – Julius Drake
Tenor Vocals – Ian Bostridge
Words By – William Shakespeare
3:01
1-17 Gerald Finzi– Since We Loved (Oh Fair To See No.7)
Piano – Julius Drake
Tenor Vocals – Ian Bostridge
Words By – Robert Bridges
1:12
1-18 Gerald Finzi– Rollicum-rorum (Earth And Air And Rain No.6)
Bass-Baritone Vocals – Jonathan Lemalu
Piano – Roger Vignoles
Words By – Thomas Hardy
2:02
1-19 John Ireland– Sea Fever
Bass-Baritone Vocals – Jonathan Lemalu
Piano – Roger Vignoles
Words By – John Masefield (2)
2:11
1-20 Frederick Keel– Trade Winds (Salt-Water Ballads No.2)
Bass-Baritone Vocals – Jonathan Lemalu
Piano – Roger Vignoles
Words By – John Masefield (2)
2:19
1-21 Charles Villiers Stanford– Drake’s Drum (Songs Of The Sea No.1)
Bass Vocals – Robert Lloyd (4)
Piano – Nina Walker
Words By – Sir Henry Newbolt
2:43
1-22 Charles Villiers Stanford– The Old Superb (Songs Of The Sea No.5)
Bass Vocals – Robert Lloyd (4)
Piano – Nina Walker
Words By – Sir Henry Newbolt
3:24
1-23 Amy Woodforde-Finden– Kashmiri Song (Four Indian Love-Lyrics No.3)
Baritone Vocals – Frederick Harvey
Piano – Jack Byfield
Words By – Laurence Hope
2:56
1-24 May Brahe– Bless This House
Mezzo-soprano Vocals – Janet Baker
Organ – Philip Ledger
Words By – Helen Taylor (5)
3:18
1-25 Peter Warlock– Balulalow
Mezzo-soprano Vocals – Janet Baker
Organ – Philip Ledger
Words By – James, John And Robert Wedderburn
1:46
1-26 Charles Dibdin– Tom Bowling
Piano – Philip Ledger
Tenor Vocals – Robert Tear
Words By – Charles Dibdin
4:15
1-27 Henry Bishop– Home! Sweet Home!
Piano – André Previn
Tenor Vocals – Robert Tear
Words By – John Howard Payne
3:34
1-28 Michael William Balfe– Come Into The Garden, Maud
Piano – André Previn
Tenor Vocals – Robert Tear
Words By – Alfred Lord Tennyson
4:06
1-29 Benjamin Britten– The Foggy, Foggy Dew
Piano – Philip Ledger
Tenor Vocals – Robert Tear
2:24
1-30 Benjamin Britten– The Plough Boy
Composed By – William Shield
Piano – Philip Ledger
Tenor Vocals – Robert Tear
1:45
Envoi
1-31 Sir William Walton– Popular Song (Façade No.19)
Conductor – Sir Neville Marriner
Orchestra – Members Of The Academy Of St. Martin In The Fields
Read By – Michael Flanders (45)
Words By – Edith Sitwell
2:02
2-1 Traditional– Greensleeves
Countertenor Vocals – Alfred Deller
Lute – Desmond Dupré
2:13
2-2 Thomas Morley– It Was A Lover And His Lass
Countertenor Vocals – Alfred Deller
Lute – Desmond Dupré
Words By – William Shakespeare
3:09
2-3 Thomas Morley– O Mistress Mine
Countertenor Vocals – Alfred Deller
Lute – Desmond Dupré
Words By – William Shakespeare
1:39
2-4 Anon. 17th Century*– The Willow Song
Countertenor Vocals – Alfred Deller
Lute – Desmond Dupré
Words By – William Shakespeare
4:16
2-5 Robert Johnson (9)– Where The Bee Sucks
Countertenor Vocals – Alfred Deller
Lute – Desmond Dupré
Words By – William Shakespeare
1:14
2-6 Robert Johnson (9)– Full Fathom Five
Countertenor Vocals – Alfred Deller
Lute – Desmond Dupré
Words By – William Shakespeare
2:06
2-7 William Byrd– Lullaby, My Sweet Little Baby
Accompanied By – Fretwork
Countertenor Vocals – Michael Chance
5:59
2-8 William Byrd– Elegy On The Death Of Thomas Tallis: Ye Sacred Muses
Accompanied By – Fretwork
Countertenor Vocals – Michael Chance
4:05
2-9 John Dowland– Sorrow, Stay! (Second Book Of Songs)
Lute [Orpharion] – Anthony Rooley
Soprano Vocals – Emma Kirkby
3:05
2-10 John Dowland– Can She Excuse My Wrongs? (First Book Of Songs)
Lute [Orpharion] – Anthony Rooley
Soprano Vocals – Emma Kirkby
2:32
2-11 John Dowland– Awake, Sweet Love (First Book Of Songs)
Lute [Orpharion] – Anthony Rooley
Soprano Vocals – Emma Kirkby
2:48
2-12 John Dowland– Woeful Heart (Second Book Of Songs)
Lute [Orpharion] – Anthony Rooley
Soprano Vocals – Emma Kirkby
2:50
2-13 John Dowland– Shall I Sue? (Second Book Of Songs)
Lute – David Miller (7)
Tenor Vocals – Charles Daniels (2)
2:36
2-14 John Dowland– Me, Me And None But Me (Third And Last Book Of Songs)
Lute – David Miller (7)
Tenor Vocals – Charles Daniels (2)
2:11
2-15 John Dowland– Flow, My Tears (Second Book Of Songs)
Lute – David Miller (7)
Tenor Vocals – Charles Daniels (2)
3:49
2-16 Henry Purcell– Fairest Isle
Lute [Archlute] – Nigel North
Soprano Vocals – Nancy Argenta
Words By – John Dryden
2:37
2-17 Henry Purcell– Music For A While
Harpsichord – John Toll
Soprano Vocals – Nancy Argenta
Words By – John Dryden, Nathaniel Lee (3)
3:55
2-18 Henry Purcell– I Attempt From Love’s Sickness
Harpsichord – Paul Nicholson
Soprano Vocals – Nancy Argenta
Words By – John Dryden, Robert Howard (2)
2:02
2-19 Henry Purcell– If Music Be The Food Of Love Z379 No.1
Harpsichord – John Toll
Soprano Vocals – Nancy Argenta
Viola da Gamba – Richard Boothby
Words By – Henry Heveningham
2:05
2-20 Henry Purcell– An Evening Hymn: Now That The Sun Hath Veiled His Light Z193
Organ [Chamber Organ] – Paul Nicholson
Soprano Vocals – Nancy Argenta
5:19
2-21 Peter Warlock– Yarmouth Fair
Bass Vocals – Owen Brannigan
Piano – Ernest Lush
Words By – Hal Collins (4)
1:40
2-22 Charles G. Mortimer– The Smuggler’s Song
Bass Vocals – Owen Brannigan
Piano – Ernest Lush
Words By – Rudyard Kipling
3:34
2-23 Sydney Carter– Down Below
Baritone Vocals – Ian Wallace (3)
Piano – Donald Swann
2:42
2-24 Donald Swann– A Transport Of Delight
Baritone Vocals – Ian Wallace (3)
Piano – Donald Swann
Words By – Michael Flanders
2:35
2-25 Donald Swann– The Wart Hog
Baritone Vocals – Ian Wallace (3)
Piano – Donald Swann
Words By – Michael Flanders
3:44
2-26 Donald Swann– The Hippopotamus Song (Live At The Fortune Theatre, London, 2 May 1959)
Performer – Flanders & Swann
4:04
Sir Edward Elgar Sea Pictures Op.37
Conductor – Sir John Barbirolli
Mezzo-soprano Vocals – Janet Baker
Orchestra – London Symphony Orchestra*
(22:50)
3-1 – I. Sea Slumber Song
Words By – Roden Noel
5:04
3-2 – II. In Haven (Capri)
Words By – Caroline Alice Elgar
2:06
3-3 – III. Sabbath Morning At Sea
Words By – Elizabeth Barrett Browning
6:20
3-4 – IV. Where Corals Lie
Words By – Richard Garnett (2)
4:11
3-5 – V. The Swimmer
Words By – Adam Lindsay Gordon
5:09
Ralph Vaughan Williams Songs Of Travel
Baritone Vocals – Sir Thomas Allen*
Conductor – Sir Simon Rattle
Orchestra – City Of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra
Words By – Robert Louis Stevenson
(22:50)
3-6 – 1. The Vagabond
Orchestrated By – Ralph Vaughan Williams
3:02
3-7 – 2. Let Beauty Awake
Orchestrated By – Roy Douglas
1:41
3-8 – 3. The Roadside Fire
Orchestrated By – Ralph Vaughan Williams
2:20
3-9 – 4. Youth And Love
Orchestrated By – Roy Douglas
3:17
3-10 – 5. In Dreams
Orchestrated By – Roy Douglas
2:36
3-11 – 6. The Infinite Shining Heavens
Orchestrated By – Roy Douglas
2:06
3-12 – 7. Whither Must I Wander
Orchestrated By – Roy Douglas
3:49
3-13 – 8. Bright Is The Ring Of Words
Orchestrated By – Ralph Vaughan Williams
1:55
3-14 – 9. I Have Trod The Upward And The Downward Slope
Orchestrated By – Roy Douglas
2:04
Benjamin Britten Serenade For Tenor, Horn And Strings Op.31
Conductor – Sir Neville Marriner
Horn – Alan Civil
Orchestra – Northern Sinfonia Orchestra*
Tenor Vocals – Robert Tear
(28:52)
3-15 – Prologue 1:25
3-16 – 1. Pastoral: The Day’s Grown Old
Words By – Charles Cotton
3:44
3-17 – 2. Nocturne: The Splendour Fails On Castle Walls
Words By – Alfred Lord Tennyson
3:28
3-18 – 3. Elegy: O Rose, Thou Art Sick
Words By – William Blake
4:30
3-19 – 4. Dirge: This Ae Nighte
Words By – Anon. 15th Century*
3:25
3-20 – 5. Hymn: Queen And Huntress
Words By – Ben Johnson*
2:02
3-21 – 6. Sonnet: O Soft Embalmer Of The Still Midnight
Words By – John Keats
4:44
3-22 – Epilogue 1:34
3-23 Benjamin Britten– The Bonny Earl O’Morray (Scottish Tune)
Conductor – Steuart Bedford
Orchestra – Scottish Chamber Orchestra
Tenor Vocals – Neil Mackie (2)
2:40
3-24 Benjamin Britten– Oliver Cromwell (Nursery Rhyme From Suffolk)
Conductor – Steuart Bedford
Orchestra – Scottish Chamber Orchestra
Tenor Vocals – Neil Mackie (2)
0:47
Ralph Vaughan Williams Five Mystical Songs
Baritone Vocals – John Shirley-Quirk
Choir – The King's College Choir Of Cambridge
Conductor – Sir David Willcocks*
Orchestra – English Chamber Orchestra
Words By – George Herbert
(18:58)
4-1 – 1. Easter 5:12
4-2 – 2. I Got Me Flowers 2:53
4-3 – 3. Love Bade Me Welcome 5:26
4-4 – 4. The Call 2:09
4-5 – 5. Antiphon 3:18
Gerald Finzi Dies Natalis Op.8
Conductor – Christopher Finzi
Orchestra – English Chamber Orchestra
Tenor Vocals – Wilfred Brown
(21:43)
4-6 – 1. Intrada— 5:07
4-7 – 2. Rhapsody (Recitativo Stromentato) 5:30
4-8 – 3. The Rapture (Danza) 3:33
4-9 – 4. Wonder (Arioso) 4:19
4-10 – 5. The Salutation (Aria) 4:14
Charles Villiers Stanford Songs Of The Sea Op.91
Baritone Vocals – Benjamin Luxon
Chorus – Bournemouth Symphony Chorus
Conductor – Norman Del Mar
Orchestra – Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra
Words By – Sir Henry Newbolt
(18:17)
4-11 – 1. Drake’s Drum 3:21
4-12 – 2. Outward Bound 3:09
4-13 – 3. Devon, O Devon, In Wind And Rain 1:46
4-14 – 4. Homeward Bound 6:52
4-15 – 5. The Old Superb 3:09
Sir Edward Elgar Two Songs Op.60
Composed By – Pietro d'Alba
Conductor – Vernon Handley
Orchestra – City Of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra
Tenor Vocals – Robert Tear
(6:08)
4-16 – 1. The Torch 2:27
4-17 – 2. The River 3:41
George Butterworth Love Blows As The Wind Blows
Conductor – Vernon Handley
Orchestra – City Of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra
Tenor Vocals – Robert Tear
Words By – William Ernest Henley
(10:03)
4-18 – In The Year That’s Come And Gone— 3:19
4-19 – Life In Her Creaking Shoes— 2:04
4-20 – Coming Up From Richmond 4:40
Benjamin Britten Les Illuminations Op.18
Conductor – Nicholas Cleobury
Orchestra – Britten Sinfonia
Tenor Vocals – John Mark Ainsley
Words By – Arthur Rimbaud
(21:39)
5-1 – I. Fanfare 1:53
5-2 – II. Villes 2:20
5-3 – IIIa. Phrase 0:55
5-4 – IIIb. Antique 2:04
5-5 – IV. Royauté 1:34
5-6 – V. Marine 0:57
5-7 – VI. Interlude 2:43
5-8 – VII. Being Beauteous 3:54
5-9 – VIII. Parade 2:34
5-10 – IX. Départ 2:45
Frederick Delius Sea Drift
Baritone Vocals – John Noble
Choir – Liverpool Philharmonic Choir*
Conductor – Sir Charles Groves
Orchestra – Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra
Words By – Walt Whitman
(25:01)
5-11 – Once Paumanok— 3:49
5-12 – Shine! Shine! Shine!— 1:30
5-13 – Till Of A Sudden— 2:37
5-14 – Blow! Blow! Blow!— 1:57
5-15 – Yes My Brother I Know— 4:05
5-16 – O Rising Stars!— 1:36
5-17 – O Reckless Despairing Carols— 6:25
5-18 – O Past! O Happy Life! 3:02
Ralph Vaughan Williams On Wenlock Edge
Conductor – Bernard Haitink
Orchestra – London Philharmonic Orchestra*
Tenor Vocals – Ian Bostridge
Words By – Alfred Edward Housman
(21:26)
5-19 – 1. On Wenlock Edge 3:52
5-20 – 2. From Far, From Eve And Morning 2:04
5-21 – 3. Is My Team Ploughing 3:47
5-22 – 4. Oh, When I Was In Love With You 0:44
5-23 – 5. Bredon Hill 7:37
5-24 – 6. Clun 3:22
5-25 Graham Peel (2)– In Summertime On Bredon
Baritone Vocals – Frederick Harvey
Conductor – George Weldon
Orchestra – Philharmonia Orchestra
Words By – Alfred Edward Housman
3:09
5-26 Wilfrid Sanderson– Devonshire Cream And Cider
Baritone Vocals – Frederick Harvey
Conductor – George Weldon
Orchestra – Philharmonia Orchestra
Words By – Theodore Curzon