Britten, Finzi & Tippett: Songs - MARK PADMORE, ROGER VIGNOLES

 

This enthralling new recording from Mark Padmore and Roger Vignoles finds its emotional heart in the theme of youth, and in particular the passage of time inherent in this all-too-transient phase of human existence.

Opening with Boyhood’s End by Sir Michael Tippett (whose centenary falls in 2005), we are transported through Gerald Finzi’s wondrous A Young Man’s Exhortation—to the poetry of Thomas Hardy—to three rarely performed works by Benjamin Britten. Who are these children?, twelve songs to words by William Soutar, is a fascinating response to the themes of innocent childhood (the ‘Scottish’ songs) and the tragic loss of this childhood (the ‘English’ songs—written as a reaction to war-time photographs published in 1941).

The Sechs Hölderlin-Fragemente have been neglected on the concert platform, not least because they are rare in Britten’s song output as being in German. The music owes something to its composer’s love of the lieder of Hugo Wolf. Um Mitternacht is Britten’s only setting of Goethe. There is some evidence that a cycle was planned, but in the event this single song had to wait till 1994 before it was published as part of the collection A Red Cockatoo & other songs.

Roger Vignoles sensitively brings life to the piano accompaniments beneath the ardent tenor of Mark Padmore, as performances and programme combine to create a most satisfying recital.

 

Boyhood's End[12'42] - Sir Michael Tippett (1905-1998)

1 What, then, did I want[4'54]

2 To climb trees[3'50]

3 To ride at noon[1'19]

4 To lie on my back[2'39]

A Young Man's Exhortation Op 14[26'56] - Gerald Finzi (1901-1956)

5 Group 1 No 1: A Young Man's Exhortation  Call off your eyes from care[3'07]

6 Group 1 No 2: Ditty  Beneath a knap where flown[3'16]

7 Group 1 No 3: Budmouth Dears  When we lay where Budmouth Beach is, o the girls were fresh as peaches[1'49]

8 Group 1 No 4: Her Temple  Dear, think not that they will forget you[1'53]

9 Group 1 No 5: The Comet at Yell'ham  It bends far over Yell'ham Plain[2'59]

10 Group 2 No 1: Shortening Days  The first fire since summer is lit, and it smoking into the room[2'08]

11 Group 2 No 2: The Sigh  Little head against my shoulder[3'27]

12 Group 2 No 3: Former Beauties  These market-dames, mid-aged, with lips thin-drawn[2'52]

13 Group 2 No 4: Transformations  Portion of this yew is a man my grandshire new[1'35]

14 Group 2 No 5: The Dance Continued  Regret not me; beneath the sunny tree[3'50]

Who are these children? Op 84[19'49] - Benjamin Britten (1913-1976)

15 A Riddle 'The Earth'[1'07]

16 A Laddie's Sang[0'50]

17 Nightmare[2'30]

18 Black Day[0'38]

19 Bed-time[1'06]

20 Slaughter[1'48]

21 A Riddle 'The child you were'[0'51]

22 The Larky Lad[0'32]

23 Who are these children?[2'27]

24 Supper[1'40]

25 The Children[4'27]

26 The Auld Aik[1'53]

Sechs Hölderlin-Fragmente[12'29] - Benjamin Britten (1913-1976)

27 Menschenbeifall[1'32]

28 Die Heimat[2'22]

29 Sokrates und Alcibiades[2'02]

30 Die Jugend[1'52]

31 Hälfte des Lebens[2'03]

32 Die Linien des Lebens[2'38]

33 Um Mitternacht[4'05]Benjamin Britten (1913-1976)