Erik Chisholm Songs on Delphian

The Erik Chisholm Facebook page succinctly sums up the ethos of this CD. This is a “real voyage of discovery since many of these marvellous songs have not been heard for at least 60 years, if ever.”  I am not sure exactly how many Chisholm composed, but it was a fair proportion of his oeuvre, possibly nearly a quarter. It is reprehensible that this is the first major survey of these notable songs. 

A “seminal moment” in Chisholm’s life was the gift of Patrick MacDonald’s A Collection of Scottish Airs, published in 1784. This volume was included in some “old music” gifted to the 10-year-old boy, by a hotelier in Millport, the Isle of Cumbrae, in the Clyde Estuary. The book was to remain by his side until his early death.  John Purser, in the liner notes, explains that Chisholm used many of these “airs” in his Scottish Airs for Children, A Celtic Song Book and in many other compositions including the William Soutar settings on this CD.

The reader will be relieved that I am not going to give a detailed commentary on all 36 songs. This would simply be a repetition of Purser’s notes.  I would suggest listening to groups of songs rather than through-listening: Soutar, Scott and non-Scottish poets, for example.

Two important divisions are apparent here. When Chisholm is setting his second wife, Lillias Scott’s poems, he uses straightforward accompaniments to equally direct melodies of his own devising. In the Soutar songs, the composer has dug into the MacDonald Collection for the melodies and has created more “adventurous” accompaniments.

The main event on this CD is the setting of seven Poems of Love by Lillias Scott. Some of these are clearly love songs but other subjects such as the Lament which explores the “transitoriness of life” and the celebration of the sheer joy of living found in Hert’s Sang.  My favourite is the beautiful Skreigh o' Day (Crack of Dawn) which is a “homage” to the mountain, Ben Cruachan. It is seen from the perspective of a young man, waking in the hills, and watching the sun rise. It is dreamy, musically half asleep, and quite gorgeous in its static effect.

A few words about the poet William Soutar (1898-1943). He had a tragic life. After service in the Royal Navy during the First World War, he studied at Edinburgh University. During this time, he contracted ankylosing spondylitis, which is a rare and debilitating form of arthritis. He was paralysed for the final 14 years of his life. Soutar is best remembered for his Scots language lyrics, although he did write in English. Many of his poems reflect his interest in ballads and the folkloric traditions of his country. Other formal structures incorporate epigrams, riddles, bairn‐rhymes (Children’s pieces.) One of his most amusing collections are “whigmaleeries”. The word means “whimsical oddments”.

Chisholm chose a good range of Soutar’s verse. From the dreamy Summer Song to the humour of The Prodigy, The Braw Plum and The Three Worthies. More serious is the “thoughtful and rhetorical” A Dirge for Summer.  

Other poets set, range from the inevitable “Anon” to a Russian translation of The Chailleach -The Spiteful Old Woman.  The anonymous children’s rhyme Snail, snail, shoot out your horn, would appear to be a magical spell for getting fair weather. The well-kent The Fairies by the Cavalier Poet Robert Herrick is full of impish humour. Other non-Scots settings include G.K. Chesterton’s, The Donkey, A.E Housman’s The Offending Eye, W.B. Yeats Cradle-Croon and Randall Swingler’s politicised Sixty Cubic Feet.

The music on this CD covers a wide range of emotion, from humour to melancholy, and from a celebration of landscape, the supernatural and the political. Stylistically, Erik Chisholm balances a high regard for his national musical heritage, with an approachable Modernism that is always satisfying and often perfectly synthesised.

The line-up of singers and the accompanist all hail from Scotland. This is clearly appropriate as many of these songs call for the Scots language. I enjoyed the performances, with each artist contributing much emotion, character and, where appropriate, humour, to these varied numbers. The use of the three different voices adds great variety and interest.

The liner notes are by the Scottish composer, playwright and historian, John Purser who wrote the definitive study of the composer. (Reviewed here). These are informative and readable. They give a splendid overview of Erik Chisolm’s achievement, set the songs in context, and provide concise descriptions of each number. It would have been helpful to have the poets’ names included in the track listing. And composition dates are typically not given. All the song texts are printed, including glosses on Scots words.  The instantly recognizable subject on the cover is from a colour lithograph by Ernest William Haslehurst (1866-1949).

This is a selection from Erik Chisholm’s catalogue. There are plenty more. For example, only two numbers were selected from the Twelve Songs. So, I am eagerly anticipating a further volume from Delphian Records. Hopefully, this will feature the current performers who have given such an incredible account of these remarkable songs.

CD Details:
Erik Chisholm (1904-65)
Mhairi Lawson (soprano), Nicky Spence (tenor), Michael Mofidian (bass-baritone), Iain Burnside (piano)
rec. 31 August, 1-2 September 2020, The Queen’s Hall, Edinburgh
DELPHIAN DCD34259 [67:50]