I Have Lived and Loved: Songs by RVW and others.

I was introduced to RVW’s Songs of Travel by way of John Shirley Quirk (baritone) and Voila Tunnard (piano) released on the Saga label (STXID 5211) in 1966. It has remained my go-to recording of this incomparable song cycle. There have been many subsequent releases including those by singers Bryn Terfel, Roderick Williams, and Benjamin Luxon. I have some of them in my collection. Yet, to my knowledge, there has never been a recording made by a female artist. To be sure, the work was performed by ladies in the past, including Ada Crossley with Henry Wood in 1910 as well as in recitals by Janet Baker.

Songs of Travel (1904–1905) sets poems by the Scottish author Robert Louis Stevenson. It explores the emotional and philosophical journey of a gentleman tramp and embraces solitude, remembrance, and the call of the open road. With influences from English folk music and German lieder, the cycle blends lyricism with introspection. Highlights include The Vagabond, with its steady, marching rhythm, and the nostalgic Whither Must I Wander. The cycle ends unresolved, reflecting the endless nature of travel - both physical and spiritual. My two personal favourites are Let Beauty Awake and Youth and Love.

Kathryn Rudge gives a satisfying and convincing performance of Songs of Travel. At the back of my mind, this is the preserve of male singers, but her account leaves little to be desired.

RVW’s opera The Poisoned Kiss (1929, premiered 1936) blends whimsical fantasy, lyrical folk melodies, and satirical charm into an enchanted opera of love, danger, magic, and comic intrigue. Despite the “deplorable verse” of much of the libretto, Dear Love, Behold is an attractive standalone piece.

Many years ago, my father bought me a Classics for Pleasure LP (CFP113) which included RVW’s In Windsor Forest. It was sung by the Bach Choir accompanied by the Jacques Orchestra. This score, which was based on his 1929 opera Sir John in Love, was first heard in 1931. Out of five magical numbers, the one that appealed to me most was See the Chariot at Hand, to a text by Ben Johnson. This gorgeous song was subsequently set for voice and piano as heard here.

I first heard the “romantic ballad opera” Hugh the Drover (1910-14) in a Radio 3 broadcast during the RVW’s 1972 centenary year. At the time this rustic, romantic, folk-infused work appealed to my interest in English Pastoral. The short marching song The Devil and Bonyparty was issued for tenor and piano. It majors on the possible invasion of Britain by the forces of Napoleon Bonaparte.

Peggy Glanville-Hicks was an Australian composer and critic who studied with RVW. Her music would go on to combine Western forms with global influences. She championed melody and rhythm over harmony, drawing inspiration from Indian and Greek traditions. Come Sleep (c.1934) is an attractive but conventional English song. The second, How soon will all my lovely days be over sets a text by the Greek poet Sappho, in Bliss Carman’s 1904 translation. Originally part of Glanville-Hicks’s opera, Sappho (1963), this aria is sung as the heroine prepares to be banished overseas and having the distress of leaving her children behind. It is moving, intense and spartan in impact.

John Raynor was a prolific English composer whose lyrical songs - over 680 in total -are reputed to reflect a deep sensitivity to poetry and vocal subtlety. As a student at the Royal College of Music he was championed by Vaughan Williams. The first piece, Down by the River (1962) is an original setting of traditional words (but possibly by George Colman the Younger 1761-1836). The accompaniment is surprisingly chromatic for a folk-inspired song. The second, Spring sets a text by Thomas Nashe from his Summer’s Last Will and Testament. This play blends satire, pastoral allegory, and plague-era melancholy - voiced through Will Summers, Henry VIII’s legendary jester.

The disc concludes with six songs and three duets by the redoubtable Percy Grainger. The sequence opens with a “vivid setting” of the traditional Bold William Taylor (1908). Despite the “tragic” ending, there is a wry humour in these pages. The Weaving Song (?) and Fair Young Mary (?) are traditional Scottish songs derived from the Songs of the North edited by A C MacLeod and Harold Boulton. They are given a richer accompaniment that eschews the more pentatonic harmonies normally given to these tunes. Grainger and Lucy E. Broadwood collected the morbid Died for Love (1906-07) from Lincolnshire. The mawkish Dedication II (1901) sets a poem by Rudyard Kipling. A Reivers Neck-Verse (1908) took its text from Algeron Charles Swinburne’s Poems and Ballads (Third Series). This lusty, powerful, and high tessitura song is a portrait of a robber about to face the gallows. The “Neck-Verse” refers to the culprit’s ability to recite a verse to a clergyman from the bible to save his life - and “neck.”

Under a Bridge (1945-46) must be one of the strangest duets written. The gist of this number is two lovers teasing each other but finally succumbing to true devotion. It ends with both parties giggling. The short Hubby and Wife (1923) is a “quarrelling duet” rising to a “steady crescendo [as] a domestic argument is played out.” Both were originally collected by Grainger in Jutland. The liner notes are correct in suggesting that there is a pantomime feel to these duets.

The yearning Up-Country Song (1932) (once upon a time called Colonial Song) is a wordless expression of Percy Grainger’s love of his native Australia. There are also arrangements for orchestra, wind band, chamber ensembles and piano solo. Sentimental, but ultimately a perfect miniature.

Good introductory notes by Penelope Thwaites, Malcolm Riley and John Francis are complimented by the complete texts of the songs. Dates of all the songs would have been helpful. There are generous biographical details of the singers and pianist. The booklet is well-illustrated.

Kathryn Rudge brings poise and sensitivity to her refreshing interpretation of Songs of Travel, offering a thoughtful challenge to conventional gender expectations. Her performance is sensitively supported by Penelope Thwaites’s expressive pianism, with Alessandro Fisher’s lyrical tenor complementing other selections in the recital.

The programme draws significant connections across composers shaped by RVW’s ethos - blending English pastoralism, folksong, cosmopolitan colour, and theatrical charm. Beautifully recorded and thoughtfully presented, this disc promotes the durable vitality of British song.

Track Listing:
Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872-1958)
Songs of Travel (1901-04)
Songs from the Operas: Dear Love, Behold (The Poisoned Kiss) (1927-29); See the Chariot at Hand (Sir John in Love) (1924-28); The Devil and Bonyparty (Hugh the Drover) (1910-14)
Peggy Glanville-Hicks (1912-90)
Come Sleep (c.1934)
How soon will all my lovely days be over (1963)
John Raynor (1909-70)
Down by the River (1962)
Spring (1948)
Percy Grainger (1882-1961)
Bold William Taylor (1908)
Weaving Song from Songs of the North (?)
Died for Love (1906-07)
Dedication II (1901)
Fair Young Mary from Songs of the North (?)
A Reiver’s Neck-Verse (1908)
Under a Bridge (1945-46)
Hubby and Wifey (1923)
Up-Country Song (1932)
Kathryn Rudge (mezzo soprano); Alessandro Fisher (tenor); Penelope Thwaites (piano)
rec. 19-21 July 2024 Potton Hall, Suffolk
Albion Records ALBCD066