Before reviewing this CD, I
checked up on Stewart Craggs’s Thematic Catalogue to remind myself what
songs Walton wrote, and to see if any were missing from this disc. None were. That
said, the score for The Passionate Shepherd for tenor voice and ten
instruments (1920) is missing. Tell me where is fancy bred (1916) for
soprano and tenor voices, three violins and piano remains unpublished. The
Three Arias from Troilus and Cressida (1947-54) is an arrangement for
singer and full orchestra. Finally, three further songs from Façade, Long
Steel Grass, Tango Pasodoble and Popular Song were arranged for high
voice and chamber ensemble.
The earliest examples of the genre are the Four Early Songs, which are settings of poems by Algernon Swinburne. They were composed between 1918 and 1921, shortly before the iconic Façade. I guess that the final number, The Winds is well known, however the first three are all premiere recordings. They are new to me. The Child’s Song is a gentle unchildlike rumination on the autumn of life. Song: Love laid his sleepless head, is attractive and delicate with an enigmatic final cadence. The Lyke-Wake song is a remarkable achievement for a sixteen-year-old lad. This meditation on death and purgatory is given the lightest possible accompaniment. This contrasts with the vivacious piano part for The Winds. The cod-Scots language of this poem is not overplayed.
Another early song is Tritons
(1920) to verse by the seventeenth-century Scottish poet William Drummond of
Hawthornden. One would swear that Walton had created a tone-row for this
modernist work.
The next, chronologically, is Under
the Greenwood Tree, which was one of numerous pieces of incidental music produced
for the 1936 film production of As You Like It. There have been several
incarnations of the music, with the present version being published in 1937. It is conceived as a charming Elizabethan pastiche.
Another score of incidental music was provided for Louis MacNeice’s play celebrating the 450th anniversary of Christopher Columbus’s [re]discovery of the Americas. It was broadcast on the BBC Home Service on 12 October 1942, the same date as Columbus had (probably) landed on what is now San Salvador in the Bahamas. Originally scored for orchestra with lots of percussion, Beatriz’s Song was arranged for voice and piano by Christopehr Palmer. It is a beautifully wrought meditation by Columbus’s mistress Beatriz Enríquez de Arana and her fears that exploration meant more to him than she did. A little gem. There are other versions of this song by Steuart Bedford and one for singer and guitar by Hector Quine.
The Three Façade Settings (1931-32) are remarkable. They are far removed from the “recited” performance of the original “Entertainment” first heard in private in 1922.
Daphne is a deeply felt
meditation on the myth of the Naiad and her metamorphosis into a laurel bush.
Unusually for Edith Sitwell’s poetry collection Façade, this is a
straightforward lyric, lacking verbal gymnastics. It is subtitled “In stile
inglese” – In the English style, but Christopher Palmer has suggested that
rather than being an example of English neo-pastoralism, its texture is more
French. Through Gilded Terraces has an Iberian feel to it that mirrors
the text’s allusions to “mantillas, capes/…” and [Dancing] the “Quadrille from
Hell’s Towers to Seville.” It just oozes Spanish sunshine. The final song, Old
Sir Faulk, is a real foxtrot, which makes a wonderful cabaret number.
It is hard to believe that William Walton had not written for guitar before composing Anon in Love. In fact, he relied on advice from the legendary Julian Bream. The set of six songs were an Aldeburgh Festival commission and were first performed at Ipswich on 21 June 1960. The poems, all about love, were assembled by the author and actor Christopher Hassall from a collection of 16th and 17th century lyrics.
This cycle is not an Elizabethan parody;
Walton who was clearly aware of the techniques of those Renaissance composers brought
contemporary procedures such as wide-ranging melodic lines and the percussive
use of the guitar. A wide variety of moods are explored here. There is amorousness,
(Fain would I change that note and Lady, when I behold the roses),
flirtation, O stay, sweet love), naughty humour, (My love in her
attire) a drinking song, (I gave her cakes and I gave her ale) and a
kind of Rabelaisian wit in the last, To Couple is a custom. One
commentator has described these songs as being “sweetness and spicy, [displaying]
salty energy.”
The performance here by Siân Dicker
and Saki Gato is first rate. Both consistently capture the diverse moods of
this vocal masterpiece.
In 1971, Anon in Love was
arranged for tenor and small orchestra by the composer. Christopher Palmer
transcribed them for voice and piano in 1989.
I heard Walton’s A Song for the Lord Mayor’s Table long before any of his more popular and oft recorded works. It was during the Last Night Promenade Concert broadcast on BBC TV on 16 September 1972. The soloist was Elizabeth Bainbridge accompanied by the BBC Symphony Orchestra under Colin Davis. I cannot now recall what I thought about it then.
This is another cycle where the
texts were chosen by Christopher Hassall. In this case, they all highlight
various facets of London. The original version completed in 1962 was for
soprano solo and piano (heard here). It was later orchestrated by Walton in
1970. The opening number The Lord Mayor’s Table (Thomas Jordan) is in
full pomp and circumstance mode. This is followed by William Wordsworth’s Glide
gently, which is sophisticated and lyrical. Wapping Old Stairs
(Anon) is boisterous, with just a hint of jazz as it unfolds a jilted girl’s
complaint to her Jack Tar “with a girl in every port.” William Blake’s Holy
Thursday is dark and serious, as it sets out a scathing critique of an
England that neglects and impoverishes its children, only to congratulate
itself for offering meagre acts of charity. Siân Dicker excels with her
performance of The Contrast (Charles Morris) which compares city living
with the peace of rural life. There is such a variety of vocal technique.
Equally exhilarating is the final song, Rhyme (Anon) which is really a
vocal reminiscence of Oranges and Lemons, with a hugely ambitious vocal
line.
Siân Dicker is a talented British singer known for her rich, full-bodied voice and dramatic flair. As a spinto soprano, she is at home in both the opera house and the recital room. Her CV includes performances with the English National Opera, Garsington Opera, and Guildhall Opera. She has won several awards, including the Singers Prize in the 2020 Royal Over-Seas League Annual Music Competition and the Oxford Lieder Young Artist Platform.
The liner notes by choral conductor and writer, David Wordsworth are most useful. The texts of all the songs are provided. There are photographs of the recording sessions as well as a great cover illustration created by William Coates-Gibson of an unidentified artwork. There are résumés of the three artists.
I cannot fault the imaginative and sympathetic performances of these songs by the wide-ranging vocal accomplishments of Siân Dicker. She is an ideal interpreter of Walton’s music. Equally wonderful are the outstanding accompaniments by pianist Krystal Tunnicliffe and the guitarist Saki Kato.
The recital is aided and abetted
by the ideal recording conditions in the beautiful St Mary’s Parish Church,
Haddington.
William Walton (1902-83)
A Song for the Lord Mayor’s Table (1962)
Anon in Love (1959)
Four Early Song (1918-21)
Tritons (1920)
Under the Greenwood Tree (1936,1937)
Beatriz’s Song (from Christopher Colombus) (1942)
Three Façade Settings (1931-32)
Siân Dicker (soprano), Krystal Tunnicliffe (piano), Saki Gato (guitar
rec. 5-7 January 2024, St Mary’s Parish Church, Haddington
Delphian DCD34328
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