Britten: Songs & Proverbs of William Blake [Import]

Gerald Finley (Artist), Julius Drake (Artist), Britten (Composer) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Composer: Britten
• Audio CD (June 8, 2010)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Import
• Label: Hyperion
• ASIN: B003IEAMEO
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #75,560 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Lemady, folksong for voice & harp (8 British Folksongs)

2. She's like the swallow, folksong for voice & harp (8 British Folksongs)

3. I Wonder As I Wander

4. Tom Bowling and Other Song Arrangements, for voice & piano

5. Songs and Proverbs of W. Blake, song cycle for baritone & piano, Op. 74: Proverb 1

6. Songs and Proverbs of W. Blake, song cycle for baritone & piano, Op. 74: London

7. Songs and Proverbs of W. Blake, song cycle for baritone & piano, Op. 74: Proverb 2

8. Songs and Proverbs of W. Blake, song cycle for baritone & piano, Op. 74: The Chimney-Sweeper

9. Songs and Proverbs of W. Blake, song cycle for baritone & piano, Op. 74: Proverb 3

10. Songs and Proverbs of W. Blake, song cycle for baritone & piano, Op. 74: A Poison Tree

11. Songs and Proverbs of W. Blake, song cycle for baritone & piano, Op. 74: Proverb 4

12. Songs and Proverbs of W. Blake, song cycle for baritone & piano, Op. 74: The Tyger

13. Songs and Proverbs of W. Blake, song cycle for baritone & piano, Op. 74: Proverb 5

14. Songs and Proverbs of W. Blake, song cycle for baritone & piano, Op. 74: The Fly

15. Songs and Proverbs of W. Blake, song cycle for baritone & piano, Op. 74: Proverb 6

16. Songs and Proverbs of W. Blake, song cycle for baritone & piano, Op. 74: Ah, Sun-flower

17. Songs and Proverbs of W. Blake, song cycle for baritone & piano, Op. 74: Proverb 7

18. Songs and Proverbs of W. Blake, song cycle for baritone & piano, Op. 74: Every Night and every Morn

19. Tit for Tat, song cycle for voice & piano: A Song of Enchantment

20. Tit for Tat, song cycle for voice & piano: Autumn

See all 33 tracks on this disc

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The voice and visions of William Blake, November 15, 2010

By 

Anton Zimmerling "Sturla" (Moscow, Russia) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Britten: Songs & Proverbs of William Blake (Audio CD)

This new CD by the Canadian singer Gerald Finley offers a selection of fine 20th century art songs sung by a splendid baritone voice. To many people, a large deal of the poetry on this CD - William Blake's poems and proverbs, Walter de la Mare's `Tit for tat' and, of course, the lyrics of such evergreen hits as `Greensleeves' (track 30) and `I wonder as I wander' (track 3) will be more familiar than their settings and arrangements made by Benjamin Britten. It is also true that Britten's music for a low voice seldom gets such attractive performances as this one.

The style of Britten's songs chosen by Finley and his pianist Julius Drake fluctuates between two poles: the composer's early folk-style cantilena arrangements and sophisticated melo-declamation influenced by the style of German Lieder and by the vocal resources of their leading promoter in the post-war period - Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau. It is not necessary to know Fi-Di's premiere version of the `Songs and Proverbs of William Blake' Britten: Holy Sonnets, Billy Budd, etc. / Britten, Glossop, Pears, et al to get the idea that this vocal cycle (1965) has been molded after the voice of the great German baritone: if you heard any songs with Fi-Di before, you will recognize Fi-Di's enforced instrumental timbre, strained transitions and a declamatory manner behind the score of Britten's William Blake cycle (tracks 5-18). The paradox is that Finley himself is not straining: his tone production is as easy as possible. The Canadian probably has set Fischer-Dieskau as one of his models in chamber music. But his own voice is a better instrument -rounded, mellow and beautiful throughout the whole range. Finley has a rich low extension and does not sound edgy on the low notes.

It is instructive to compare Britten's 2nd setting of the `A Poison tree' included in the 1965 Blake cycle (track 10) with his first approach to the same text, made 30 years earlier, in 1935 (track 25). The 1965 variant is brainy, the piano part in it more difficult: as a whole, it is a more rewarding piece, with a progression of major and minor triads. It also more poisonous and highlights more text nuances than the early song. But... the early variant breathes easily and flows more natural, at least to my ear.

Not all mature Britten songs are of the `Blake's Proverbs'-type. In fact, most of them are not, if one counts numerous arrangements and imitations of folksongs. The mocking song `Crocodile' (track 30) is one of the most successful imitations of this kind: its non-sense refrain is repeated 7 times, in a different register and with variation, which gives Finley a chance to show all his range.

Britten returned to traditional poetry and wrote cantilena songs all his life, see `David of the White Rock' (track 29), written shortly before the composer's death in 1976. The `Tit for Tat' cycle on De la Mare's texts (tracks 19-23) was published in 1969, but its songs were composed early, in 1929-30. `Greensleeves'. and `The Crocodile' are from early 1940s. The triptych on Roland Duncan's poems (tracks 26-28) is from 1945. The last song in it, `Night (track 28), is especially enjoyable.

This marvelous CD gives the listener no reason to grudge. Even if Finley is not the most distinctive comic actor, he gets Britten's humor out of such grotesque pieces as `The Crocodile' and the last song in `Tit for tat' (track 23) or `The Deaf Woman's Courtship' (track 33) perfectly. It is indeed difficult to sing such lines as `An ogre from space will stoop a lean face and lug you home' (`Tit for tat') solemnly and keep a serious face, but Finley copes with this task, which adds much to the comic effect. If you want a comparison, a larger collection of Britten's folksong arrangements is available on Naxos, with tenor Philippe Langridge and pianist Graham Johnson, see `The English Song Series 10' Britten: Folk Song Arrangements and `English Song Series 13' Britten: Folk Song Arrangements, Vol. 2.

A final remark: this piano recital does not include the most famous Britten's setting of Blake's poetry - the `Sick Rose': this exceptional song is part of the `Serenade for Tenor, Horn and strings', Op. 31 and requires a combination of a tenor voice and a French Horn virtuoso. The versions recorded by Peter Pears with Dennis Brain are considered classical and do not need any introduction. From other recordings, I recommend a magnificent version with tenor Robert Tear and fantastic horn player Dale Clevenger, with Carlo Maria Giulini conducting the Chicago Symphony Orchestra The Chicago Principal: First Chair Soloist Play Famous Concertos.