Horder: Songs

On this CD:

1. Blow, Blow! for soprano, baritone & piano
Composed by Mervyn Horder

2. Under the Greenwood Tree
Composed by Mervyn Horder

3. It was a lover and his lass, for soprano, baritone & piano
Composed by Mervyn Horder

4. O Mistress Mine, for voice duet & piano
Composed by Mervyn Horder

5. When that I was and a little boy, for voice duet & piano
Composed by Mervyn Horder

6. Sigh No More, Ladies, for voice duet & piano
Composed by Mervyn Horder

7. Who is Sylvia? (Two Gentlemen of Verona, The, Act 4, Scene 2)
Composed by Mervyn Horder

8. Hymne to Love, for voice duet & piano
Composed by Mervyn Horder

9. On Himself, for voice duet & piano
Composed by Mervyn Horder

10. Bid Me to Live, for voice duet & piano
Composed by Mervyn Horder

11. Loveliest of Trees, for voice duet & piano
Composed by Mervyn Horder

12. Goldcups, for voice duet & piano
Composed by Mervyn Horder

13. Lent Lily, The, for voice duet & piano
Composed by Mervyn Horder

14. When I was one-and-twenty, for voice duet & piano
Composed by Mervyn Horder

15. White in the moon the long road lies, for voice & piano
Composed by Mervyn Horder

16. Stock Exchange, The, for voice duet & piano
Composed by Mervyn Horder

17. Orchard Street, for voice duet & piano
Composed by Mervyn Horder

18. Strand, The, for voice duet & piano
Composed by Mervyn Horder

19. Parson's Green, for voice duet & piano
Composed by Mervyn Horder

20. London Fields, for voice duet & piano
Composed by Mervyn Horder

21. Tower, The, for voice duet & piano
Composed by Mervyn Horder

22. Carry Her Over the Water, for voice duet & piano
Composed by Mervyn Horder

23. Stop All The Clocks, for voice duet & piano
Composed by Mervyn Horder

24. Lullaby, for voice duet & piano
Composed by Mervyn Horder

25. Not to be born, for voice & piano
Composed by Mervyn Horder

26. In Westminster Abbey, for voice duet & piano
Composed by Mervyn Horder

27. How to get on in society, for voice & piano
Composed by Mervyn Horder

28. Westgate-on-Sea, for voice & piano
Composed by Mervyn Horder

29. Caprice, for voice duet & piano
Composed by Mervyn Horder

30. Subaltern's Love-Song, for voice & piano
Composed by Mervyn Horder

31. My Own Dear Love, for voice & piano
Composed by Mervyn Horder

32. Unfortunate Coincidence, for voice & piano
Composed by Mervyn Horder

33. Bric à Brac, for voice & piano
Composed by Mervyn Horder

34. Bohemia, for voice & piano
Composed by Mervyn Horder

35. Song of the Dying Gunner AA1, for voice & piano
Composed by Mervyn Horder

36. I Saw A Jolly Hunter, for voice & piano
Composed by Mervyn Horder

37. Timothy Winters, for voice & piano
Composed by Mervyn Horder

38. Clear and Gentle Stream, for voice & piano
Composed by Mervyn Horder

39. My Delight and Thy Delight, for voice & piano
Composed by Mervyn Horder

40. I Love All Beauteous Things, for voice & piano
Composed by Mervyn Horder

Tracks:

You Spotted Snakes
No More Dams I'll Make For Fish
On A Day, Alack The Day
She Never Told Her Love
O Mistress Mine
Lawn, As White As Driven Snow
If Love Make Me Forsworn
O Happy Fair!
If Music Be the Food Of Love
Farewell, Thou Art Too Dear For My Posessing
When In Disgrace With Fortune And Men's Eyes
Shall I Compare Thee To A Summer's Day?
The Rain It Raineth Every Day
Orpheus With His Lute
Come Away Death
Fear No More The Heat o' The Sun
Take, O Take Those Lips Away
It Was A Lover And His Lass
Winter
When Daffodils Begin To Peer
Under The Greenwood Tree
Songs For Ariel - I. Come Unto These Yellow Sands
Songs For Ariel - II. Full Fathom Five
Songs For Ariel - III. Where The Bee Sucks
Who Is Silvia?
Francie
Sigh No More Ladies

Customer Reviews:

One of my Favorite CDs.......2004-02-19

In this wonderful collection of Shakespeare settings, Mr. Rolfe-Johnson creates a magical atmosphere using his unbelievable musicality and gorgeous, gorgeous voice! The songs themselves range from the sweet and charming "No more Dams!" to the heavenly interpretation of "She Never Told Her Love", but for me the high point of the whole CD is his incredible performance of the early version of Vaughan Willams' "Orpheus with his Lute"...this song alone is worth the price of the album! Mr. Rolfe Johnson is truly one of the worlds most exquisite tenors! A must have for every fan of English Song!

Melodious Shakespeare.......2001-01-24

This CD consists of a collection of settings of Shakespearian lines by composers ranging from the 18th to the mid-20th centuries. It is an ideal vehicle for finding a new way to enjoy these writings of Shakespeare and also experience the work of a number of British composers, some well-known and some not so well-known

Average customer rating:

Depth of Holy Week Captured
a voice teacher and early music fan

A Shropshire Lad

Manufacturer: Hyperion
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

Modern & 20th Century | Historical Periods | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

Customer Reviews:

Depth of Holy Week Captured.......2007-04-16

I bought this for the voices of Michael Chance and James Bowman, as well as for Robert King. Once again these two famous counter-tenors are teamed up. Both with different voices but the perfect blend. Tracks 3 and 4 are solos, and the rest duets, with the singers complimenting each other magnificently. If you enjoy the mysterious and lengthy sound of sacred music, focusing specifically on the voice, you will love this recording.

a voice teacher and early music fan.......2005-12-24

The sacred music of Couperin has an intensity and power rarely found in baroque church music. It was mostly scored for one, two or 3 voices and continuo; this CD is an excellent example of his work. The name "tenebrae" probably refers to the darkness that gradually spread during the service as candles were extinguished one by one until Matins ended in darkness. The first 2 lessons are for solo voice;the third is a duet. The disc begins with a Motet which was written in honor of the marytr St. Bartholomew during which the 2 voices imitate and chase each other in 3rds. The selection "Venite Exultemus Domino" is largely an exultant text with suspensions of great beauty and ending in a surprisingly low tessitura. To my mind the "Magnificat" with its variety of textual moods and rich harmony is the real "showcase" on this recording! And with the 2 great countertenor voices of Chance and Bowman we have the best possible rendition. They are a great team vocally for they blend well and indeed are very similar in their singing style, although I think Chance as the edge in overall performance. A great recording in every way.

Average customer rating:

A Rich Tapestry of Shakespearean Song
Very good collection of Incidental Music written for Shakespeare
Move over Dame Judy Dench
hard work
For Lieder fans

Shakespeare's Kingdom

Manufacturer: Hyperion
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Folk | Styles | Music

General | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

Modern & 20th Century | Historical Periods | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

Tracks:

D 891: An Silvia
Op. 107 No. 1: Herzeleid
Ophelia Lieder: Wie Erkenn' Ich Dein Treulieb?
Ophelia Lieder: Op. 67 No. 1: Wie Erkenn' Ich Mein Treulieb Vor Andern Nun?
Ophelia Lieder: Sein Leichenhemd Weiss Wie Schnee
Ophelia Lieder: Op. 67 No. 2: Guten Morgen, 'S Ist Sankt Valentinstag
Ophelia Lieder: Auf Morgen Ist Sankt Valentins Tag
Ophelia Lieder: Op. 67 No. 3: Sie Trugen Ihn Auf Der Bahre Bloss
Ophelia Lieder: Und Kommt Er Nicht Mehr Zuruck?
Op. 18 No. 2: La Mort D'Ophelie
La Mort D'Ophelie
Lady Macbeth - A Scena
Shakespeare's Kingdom
O Mistress Mine
Willow, Willow, Willow
Willow, Willow
Fancie
Fancy
Under The Greenwood Tree
Op. 22 No. 1: Take, O Take Those Lips Away
It Was A Lover And His Lass

Customer Reviews:

A Rich Tapestry of Shakespearean Song.......2006-11-26

This has long been one of my favorite thematic recital disks. Despite the mix of languages, composers, and musical eras, the program doesn't come off as a hodge podge. Shakespeare's humanity provides cohesion enough, abetted by thoughtful selections and faultless performances.

Sarah Walker is one of the most communicative singers around -- but her voice is hard to capture on disk: Felicity Lott and (believe it or not) Renée Fleming are other artists that the microphone doesn't seem to coddle. But this disk does full justice to Sarah Walker's warm and somewhat matronly sound. Her performances here are among my very favorite recordings of each song.

The program is half in German and French (all but the first on the subject of Ophelia), half in English. In several instances we get to hear settings of the same or similar text back to back. The contrasts are utterly fascinating, never smacking of academic tedium.

Mme Walker's "An Sylvia" is one of my top three interpretations of this delightful song, up there with Ameling on Philips and Ainsley on Hyperion. The heartbreaking Schumann setting "Herzeleid," is a minor masterpiece, a seldom heard song from late in the composer's career. It introduces the Ophelia sequence. Accompanist Graham Johnson ingeniously programmed the angular Ophelia-Lieder by Strauss between fragments of the same texts by Brahms that are more archaic in style. Berlioz's melting version of "La Mort d'Ophelia" (a translation of Gertrude's report) is followed by a rare setting of the same verses by Saint-Saens that is a more standard, third-person ballad account. It doesn't equal the immortal lament that Berlioz fashioned, but it's certainly of interest and gets a vivid performance here.

The Lady Macbeth scena, composed by one Joseph Horovitz, is another rarety, and deserving of its centerpiece position in this recital. It's a convincing example of modern declamatory style, the ideal mode of expression for this antiheroine. The recital concludes with a group by well-known English song composers: Elgar, Parry, Grainger, etc. Not a nit to pick here, every song is a gem. We get two haunting versions of "Willow, Willow" and two beguiling versions of "Fancy" (Britten and, of all people, Poulenc!). I especially loved Geofrey Bush's setting of "It was a Lover and His Lass" -- a rousing, syncopated send-off.

In short, this recital is utterly absorbing from beginning to end. I recommend it heartily.

Very good collection of Incidental Music written for Shakespeare.......2005-12-09

'Shakespeare's Kingdom' is NOT another collection of attempts to recreate what music actually played at the Globe Theatre may have actually sounded like. Rather, it is a collection of short musical pieces written largely by European composers to passages from Shakespeare's plays.

The most famous contributors are Shubert, Shumann, Brahms, Richard Strauss, Berlioz, Grainger, and Brittin. Obvious by its absence is any part of Mendelsohn's major musical works done for the performance of 'A Midsummer Night's Dream'. This is no great loss, as there are numerous good performances of this work.

I give this but four stars not because the works are not sufficiently stellar, but becuase this recording is more of a sampler which will do much to interest you in other works by these composers, but the works themselves do not really hang together very well one with the other. The pieces are written in both English and German and come from a wide variety of Shakespeare's tragedies and comedies.

This is a great Hyperion quality recording if you can find it cheap.

Move over Dame Judy Dench.......2002-05-28

If you love Shakespeare, and / or Brahms, Schubert, Schumann, Berlioz and R. Strauss, you need to have this superb album in your collection. Walker is the most gratifying performer in opera and lieder, for beauty of voice (ravishing, audible silk); technique (perfection), intelligence (never-failing); phrasing (absolutely unsurpassed); and interpretation -- Walker does not merely "sell" a song, or act convincingly, she etches her performance on your soul. Just listen to her interpretation of the excerpts from MacBeth, set to music by Joseph Horovitz: Walker is a candidate for best Lady MacBeth. One wonders what she would do with the part as straight drama. If that isn't enough, she caresses the Schumann and the Berlioz, nails the Brahms (no accompaniment -- totally exposed voice), and slinks away with the tango "Under the Greenwood Tree." And if you think this album is great, wait until you hear her Schubert; Blah, blah, blah; and Julius Caesar (there is no other Cornelia but Walker.)

hard work.......2002-05-24

I bought this CD for one reason only: Richard Strauss' Ophelia's songs. 3 songs out of the whole CD that are wonderful by themselves, and very rare to find. Sarah Walker has a very good voice that gives Ophelia's maddness a tragic and touching colour.

Allas!...
This is a theme CD, and as such, they thought more of the concept and less of the listeners. Ophelia's cycle is made of 3 songs. we were unlucky enough to have another version to that song cycle - by Brahms. For some bizzare reason, the producers of this CD decided to brake the cycles. you hear one song of Strauss, and then one of Brahms etc'.
That's outragious, and dumb.
Still, if you can program your stereo, it's worth the buy just for that magical cycle. Truely one of a kind.

For Lieder fans.......1999-11-24

Here are a handful of songs from many different composers, while all texts are selected from Shakespeare's work. Most of them are well enough, although some are very rare and not outstanding, not in a standard repertoire. For example, this CD contains as well the well-known "Was ist Sylvia" by Schubert as "Willow, Willow" by Grainger (a truely wonderful song). And the result is a many-different-style CD. Walker and Johnson's performace are pretty well.For me, "Sylvia" is the most convincing interpretion among all other versioons. Walker's tone are dark and tragic, fits almost the songs here(I like especially the Orphelia suite by Brahms and R.Strauss). It can be more shiny in some obscure songs. The recording is a bit hollow.