SIR EDWARD ELGAR (1857 - 1934)

Three Part-songs O p 18 Q0:30) (M7EI

1 0 Happy Eyes (S:02) Allegretto

2 Love (2:46) Allegretto

3 My Low dwelt in a Northern Land (432) Moderato

Five Part-songs from The Greek dathoiogy Op 45 (7:51)

InBBI rn 1 Yea, cast me from

Heights of the Mountains (I:29] Allegretto con luoco

fl 2 Whether 1 Find Thee (1:07] Allemtto

El 3 After man; a Dusty Mile Allegretto

4 It's oh1 to be a Wild Wind Allegretto

5 Wasting I Watch Allegro

Four Part-songs Op 53 F-mBI

1 There Is Sweet Music Andante

8 2 Deep in my Soul Andante espressivo

3 0 wild West Wlnd! Nobilmente - Alleyo moderato

4 Owls (An Epitaph) Moderato

2

Two Partesongs Op. 7 1 (6:28) ISATBI

1 c he ~hbwer (255) Moderato

2 The Fountain (227) Allegro moderato

Death on the Hills Op. 72 1.408) (SShArrSJs)

Moderato

Two Part-songs Op. 73 (5:04) 1MTB)

1 Love's Tempest (2511 Adagio - Arlegm con tuoco

2 Serenade (2:Q8) Allegretto - Comodo

How Calmly the Evening (2:52) WTEI

Andante con moto

Weary Wind of the West (3:12) WTS)

Noderato

Evening Scene (3: 20) (H Tfil

Moderato

The Prince of Sleep (4:54) WTBJ

Larghetto

Go, Song of Mine Op 57 (5:32) [SSAATTBB)

Lento solenne

THE FINZI SINGERS Paul Spicer Director

Sopranos Anna Crookes Juliet Schiernann Rachel Wheatley Belinda Yates Lindsay Wagstaff

Altos Susanna Spicer Richard Wyn Roberts Camllne S toner Stephen Carter

Tenors James Oxley Andrew Carwood Tom Philllps Simon Davies

Base5 Robert Hollingworth Roderick W~lliams Noel Mann Paul Robinson Paul Grier

T HE composition of part-songsoccupied Elgar throughout his career. Many of them are rnaster- pieces which hold as much o i the secret Elgar as some of his works in larger forms. Some. too, are of a peculiar domestic intimacy, such as the three songswhich form Opus 18.0 Happy

Eycs is a setting of words by the composer's wife Alice and was composed in 1890, the year after their weddlng. Its lyricism reflects the couple's happiness. I t was published in 1896, but i t s companion, Love, was not added until Elgar's fiftieth birthday. 2 June 1907, when he set this poem by Arthur Naquarie as a tribute to Alice's encouragement over the years. Ro doubt he remembered how in 1889 she wrote alternative words to fit the rnuslc of My Love dwelt in a Plorthern Landwhen the author of the poem, Andrew Lang, seemed likely to refuse permission for use of hls text. But he relented, gracelessly, and the part-songwas the first music by Elgar to be published by IYovello's. in 1890. I t is an attractive setting, with a central melody that is unmistalrably 'Elgarian'.

Part-songs were in demand at the beginning of the 20th century when the competitive music festlval movement was growing in popularity, especially in the North of England. In Movemkr 1902. Elgar wrote five settings for male voice choir of translations by English poets contributing to an anthology of Greek verse. These were not designed as competition pieces, being first sung by the London Choral Society in the Royal Albert Hall in 1904, but they were soon taken up by competing choirs, who relished their humour and colour. The start of Yea, cast me from Heights may strike some listeners as a vocal foreshadowing of the sweeping opening of the Introduction and Allegro for Stringsof 1905. A crack choir is needed to bring off the whispered asides in It's oh! to be a Wild Wind as fancifully as Elgar wished.

The four songs of Opus 53 are dedicated to close friends and obviously reflect deep feelings. They were written in Rome in February 1907 when Elgar's thoughtswere beginning to dwell on his First Symphony and they have an expansiveness and colour which suggest orchestral treatment. There is Sweet Music (words by Tennyson) is dedicated to Canon Charles Gorton, who was chairman of the Morecambe competitive festival and was consulted by Elgar about the librettos of Tht Apostles and The Klngdom. The Byron setting. &ep in my Soul, rornantlc and mysterious, b dedicated to Ma Julia Worthington, a wealthy ArnerIcan hostess at whose villa in Italy the Elgars stayed. I t is in E flat, as is 0 wild West Wind (Shelley), the most challenging of the set, marked nobilmente and 'with great animation: The dedicatee is W. O. NcAaught, who edited The Musical Times and was a fellow-adjudicator with Elgar at Norecambe. The masterpiece of Op 53 is the haunting Owls, also

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in E flat, described as an epitaph and dedicated to'my friend fietro d' Alba: He was a white angora rabbit belonging to Elgar's daughter Carlce. The words are by Elgar, who sald the song 'means nothing. I t is in a wood at night evidently and the recurring "Nothing" is only an owlish sound'. He never wrote a more eerie song and the words mean a lot: 'A wild thing hurt in the night, and i t cries in its dread, till it lies dead a t the foot of the tree'.

I t was W.G. MclYaught who suggested that Elgar should call his Opp 71 and 72 'choral songs' in recognition of their ambitious scope. The two comprising Op71 are settings of Henry Vaughan. the 17th century mystic. They were composed in 1914 and again enshrlne personab memories. The serenely lovely The Showerrernembers a drive Elgar and his wife took to Totteridge - 'lovely there: Lady Elgar wrote in her dlary, 'larks singingand water Iiliescomingout'. In the diatonic dream-idyll The Fountain, a trip lo Kill Hill with Alice Stuart Wortley was the inspiration.

'One of the biggest things I have ever done' was Elgar's verdict on Death on the Hills, Rosa Newmarch's translation of a Russian poem by Mafkov about Death selecting his victims in a village. The basses represent Death, the remainder of the chorus the villagers.

Another Maikov poem translated by Newmarch wasset in 1914 as the first of Elgar's Op 73. Love's Tempest is a passionate outpouring, beginning as calmly as the 'sapphire ocean' and mounting to a tumult of love 'wilder than the storm at sea: Its companion-piece, Serenade, is a haunting example of Elgar's way with dreams, always a potent stimulus to him. All the poems of these 1914 songs seem to have been chosen to illustrate some emotional turmoil. But 'homely but felt' is how Elgar described the tranquil How Calmly the Evening once more is descending, a 1907 composjtion.

The last four part-songs on this disc begin with another in E Rat. Weary Wind oftbe West, to words by the Manx poet T. E. Brown, was composed in 1902 as a Morecambe Festival test-piece and is still a test of a choir's control of pitch and dynamics. Elgar conducted the first performance before an audience of over 6,000. Evening Scene, in D minor, was written in 1935 as a tribute to the bank manager R. G. H. Howson who was described by Elgar as 'the muslcai soul' of the Morecambe Festival. This exquisite settlng of Coventry Patmore was likened by A.J.Jaeger ('Nimrod') to Schubert and Elgar regarded it as 'my best bit of landscape so far in that line'. With The Prince of Sleep we move forward to 1925. Elgar set this Walter de la Hare poem in the rapt manner he reserved for special moments of vision.

Go, Song of Mine is Elgar's greatest work for unaccompanied chorus. He wrote it in Italy 5

in 1909 and we can hear in i t anticipations of the Violin Concerto and kcond Symphony. Its c!imax has all Elgar's 'stately sorrow' but is in reallty a quotation from the Liebestod i n Wagner s Tristan und Isolde. Here once again, in a setting of words by Cavalcanti translated by D.G. Rossetti, we penetrate to the secret heart of Elgar.

@ 1994 Michael Kennedy

E DWARD E K A R komponierte im Laufe seines Lebens immer wieder 'part-songs' (rnehrstimmige Gesangssthcke). Viele von ihnen sind Meisterwerke, die das "Geheirnnis Elgar" ebenso enthalten wie manche seiner gr68eren Werke. DarLiberhinaus besitzen einige von ihnen eine

eigenthmliche, fast hsuslich zu nennende Intimitit, wie etwa die drei Lieder des Opus 18. Der Text t u C Happy Eyesstammt von Elgars frau Alice: Elgar schrieb dieses Lied 1890, ein Jahr nach ihrer Hochzeit. In der Lyrik des Liedes spiegelt sich das junge Gliick des Paares wider. Vefiffentlicht wurde O Happy Eyesim Jabr 1896, wahrend Love, das meit.? Lied aus Opus 18, erst zu Elgars 50. Geburtstag am 2. Juni 1907 hinzugefogt wurde. Mit dieser Vertonungeines Gedichtesvon Arthur Naquariewollte Llgar seiner Frau ihr ihre langjahrige Unteathtzung danken. Zweiiellos erinnerte er sich an cine Situation im Jahr 1889, als Alice einen Text geschriehn hatle, der der Musik zu My love dwelt in a northern Land unterlcgt werden sollte. Seinerzeit nimlich schien es wahrscheinlich, dafl der Autor des Qedichtes. Andrew Lang, die Erlaubnis zur Benutzung seines Textes wnveigern wurde. Doch Lang liefi sich am Ende uberreden, und so wurde dieser 'part-song' die erste Komposition. die Elgar 1890 ki NoveIFo ver6ffentlichen konnte, Ls ist ein reizvolles Stuck mit einer zentralen Nelodie, die unverkennbar Elgars Handschrift tragt.

In England - und zwarvor allem im norden des Landes - wurden zu Beginn des 20. Jahrhunderts Musik-FestlvaIs, bei denen Chdre und Ensembles miteinander tvetteiferten, immer beliebter. Durch diese steigende Zahl von Chorwettbewerben gewannen 'part-songs' in dieser Zeit immer mehr an Attraktivitit. Im November 1902 schrieb Elgar funf Kompositionen fGr Minnerchor, denen Dbersetzungen einer griechischen Gedichtanthologie durch englische Dichter zugrundelagen. Die

Stiicke waren urspronglich nicht far Wettbewerbe gedacht, doch schon bald nachdem die London Choral Society diese Kornpositionen im Jahr 1934 erstmals in der Royal Albert Hall gesungen hatte. wurden sie von einer Reihe von Ch6ren in ihr Repertoire aufgenommen: geschitzt wurden die Sthcke vor allem wegen ihres Murnors und ihrer Farbigheit. Der Beginn von Yea, cast me from Heights mag einigen l-idrer wieeine vokale Vorwegnahme der rauschenden Emfhung zu lntroductlon and Allegro for Strings von 1905 erscheinen, Nur ein sehr versierter Chor wird in der Lage sein, die geflilsterten Phrasen in It's oh! to be a Wild Wind in einer solch geheimnisvollen Weise vorzutragen, wie Elgar sich das wohl vorgestellt hat.

Die vier Lleder des Opus 53 hat Elgar engen Preunden gewidmet: in ihnen spiegeln sich tiefe Gefihle wider. Geschrieben wurden sie im Februar 1907 in Rom, als Elgar bereits uber seine erste Sinfonie nachzudenken begann. Die Lieder zelgen eine Weite und Farbigheit, die schon an Orchestetwerke denken lassen. There is Sweet Music nach Worten yon Tennyson ist Canon Charles Gorton gewidmet, der Organisator des Norecambe Festivals war: elgar hatte Gorton in Pragen zu den Libretti von The Apostles und The Ringdom mehrfach zu Rate gezogen. Die romantische und geheimnisvollt Byron-Vertonung Deep in my Soul widmete Elgar Julia Warthington, einer wohlhabenden Amerikanerin, in deren italienischer Villa die Elgars gewohnt hatten. Deep in my Soul steht in €2-Dur, ebenso wie 0 wild West Wind (Sherley), das man woht als das schwierigste Lied der Sammlung bezeichnen kann. 0 wild West Wind tr igt die Bezeichnung nobilmente und "with great animation". Gewidrnet ist dieses Lied W. O. Kcnaught, dem Herausgeber der Musical Times, der zusammen mit Elgar in der Jury des Wettbewerbs in Morecambe sa0. Das Meisterwerk aus Opus 53 ist wohl Owls in e-MoI1, ein Stack, das den Zuhorer njcht mehr losliflt. Elgar schrieb es als Epitaph auf "meinem Preund Pietro d' Alba': - das weifie Angorakaninchen seiner Tochter Carice. Auch der Text dieses Liedes starnmt von Elgar, der darnber sagte. das Lied "bedeutet eigentlich nichts. Es splelt nachts Im Wald und be1 dem wiederkehrenden 'Nothing' handelt es sich lediglich urn den Ruf der Eule:' Elgar schrieb wohl kein Lied, das Owls an Unheimlichkeit noch irbertrfife, und in Wirklichkeit bedeuten die \Vorte viel: "Ein wildes Wesen verletzt i n der Nacht, und esschreit in der Mot, bis es tot daliegt, am Fusse des Baurnes:'

W. G. McMaught regte Elgar dazu an, seine Opera 71 und 72 als "ChorgesBnge" zu bezeichnen, urn sie damit ins rechte Licht zu setzen. In den zwei Liedern aus Opus 71 vertonte Elgar Texte von Henry Vaughan, einem Mystiker aus dem 17. Jahrhundert. Elgar komponierte die Lieder, denen

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wiederum personliche Erinnerungen zugrundeliegen, im Jahr 1914. Das heitere TheShowererinnert an eine Pahrt, die Elgar zusammen mit seiner Frau Alice nachTotteridge machte. Elgars Frau schrieb

i dazu in ihrem Tagebuch: "(Es war) schBn dort mit den singenden Lerchen und den Wasserlilien, I die gerade aufbluhen", Zu dem diatonischen Traum-Idyll The Fountain wurde Elgar durch eine Fahrt

mit Alice Stuart Wortley nach Mill Hill inspiriert. Uber Death on the Hills sagte Elgar selbst einmal, es sei eines der "gr65ten Dinge, die ich je

geschaffen habe': Er vertonte hier Rosa Newmarchs Obersetzung eines russischen Gedichtes von Maihov, in dem der Tod in eintm Dorfseine Opfer sucht. DIe Basse stehen fur den Tod, die iibrigen Stimmen des Chores for die Bewohner des Dorfes. Im ersten Lied aus Opus 75 vertonte Elgar 1914 ein weiteres Gedicht Maikovs, ebenfalls in einer

hersetzung von Rosa Newmarch. Love's Tempest ist ein Lied leidenschaftlicher Gefohle: es beginnt zunichst ruhig wle der "blauschimmernde Ozean", urn sich dann zu einer wilden Liebe zu stelgern, '"wilder als ein Sturm auf 5ee". Das zweite Stiick, Srenade, zeigt eindrucksvoll, wle sehr Triume Elgar Inspitierten. Elgar scheint allc Gedichte, die diesen 1914 entstandenen Liedern zugrunde Ilegen, ausgewahlt zu haben, urn verschiedene emotionale Situationen musikalisch zu illustrieren. Demgfgenuber besch~ibt cr das im Jahr 1907 entstandene ruhige Lied How Calmly the Evening once more is descending als "anheirnelnd, doch voller Empfinduagen".

Weary Windofthe West, das erste Lied in der letzten Gruppe von 'part-songs' auf dieser C4 steht wieder in e-mall, Elgar homponierte es im Jahr 1902 nach einem Text van T. E. Brown; er schrieb Weary Wind of the Westeigens als Wettbewerbs-Stilck ihr das Morecambe Festival, und es ist auch heute noch ein Werk, das sich bestens eignet. am die Fihigkeiten eines Chores in Bezug auf Intonation und dynamische Abstulungen za pr6fen. Die erste Auffohrung vor irber 6.000 ZuhBrern dirigierte Elgar selber. Evening Scene, i n d-Moll, entstand 1905 als Dank an den Bankmanager R. G. H. Howson, den Elgar als die "musikalische Seele" des Morecambe Festivals bezeichnete. A. J. Jaeger verglich dieses vorzhgliche Werk mil Schubert, und Elgar selbst betrachtete es als seine "bisher beste Landschaftsschilderung dieser Art''. The Prince of Sleep bringt uns in das Jahr 1925. Elgar vertonte dieses Gedicht von Walter de [ a Mare in einer geradezu versunkenen WeIse, die er besonderen Traumbildern vorbehielt.

Go, Song of Mine ist Elgars wichtlgstes Werk f i r a cappella-Chor. Er schrieb es 1909 in Italien, und man kann hier btreits Anhlinge an das Yiolinkonzert und an die Zweite Sinfonie

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erkcnnen. Der H6hepunkt dieses Werkes zeigt den f ~ I r Elgar typischen Ausdruck von "getragener Trauer" und ist doch in Wirklichkeit ein Zltat aus dem Liebestad von Wagnets Tristan und lsolde. In dieset Vertonung eines Gedichtes von Cavalcanti, das D. 6. Rossetti iibersetzt hat. zeigt sich uns Elgar noch einmal in seiner ganzen G ~ B e .

@ 1994 MichaeI Kennedy Ubersetzung: Antonie van Schbnleld

T OUT au longde sa caniere, Elgars'est dedle a lacomposltlon dechansons a plusleunvoix. 5on nombre d'entre elles sont des chefs-d'oeuvre rhelant %a quintessence de sa musique aussi ouvertement que ses oeuvres de plus grandc envergure. Certaines, comme les trois mklodies

de I Op 18, prksentent un caractere intime. 0 Happy Eyes a t te composie en 1890 sur un texte de la femme du compositeur, Alice, I'annee qui suivit leur mariage. Son lyrisme reflete le bonheur du nouveau couple. Elle fut pub1it.e en 1896, mais son pendant, Love, ne fut ajoute que lors du cinquantikme annivmaire d' Elgar, le 2 fuin 1907. Cetk chanson, sur un poeme &Arthur Maquarle. est un hommage a sa femme qui I'encouragea pendant des annees. II a dir certainement se rappeler qu'en 1889 elle avait ecrit des paroIes pour rernplacer celIes du potme My Lovedwelt in a Northern

-Land, dont I'auteur, Andrew brig, sernblait voulolr refuser I'autorlsatlon d'utlllserson texte. Mais celui-ci ckda de mauvaise grice, et cette chanson fut la premiere p i k e d'Elgar ii etre publike par Novello, en 1890. 11 s'agit d'une charmante chanson, dont la melodie de la section centrale est typique du compositeur.

k s chansons a plusieurs voix avaient une certaine popularitk au debut du XXeme sikcle, Iorsque les concours devenaient de plus en plus a la mode, surtout en Angleterre du Hord. En novernbre 1902 Elgarecrivit'cinq pikes pour chceur d'hommes sur des textes traduits par des poetes anglais appartenant a une anthologie de pokiegrecque. Cependant elles ne furent tout d' abord pasconcues comme des pitces de concours, ayant ete chantees initialement par la Societe chorale dc Londres (London Choral Society) au Royal Albert Hall en 1904, mais elles Furent rapidement adoptees par

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His garb was grey of lavender, A h u t his head a poppy wreath Burned like dim coals, and everywhere The air was sweeter for his breath.

His twilight feet no sandals wore. His eyes shone faint in thelr own flame. Fair moths that gtoorned his steps before Seemed letters of his lovely name.

His house is in the mountaln ways. A phantom house of misty walls. Whose golden flocks at evening graze. And witch the moon with muffled call%

UpwllTng from hls shadowy springs Sweet waters shake a trembling 5ound. There flit the hoot+wl's silent wings, There hath his web the silk worm wound.

Dark in hls pools clear visions lurk, And rosy, as with morning buds, Along his dales of broom and birk Dreams haunt his solitary woods.

Wallet de la Mare

Go, Song of Mine DishevelI'd and in tears, go song of mine To break the hardness ol the heart of man: Say how his life began From dust, and in that dust doth sink supine: Yet. say, the unerrlng spirit of griel shall

guide His soul, being purifled. To seek its Maker at the heav'nly shrine.

Gufdo Cavalcantl, transbled R G. Rossetli

des chmurs rivaux en raison de leur richesse d'humour et de couleurs. k debut de Yea, cast me from Heights peut frapper par son anticipation du debut de I'lntrodrrction et Allegro pour cordes de 1905. Pour que les a park chuchotes de It's oh1 to be a Wild Wind sotent rkalisks selon les intentions de I'auteur, cette piece requiert un choeur de niveau supirieur.

Les quatre melodlesde I'Op 53 sont dedieesa des amis tres prochesdu compositeur, etreiletent des sentiments profonds. Elles fuwnt ecrites a Rome pendant le mois de fhrier 1907, a unt epoque ou Elgar cornmenqait a songer i sa Remikresymphonie, et leur ampleur et leurscouleurs permettent d'kvoquer des sonorites orchestrales. There is Swect Music (sur des paroles de Tennyson) est dedie a Canon Charles Gorton, qui ttait pksldent du concours de Morecambe, et qu'Elgar awit consulte pour les livrets de The Apostles et The Kingdom, La chanson sur un texte, profond et rornantique, de Byron, Deep in my Soul, est dediee a Mme. Julia Worthington, richc dame americaine possedant une villa en ltalie dans laquelle habitkrent Elgar avec sa femme. Comme O wjld West Wind (sur un pdme de Shelley), la pius importante de la sirie, cette chanson est en rnt bemol majeur. Le

1 dedlcataire en est W.G.NcMaught, directeur du Musical rimes et, avec Elgar, 1' un des membres du jury de Morecambe. Lechef-d'muvre de I' Op 53 est Owls(Hiboux), egalement en mi kmol, designe

I commekpitaphe, et dedit 3 I"'amj [d'Elgar] Pietro d' Alba': 11 s' agit d' un lapin angora appartenant a la IilIe du composIteur, Carice. k s paroles sont d'Elgar lui-meme, qui affinna que cette chanson "ne signifie rlen. Cela se passe dans un bois, la nuit, e t le "'ricn" qui revient sans cesse n'est que It son d' un hibou". Elgar n' a jamais kcrit une melodie plus itrange, et les mots sont riches de sens:

I "Un ktre sauvage blese dans la nuit, qul crledans Son angoisse, jusqu'au moment ou il est allongk, ' mort, aux pieds de l'arbre".

I C'est W. G. McMaught qul a suggere a Elgar d'appeler ses Op. 71 et 72 des 'Thansons chorales': pensant que ce litre serait approprik a la conception ambitieuse de I'czuvre. Les deux melodles de I'Op. 71 sont sur des textes de Henry Vaughan, le mystique du XYlleme siecle. Elles furent composks en 1914, et recelent dcs souvenirs personnels. uatmosphere paisible de The Shower kvoque une excursion a Totteridge effectuee par le couple Elgar ("'dans ce lieu agrkable les alouetks chantent et Ics nympheas surgisant de I'eau': ecrivit la remme du compositeur dans son journal). L idylle oniriqut The Fountaha Ote inspirk par une autre excursion a Mi11 Hill, toujoursen cornpagnje doAlice Stuart Wortley.

Death on the Hills, sur un poerne russe de Maikov traduit par Rosa Newmarch. a ett deflnj par 10

le compositeur comme I'une des ses ceuvres les plus Importantes, parlant de la Mort qul choislt ses victimes dans un village. La Mort est representee par les basses, les autres voix repesentant les villageois.

Un autre poeme de Waikov, toujours dans la traduction de Newmarch, fut misen musique en 1914, comme premiere piece de I' Op. 73, love's Tempest commence aussi paisiblement que I"bcPan de saphir" pour atteindre son apogee "wilder than the storm at sea". Son pendant, Serenade, est un exernple de la stimulation ckatrice qu'Elgar a toujours regu des rkves. Tous les poemes de ces chansons de 1914 sembtent avoir ete choisis pour leur atmosphere de trouble des passions, How Calmly the Evening once more is descending, compose en 1907, a tte decrit par le compositeur comme "simple mais touchant".

La premiere des quatre dernieres chansons a plusleurs volx flgurant sur ce disque. Weary Wind of the West, sur un texte du poete de I' Ile de Man, T. C. Brown, est en mi bemol majeur. Elle a kt6 composk en 1904 comme p i ke de concoua pour le festlval de Morecambe. Elle fut crkee devant un public de ptus de six mille spectateurs. Evening Scene, en re mineur, ht composh en 1905 pour le directeur de banque R. G, H, Howson, qu'elgar a definf comme "l'ame musicale" du festival de Morecambe. Cette chanson, sur des vers dc Coventry Patmore, et qu' Elgar considkrait comme sa rneilleure *ussite dans cette lignee de compositions, a etO rapprochee par A. J. Jaeger ("nimrod) deschubert. La suivante. TheFrinceofSlwp, datede 1925. Elleestcompseesur un kxtede Walter de la Ware, et kvel t I'atmosphere enchantke typique de certaines pikes d'elgar.

Go, Song of Mine est la plus importante des muvres pour chum a cappella (Elgar. Elle a ete composee en 1909 en Italie, et anticipe certains aspects du Concerto pour violon et de la Deuxieme symphonic. Malgk son caractkre majestueux typique du compositeur, elle at en realite une citation du Liebestod de Tristan et fsolde de Wagner. Encore une fois, dans cette piece sur un pokme de Cavalcanti traduit par D. G. Rossetti, on pinetre dans Ee plus profond dc I'lrne d'Elgar.

@ 1994 MIchael Kennedy Traduction: Angela Canton1

THREE EARLY PART-SOAGS O p 18 I 0 n.pw Eye. 0 happy eyes. For p u will set

My loue, my lady pass today: What I may not, that may you say And ask for answer daringly.

a happy eyes. 0 happy Awr'rs that touch her dress, That touch her d m and t a k her smile. 0 whisper to her all the while Some words of love in idleness, 0 happy flow'rs

0 happy airs that touch her cheek. And lightly kiss and float away, So careless as I f ln play, Why take ye all the joy I seek?

0 happy eyes my love to see. Alasl alas1 I may not greet With word or touch my lady sweeL More happy eyes, say all for me.

C. Alrre Elgar

, mLwe Llke tile rosy northern glow

i Flushing on a moonless night Whrre the world is levelled snow, So thy light.

! In my time of outer gloom Thou didst wme, a tender lure: Thou, when life was but a tomb. Beamedst pure.

Thus I tookd to heav n again. Yearning up wlth eager eyes, As sunflow'rs alter drearj rain Drtnk the skies,

Oh glow on and brighter g[ow, k t me wer gaze on thee, Lest I lose warm hope and so Cease to be.

Arthur Maquarie

a My Love dwelt In a Aortltera Land My love dwelt in a northern land, A dim t a w r in a forest green Was his, and far away the sand And gray wash of the waves was

seen The woven forest boughs betwen:

And through the Northern summer night

The sunset slowly died away, And herds ol strange deer, siluer white, Came gleaming through the lorest

gray, And fled like ghosts before the day.

And OR, that month, we watch'd the mmn

Wax great and white o'er wood and lawn,

And wane, with waning of the June. Till. like a brand Tor battle drawn, She fell, and flamed in a wild dawn.

I know not if the iorest green Still girdles round that castte gray, 1 know not if the boughs between The white deer vanish ere the day: The grass above my love ts, green, His heart is colder than the clay.

Andrew b n g

FIVE PART-SONGS PROM THE GREEK Rest: and then, on Ireshcned feet. ANTHOLOOY Op 45 You shall pass the forest through

Yea, cast me from Heights of tlie Mountains It is Pan that tounxls you. Yea. cast me from heights 01 the mountains to anon, translated Edmund Gosse

deeps of the ocean. Let the thunderblt stike me, o'enuhelm me with

fire or with snow! Since him whom Lave's burden hath crushed, and

whom Ems hatb brown. not wen the sw~ft.wing@d lightnings of Zeus can

o'crthrow! man., translated Alma Streftell

Whether I Find Thee Whether I And thee bright wlth talr. Or st111 as bright with raven hair Wtth equal grace thy tresses shine. Ah, queen, and low will dwell dlvine In the? thy lochs, on that far day, When gold or mblr turns to grey'

anon., transfated Andrew fang

Afkr many a Dusty Mile After many a dusty mile. Wand'rer, linger here awhile: Stretch your limbs in this long grass: Through these pines a wind shall pass That shall cool you with its wing.

Grasshoppen shall shout and slng. While the shepherd on the h~l l , Near a Fountain warbling still. Modulates, when noon is mute. Summer songs along his flute;

Underneath a spreading tree. None so easy-limbed as he, Sheltered Imm the dog5tar's heat.

It's oh1 to bc a Wild Wind It's oh! to be a wild wind - when my lady's In the

sun, She'd just unbind her neckrchlel and tak me

breathing in.

It's oh!tobea red rose - justa Faintly blushing one, So she'd pull me with her hand and to her snowy

breast I'd win. anon.. transhted W. IY. ffard~nge

kasting I watch Feasting I watch with westward-looking eye The Dashing constellations' pageantry Solemn and splendid: then anon 1 wreathe My hair, and warbling to my harp I breathe My full heart forth, and know the hcav'ns look down.

Pleased, tor they also have their Lyre and Crown. Marcus Argentarius,

translbted Richard Garnett

WUR PART-S(IAGS O p 53 mere i s Sweet Music There Is sweet rnuslc here that softer tall$ Than petals from blown mses on the grass, Or night dews on still waters between walls Of shadowy granite, in a gleaming pass Music that gentlier on the spirit lies. Than tlr'd eyelids upon tird eyes: Music that brings sweet sleep down from the

blissful skies.

Here are cool mosses deep. And tbro' the moss the ivies creep And in the stream the long.leaved flowers weep And from the craggy ledge the poppy hangs in sleep

Alfred. Lord Tenrayson

Deep i n my Soul Deep in my soul that tender secret dwells. Lonely and lost to light for evermore. Saw when to thine heart responsive swells Then trembles into sllence as before.

There, in its centre, a sepulchral lamp Burns the slow flame, eternal but unseen: Which not the darkness ol Despalr can damp Though vain its my as i t had never k n .

l o rd Byron

0 wlld West Wind! 0 wlld West Windl Make me thy lyre, ekn as the forest is, What il my lcaws are falling like its own! The tumult of the mighty harmonies

I Will take from both a deep autumnal tone. Sweet thd in sadness harmonies. Be thou, Spirit

fierce, My spirit! Be thou me, impetuous one!

I Driw my dead thoughts over the universe. , L ~ k e withered leaves to quicken a new birth!

And by the incantation of this wem. I

%alter, as lrom an unextinguished hearth Ashes and sparks, my words among manklnd! Be through my lips to unawakened earth

The trumpet of a prophecy! 0 wind! If Wtnter comes, can Spring be far behind?

Percy Rysshe Shelley

b? Owls (An Epitaph] What 1s that? . .flothlng: The leaves must fall, and falling, rustle: That is all: They are dead As they fall, - Dead at the foot of the tree: All that can be is said. What is it?. .flolhing,

What is that?.. .Nothing A wild thing hurt in the night, And i t crles In ~ t s dread. Till i t lies Dead at the hot of the tree: All that can be is said. What i s it?. .. Nothing.

What is that?. .. Ah! A marching slow of unseen feet That is all: But a bier, spread With a pall. Is now at the foot or the tree: All that could be 1s said: I t is.. . what?.. .nothing.

Edward Elgar

TWO PART-SOAGS O p 71 The Shower Cloud, i l as thou dost melt, and with thy train Of drops m a k soft thc Earth, my eyes could weep O'er my hard heart, that's bound up and asleep; Perhaps at last, Some such showers past. fly God would glue a sunshlne after rain.

iferrry Vaughan

The Fountain The unthrift sun shot vital gold. A thousand, thousand pieces: And heau n Its azum, did untold Chequer'd wtth snowy fleeces: The air was all in spice. And ev'ry bush A garland wore: Thus fed my eyes. But all the earth lay hush. Only a little fountain lent Some use for ears. And on the dumb shades language spent, The muslc of her tears.

Henry Vaughan

Death on the Rills Why o'er the dark'ning hiIl-slopes Do dusky shadows creep? Because the wind blows keenly there. Or rainstoms lash and leap?

No wind blows chill upon them, nor are they lastid by rain: 'Tis Death who rides across the hills With all his shadowy train.

The old brlng up the co*ge. In front the young folk ride. And on Oeathg saddle in a row The babes sit side by slde.

The young folk Ilk thelr volces. The old folk plead wlth Death: '0 let us take the village road. Or by the brook draw breath.

There let the old drink water. There let the young folk play. And let Me little children run And pluck the blossoms gay:

(Death speaks) '[ must not pass the village Nor halt beside the rill, For there the wives and mothers all Their buckets take to fill.

The wile might see her husband. The mother see her son: So c[ose they'd cling - their clasp-ings Could never b t undone:

Malkov, translatea Rosa Newmarch

TWO PhRT.SONGS O p If Low's Tempest Silently lay the sapphtre ocean. Till tempest came to wake All its roaring, seething blllows That upon earth's ramparis break.

Quiet was my heart wtthin me. Till your image, suddenly Rising there, awoke a tumult W~lder than the storm at sea.

RarRov, translated Rosa flewmarch

Serenade Dreams all too brief, Dreams wlthout grief. Once they are broken, come not again.

Acmss the sky the dark clouds sweep. And all Is dark and drear above: The bare trees toss their arms and weep, Rest on, and do not wake. dear Low.

The Pinri Singers were created for the 1987 Summer Festlval of British Music under the auspices ofthe Finzi Trust wh~ch is the groups principal benefactor. The results were so successful that the group is now widely regarded as the major exponent af Britlsh twentieth-century choral music in which i t speclalises.

The Fin71 Singerspresent original and Interesting programmes with spectal emphastson contemporary composers. Commissioned works and first perlormances include music by Michael Rcrkelcy, .ludith Bingham, John Joubert David Matthews, Stephen Pratt Jeremy Dale Roberts, John Tawner and James Glshart. Concerts and recordings alike haw met with cons~derable critical acclaim.

For Chandos, The F~nzi Singers are recording a variety of British music. much of which has not been heard before. either In performance or on disc

Die FinzI Singers wurden 1987 f i r das Summer Festival of Br~tish Music unter der khirmherrschaft des Pinzi Trusts lormiert Die Gruppe war so erfolgreich, dafi sie slch bald als elnes der bedeutendsten Ensembles auf dem Gebiet der br~tisthen Chorrnusik des 2O.Jahrhunderts. worauf sie sich spezialisiert, etablierte

Die FintiSlngers prisentleren origlnelle und lntereaante Programme mit elnem besonderen Schwergewicht auf den Werken solcher ~itgenossischer Komponisten wie Michael Rerkcley, Judith Bingham, John Joubert. Oav~d Platthews Stephen Patt, Jeremy Dale Robert4, John Tavener und dames Wishart. [hre Konterte und Schallplatten wurden von dcr Kritik mil Beifall aufgenommen

F i r Chandos haben die Lnzi Singers eine Vielfalt von britischer Ausik eingesp~elt, darunter viele Werke, die zuvor weder im Konzert EU horen noih aul SchalEplatte zuginglich gewesen waren.

Le gmupedes Anzi Siagelr lut c m e n 1987. a 1' occasion du festival d'ete de Musiquc britannique, souslesauspices du Trust Pinzi. II eut taot de succes qu'i l put se sptcialiser dans la musique chorale britannique du 2 E m e siecle. de laquelle il est un des interprktes maleurs.

Les Finzi Singers prksentent des progmmmes interessants et originaux, en insistant cependant sur les auvres de compositeurs contemprains, tels Michael Berkeley. Judith Bingham, John Joubert. Dauld Natthews, Stephen Pratt. Jeremy Dale Roberts. John Tawncr et James Wishart. Leurs concerts. comrne lcurs enregistrernents. on1 toujours etC acrueillis favorablement par la critique.

ksFinzi9ngers on ten re gist^ chez Chandos unevariete de musique britannique, dont unegrande partiede nouwfles ckations, jamais entendues auparavant, ni en concert, ni sur disque.

THE FlNZl SINGERS

- 19

Previous refeases featuring The r/nz? Slngeo directed by Paul Spicer

BLISS: CHORAL W O W Shield or Faith . Mar Portugues . B~rthday Song lor a Royal Child * Klwr flusic

The world is charged with the grandeur of God with Andrew Lumsden, organ

CHAN 8980 CD: ABTD 1568 Cassette

PINZI: CHOlUL WORKS God is gone up - Welcome sweet and sacred feast Three Short Elegies Op 5 Thou didst delight my eyes * My lovely one + Let us now praise famous men Seven Partsongs Op 17 . Magnificat. Whiteflowering days * All this night

Lo, the full, final sacrllice with Harry Bickct organ

CHAA 8936 CD: ABTO 1533 Cassette

HOWELLS 8 MX: CHORAL WORKS HOWEUS: Two Madrigals * long, Long Ago. The Summer i s Coming

TaKe him, Earth for Cherishing BAX: This Worldes Joie + Mater Ora Pilium Fiw Greek Folk Songs

I Sing of a Maiden that is makeless CHAR 9139 CD

HOWELLS & STEVEAS: CHORAL WORAS tlOWELLS: Mass in the Dorian Mode + Salve Regina 0 salutaris Hostia - Sweetest of sweets

Come, my soul Antiphon . Aunc dimittis . Regina caeli STEVENS: Mass for Double Choir

CHAN 902I CD

BOWELLS & VAUGIIAN WlmAMS: CHOML WORKS [IOWELLS: H Sequence for St. Hichael . The House of the Mind - Requiem

YAUGHAN WILLIAMS: Pmyer to the Father of Heaven - A Vision of Aeroplanes Lord, Thou hast been our reluge

with Harry Bicket. organ d Jonathan l'mman.Athvood, trump! CHAI 9019 CD

MOERAN C MRUICK: CHORAL WORKS AOEMFI: Songs of Springtime - Phyllida add Corydon

WARU)Ck A Cornish Carol . I saw a fair maiden . hnedicamus Domino . The Pull Heart The Rich Cavalcade - Corpus Christl . All the Flowers of the Spring - As Dew in hprylle

Bethlehem D m - A Cornish Christmas Carol cnAn 9182 CD

WALTON: CHORAL WORKS coronation Te Deum . kt me as a Seal upon thine Heart. Jubilate Dm - 4 Christmas Carols

The Twelve - Nagniticat and Hunc Dimittis - A Lltany - Missa Breuis - Cantico del Sole Where dws the Uttered Music Go?. Antiphon

with Andrew Umsden, organ CHAM 9222 CD

SIR EDWARD ELGAR

Recorded In association with DaRakSC Ltd. Computer Systems Procurement Prolesslonals

A Chaados Mgital Recarding Recording Producer: Chrls Wbster Sound Engineer: Richard k c Assistant Engineer: Peter Newble Editor: Jonathan Cooper

* Recorded in St Jude's Church, Central Square, tondon n W l l on 15 & I6 January 1993 Pmnt Cover Painting: Going to the Fold, Sunset 2879 by Samuel Palmer, courtesy of the Bn'dgeman Art Library Back Cover Photograph of Sir Edward Elgar courtesy of the Hulton Deutsch Collection Slew DmIgn: Penny kt Art Direction: Steven John

WARNING Copyright subs- ln all recordings wued under Ih18 label Any unauthorised broadcastrng, publlc perlmnanee, wwmg or r-rdrg thml In any manner wh3tsoever dl consMute an ~nfnngernent d such copyright In the Unrkd KI dam lrcenceslor the use of rewrdlngs fu publc p e r f o m c s may buobt91ned from Phorqraphic Performance ~8 Gantcn House 14-22 Ganton Stresl, London WIV 1LB

Printed In Germany

S I-IIGITI.L CHAN 9;

$ I

SIR EDWARD ELGAR (1857 - 19%) 8 Z T b m Part-songs O p 18 (1050) DtaUl on the Hills O p 7 2 (4:08) m 1 0 Happy Eyes W2) Two Part*soass Op 73 (5:M) g

2w (2:W 0 1 Low's Tempest (2:51) 3 My Low dwelt in anorthem Land (632) a 2 Serenade OK@) i

Five Part-song6 from $ i BowCalmlythtEvcning @52) 3

QrakAntholo~ O p 45 ('"l) w~ar~r wind of me w& (5:12) N El 1 ti%, cast me from !!. Heightsol the Mountains (1:29) a Evening Scene ur (3:20) g 2 ' El 2 Whether I Find Thee (1:07) 0 The Prinoe of Sleep (454) a El El 3 After many a Dusty Mile (1:M) at a 4 mohl wild w i d b.9 of Mine 11 7 (5321 = I El @ I

5 kasting l Watch p07)

Pour Part-songs Op 53 (17:ll) ' E l 1 There Is Sweet Huslc (M3) THE FIAZI SIFIQERB ' 0 2 ~ e e p in my soul (451) Paul Spicer Director ' a 3 0 wild West Wind1 PU) ' 0 I

4 Owls (An Epitaph) Pis)

Two Part-songs O p 71 (&28) 1 Theshower (255)

2 ThePmntain P:27)

C l l A l Y D W ~ L m -.-.-#ma @@@