Special offer. The English Song Series Volume 20 - George Butterworth
Roderick Williams (baritone) & Iain Burnside (piano)
Awards:
-
Gramophone Awards, 2011, Shortlisted - Solo Vocal
Roderick Williams [is] rapidly becoming the voice of this repertoire - and not without reason.
Special offer. The English Song Series Volume 20 - George Butterworth
Roderick Williams (baritone) & Iain Burnside (piano)
Purchase product
Awards:
-
Gramophone Awards, 2011, Shortlisted - Solo Vocal
Roderick Williams [is] rapidly becoming the voice of this repertoire - and not without reason.
About
One of England’s most distinctive composers, George Butterworth belonged to the generation of young men decimated in the Great War of 1914-1918.
His sensitive and melancholic settings of poems from A. E. Housman’s A Shropshire Lad, with their subject matter of the futility and arbitrariness of war, are small-scale masterpieces. Of particular note are the ‘Loveliest of Trees’, describing the passing of the seasons, and the ghostly and elegiac ‘Is my team ploughing?’
The Folk Songs from Sussex and settings of poems by R. L. Stevenson, Shelley and Wilde, whose subject matter revolves around flirtation, love, courtship, marriage and desertion, are no less notable for their attention to detail, linguistic nuance and delicate, economical piano writing.
Contents and tracklist
- Roderick Williams, Iain Burnside
- Recorded: 11-13 January 2010
- Recording Venue: Potton Hall, Westleton, Suffolk, England
- Roderick Williams, Iain Burnside
- Recorded: 11-13 January 2010
- Recording Venue: Potton Hall, Westleton, Suffolk, England
- Roderick Williams, Iain Burnside
- Recorded: 11-13 January 2010
- Recording Venue: Potton Hall, Westleton, Suffolk, England
- Roderick Williams, Iain Burnside
- Recorded: 11-13 January 2010
- Recording Venue: Potton Hall, Westleton, Suffolk, England
- Roderick Williams, Iain Burnside
- Recorded: 11-13 January 2010
- Recording Venue: Potton Hall, Westleton, Suffolk, England
- Roderick Williams, Iain Burnside
- Recorded: 11-13 January 2010
- Recording Venue: Potton Hall, Westleton, Suffolk, England
- Roderick Williams, Iain Burnside
- Recorded: 11-13 January 2010
- Recording Venue: Potton Hall, Westleton, Suffolk, England
Spotlight on this release
-
Music to commemorate the First World War
29th Jul 2014
David picks out some recordings of works particularly closely linked to the Great War - those written in response to it, or influenced by composers' experiences of the fighting.
Awards and reviews
August 2010
Roderick Williams [is] rapidly becoming the voice of this repertoire - and not without reason.
3rd July 2010
Williams, accompanied by Iain Burnside, proves a winning advocate, thanks partly to his crisp, fresh baritone, but mainly because of the way he distinguishes between the character of each song, so that this recital never loses momentum.
Awards Issue 2010
Williams's engagingly fresh delivery, secure technique, eloquent turn of phrase and variety of tone are a joy throughout, as is his crystal-clear diction. Burnside, too, is at his customarily unmannered, attentive best, the crispness and poise of his pianism a pleasure to encounter.
1st July 2010
The wonderful refinement and care with every morsel of text that Williams has shown in his earlier contributions to this series pay dividends here again – his musical poise and sheer beauty of tone in the very first phrase of Loveliest of Trees sets the standard for the 11 songs that follow, and Burnside is a model partner.
4th July 2010
In a vivid musical partnership with pianist Iain Burnside, Roderick Williams captures the mix of jauntiness and melancholy, adding tender flashes of wit.
16th July 2010
Their qualities of melancholic reverie and suppressed yearning are quite beautifully rendered
