Ranging from Shakespeare’s contemporaries to the Victorian school and beyond, this fine box set calls on some of the greatest artists—including a wealth of British talent—to celebrate the diversity and longevity of English song. From simple melodic expression to the textural sophistication of orchestral settings, with the sea and landscape assuming a prominent role throughout, the songs included here comprise a fitting tribute, simultaneously revealing the rich cultural legacy of English poetry.

Artists

Dame Janet Baker (mezzo), Gerald Moore (piano), Sir Thomas Allen (baritone), Geoffrey Parsons (piano), Anthony Rolfe Johnson (tenor), David Willison (piano), Ian Partridge (tenor), Janet Craxton (piano), Ian Bostridge (tenor), Julius Drake (piano), Jonathan Lemalu (bass-baritone), Roger Vignoles (piano), Robert Lloyd (bass), Nina Walker (piano), Frederick Harvey (baritone), Jack Byfield (piano), Sir Philip Ledger (piano), Robert Tear (tenor), André Previn (piano), Fenella Fielding, Michael Flanders, Alfred Deller (countertenor), Desmond Dupré (lute), Michael Chance (countertenor), Christopher Wilson (lute), Dame Emma Kirkby (soprano), Anthony Rooley (lute), Charles Daniels (tenor), David Miller (lute), Nancy Argenta (soprano), Nigel North (lute), John Toll (harpsichord), Paul Nicholson (harpsichord), Richard Boothby (lute), Owen Brannigan (bass), Ernest Lush (piano), Ian Wallace (bass-baritone), Donald Swann (piano), Michael Flanders & Donald Swann, Alan Civil (horn), John Shirley-Quirk (bass-baritone), Wilfred Brown (tenor), Benjamin Luxon (bass-baritone), John Mark Ainsley (tenor), Pauline Lowbury (violin), John Noble (baritone)

Academy of St Martin-in-the-Fields, Fretwork, London Symphony Orchestra, Northern Sinfonia, Choir of King's College Cambridge, English Chamber Orchestra, Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Britten Sinfonia, Liverpool Philharmonic Choir, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Philharmonia Orchestra, Sir Neville Marriner, Sir John Barbirolli, Sir Simon Rattle, Sir David Willcocks, Christopher Finzi, Norman Del Mar, Vernon Handley, Nicholas Cleobury, Sir Charles Groves, Bernard Haitink, George Weldon