Spence ranges with great nuance through romance, awkwardness, brashness, selfdoubt, the madness and loneliness of unrequited love, the vulnerability, all done with that little bit of theatricality that is there in the original Wilhelm Müller poem cycle. His miller is volatile and very human…

Jeremy Sams's poetic but unpretentious English translation captures the lovelorn journeyman's simple eloquence so effectively here (the bitter tirade at the predatory huntsman and his 'scrabbly stubble' is especially biting), and Spence and Glynn respond in kind with an interpretation that strikes an ideal balance between muscularity and lyricism. Even if you're a non-native English-speaker (or generally allergic to Lieder in translation), do give this a try.