A Shropshire Lad: English Songs Orchestrated by Roderick Williams

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Williams is accompanied throughout by his own orchestral reimaginings; and he’s evidently an orchestrator with a fine ear and lively imagination...This is all exquisitely sung too. The melodic... — BBC Music Magazine, Christmas Issue 2022, 4 out of 5 stars (Performance) / 5 out of 5 stars (Recording) More…

Release Date: 4th Nov 2022
Catalogue No: CDHLL7559
Label: Hallé
Length: 72 minutes

Presto Editor's Choice

November 2022
Gramophone Magazine

January 2023
Gramophone Awards

2023

Shortlisted - Voice & Orchestra

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Ireland: Great Things

Work length2:19

$1.00

$1.40

$1.75

Orchestrated by Roderick Williams
Roderick Williams (baritone)
Hallé Orchestra
Mark Elder

Ireland: Sea Fever

Work length2:40

$1.00

$1.40

$1.75

Orchestrated by Roderick Williams
Roderick Williams (baritone)
Hallé Orchestra
Mark Elder

Boyle, I: The Joy of Earth

Work length1:58

$1.00

$1.40

$1.75

Orchestrated by Roderick Williams
Roderick Williams (baritone)
Hallé Orchestra
Mark Elder

Browne, W D: To Gratiana dancing and singing

Work length4:24

$1.00

$1.40

$1.75

Orchestrated by Roderick Williams
Roderick Williams (baritone)
Hallé Orchestra
Mark Elder

Butterworth, G: A Shropshire Lad - six songs

Work length14:33

$6.00

$8.40

$10.50

Orchestrated by Roderick Williams
Roderick Williams (baritone)
Hallé Orchestra
Mark Elder

No. 1, Loveliest of trees

Track length2:59

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No. 2, When I was one-and-twenty

Track length1:20

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No. 3, Look not in mine eyes

Track length2:06

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No. 4, Think no more, lad

Track length1:18

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No. 5, The lads in their hundreds

Track length2:42

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No. 6, Is my team ploughing?

Track length4:08

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Gipps: The Pulley

Work length3:51

$1.00

$1.40

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Orchestrated by Roderick Williams
Roderick Williams (baritone)
Hallé Orchestra
Mark Elder

Vaughan Williams: The House of Life

Work length26:48

$6.00

$8.40

$10.50

Orchestrated by Roderick Williams
Roderick Williams (baritone)
Hallé Orchestra
Mark Elder

No. 1, Love-sight

Track length4:38

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$1.75

No. 2, Silent noon

Track length4:07

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No. 3, Love’s minstrels

Track length5:39

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No. 4, Heart’s haven

Track length2:56

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No. 5, Death in love

Track length4:35

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No. 6, Love’s last gift

Track length4:53

$1.00

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Dring: Take, O Take Those Lips Away

Work length3:30

$1.00

$1.40

$1.75

Orchestrated by Roderick Williams
Roderick Williams (baritone)
Hallé Orchestra
Mark Elder

Burton, J: When I set out for Lyonesse

Work length2:13

$1.00

$1.40

$1.75

Orchestrated by Roderick Williams
Roderick Williams (baritone)
Hallé Orchestra
Mark Elder

Clarke, Rebecca: The Seal Man

Work length6:08

$1.00

$1.40

$1.75

Orchestrated by Roderick Williams
Roderick Williams (baritone)
Hallé Orchestra
Mark Elder

Farrar, E: Silent noon

Work length4:10

$1.00

$1.40

$1.75

Orchestrated by Roderick Williams
Roderick Williams (baritone)
Hallé Orchestra
Mark Elder

About
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About

This album represents the culmination of what leading British baritone Roderick Williams described as ‘a dream come true’. It features premiere recordings of his orchestrations of songs by Vaughan Williams and other composers associated with him and is released to commemorate those who perished in WWI.

Featuring orchestrations by Williams of his favourite songs from the 20th-century English repertoire this album contains works by Vaughan Williams and composers associated with him. It includes specially commissioned new arrangements of songs by women composers Ina Boyle, Ruth Gipps, Madeleine Dring and Rebecca Clarke.

The album features the work of composers who were killed in the First World War, George Butterworth, William Denis Browne and Ernest Farrar and is released to coincide with Remembrance Day.

These songs portray the composers’ evocative responses to the poetry they set, and Williams’s orchestrations further convey the songs meaning through highly effective use of orchestral instruments and textures.

Roderick Williams OBE is one of Britain’s most sought-after baritones and is constantly in demand on the concert platform and in recital, encompassing a repertoire from the baroque to world premieres. In 2016 he won the Royal Philharmonic Society’s Singer of the Year award. He is also a composer and has had works premiered at the Wigmore and Barbican Halls, the Purcell Room and live on national radio. He was awarded an OBE for services to music in June 2017.

This release follows hugely successful previous Vaughan Williams volumes including most recently (June 2022) Sinfonia Antartica (no.7) and no.9 (CDHLD7558).

“Some years ago, I wrote that ‘few orchestras today play Vaughan Williams as well as the Hallé under Sir Mark Elder’, a belief I still hold. This pair of symphonies on the new album ranks as some of Elder’s greatest work with Hallé…” – Michael Cookson Music Web International

Reviews

Christmas Issue 2022

Williams is accompanied throughout by his own orchestral reimaginings; and he’s evidently an orchestrator with a fine ear and lively imagination...This is all exquisitely sung too. The melodic contours of English song flow through Williams’s veins. He modulates them beautifully, drawing on a career-long experience of how to pace and shade them.

May/June 2023

The seamless fit between Williams’s twin roles is the key to this album’s success. English art songs are far from a rarity on disc, but hearing them orchestrated is unusual, and the rewards of Williams’s artistry are undeniable. No singer could ask for a better showcase.

January 2023

A must-have recording, not only for those who are devoted fans of Williams’s art but also those who are entranced by this wonderful repertoire.

November 2022

This is an absolute treat, delivering everything it promises on paper and more...there's no sense of gilding the lily in Williams's evocative orchestrations, which exude affection and intimate acquaintance with all the repertoire here, but spring many delightful surprises along the way (the grandeur of William Browne's lovely 'To Gratiana, singing and dancing' being one example). If you can listen to his delicate, haunting arrangement of 'The Lads in their Hundreds' without choking up, you're made of sterner stuff than I am…

20th November 2022

The baritone’s orchestrations of English songs and cycles respond with characteristic intuition and subtlety to the more familiar original works while evangelising persuasively on behalf of the more obscure...The fact that Williams sings these arrangements gives them a special frisson: you hear both his responses and interpretations. Fascinating.

1st December 2022

The orchestration of all these songs is as careful and perceptive as one would expect from a musician who interprets them with such finesse. Crucially he recognises that less often means more, and that a touch of colour here or there can be more effective than anything gaudy...Williams matches that fastidiousness with performances that are a reminder that no other singer today inhabits this repertoire so completely and movingly. Every word is perfectly coloured, every phrase exactly weighted.

19th November 2022

As elsewhere, Williams’s singing is completely in sympathy with the music, infinitely alive to the text, and his orchestrations shows the voice off to its best effect. This stunning album is a must-have for lovers, or would-be lovers, of this repertoire.

Classical CD Choice 29th November 2022

These songs portray the composers’ evocative responses to the poetry they set, and Williams’s orchestrations further convey the songs’ meanings through highly effective use of orchestral instruments and textures.

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