Composer's Notes:Heavenly Things is my fourteenth song-cycle but the first with piano accompaniment. I mention this because when I was asked to write this piece my first reaction was ‘what can I make of amedium that seems to me quintessentially 19th century’ and I was doubtful that I could produce anything that I would be happy with. Then I went to hear Christopher Maltman and Malcolm Martineau and was so impressed by the magicand intensity of their performance that I saw a ‘way in’ to what at first had seemed a problem. The choice of poems was obviously going to be crucial and I chose the Donne Holy Sonnets because of the dramatic possibilities theyoffer and the huge range of emotion that they encompass. In these settings the piano is always more than a mere accompaniment it tends either to be in dialogue with the voice or to have its own musical agenda which the voicereacts to in an independent but parallel way. Geoffrey Burgon

for Baritone and Piano. Par PHILIPS JULIAN. Swift Partitions by Julian Philips is a 13-minute set of songs for baritone and piano. This setting of eight short poems by American poet Emily Dickinson, each exploring her relationship to the sea, is not narrative, but instead alternates philosophical meditations on the sea (Songs 1, 3, 5 8) with more immediate \'encounters\': a surreal walk with the sea (Song 2), two near drownings (Songs 4 5) and a river\'s almost erotic desire to join the ocean (Song 8). 1. An Everywhere of Silver 2. I started Early ? took my Dog 3. Though the great Waters sleep 4. The waters chased him as he fled 5. Water makes many Beds 6. Three times ? we parted ? Breath ? and I 7. Fortitude incarnate 8. My River runs to thee Completed in June 1998, Swift Partitions was commissioned by the Welsh baritone Jeremy Huw Williams, with funds from the Arts Council of Wales, and premiered with pianist Nigel Foster, at St Mary\'s Church Warwick, on 9 July 1998. The score (EP 73505) is available for sale. / Date parution : 2022-09-07/ Répertoire / Baryton et Piano