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

Par MACONCHY ELIZABETH. Elizabeth Maconchy's Four Shakespeare Songs written for Baritone and Piano with text taken from Shakespeare's Twelfth Night, Measure for Measure and Othello. Duration: 6 minutes Elizabeth Maconchy's Four Shakespeare Songs written for Baritone and Piano with text taken from Shakespeare's Twelfth Night, Measure for Measure and Othello. Duration: 6 minutes/ Répertoire / Baryton et Piano

The text for this piece is taken from five poems by W.H. Auden and one by Louis MacNiece.

Once Did I Breathe Another's Breath was commissioned for the 2013 Ludlow Weekend of English Song with funds provided by Finzi Friends and specifically Ernie Kay Brian & Mary Midgley and Adrian & NormaWilliams.The first performance of Once Did I Breathe Another's Breath was given by Ashley Riches and Iain Burnside on 31st May 2013 at the Ludlow Weekend of English Song in Ludlow Assembly Rooms.

Par FRANCES-HOAD CHERYL. everything grows extravagantly was co-commissioned by Oxford Lieder and the Oxford Botanic Garden