Par PHILIPS JULIAN. Four Sonnets of John Clare by Julian Philips is a 12-minute work for baritone and piano which sets four sonnets by the English poet John Clare. The work reflects on different aspects of Clare\'s human experience: the transcience of worldly renown, the loss of inspiration, a fear of neglect in death and a love of the numinous in nature, and the music seeks to match Clare\'s poetic gestures with clarity and economy. 1. Fame 2. The Death of Beauty 3. Memory 4. The Shepherd\'s Tree The Four Sonnets of John Clare were completed in April 2002 and commissioned by Wigmore Hall, with funds made available by the Ralph Vaughan Williams Trust. The set was written specially for Sir Thomas Allen and Graham Johnson, who gave its premiere on 16 July 2002 at London\'s Wigmore Hall. The work is dedicated to William Lyne. The score (EP 73506) is available for sale. / Date parution : 2022-09-07/ Répertoire / Baryton et Piano

Par VAUGHAN WILLIAMS RALPH. Vocal Score Cantata for Baritone Solo, SSAA chorus and orchestra Following the revelatory release of A London Symphony in its original version, the publication of Willow-wood is another landmark in our deepening understanding of the music of Ralph Vaughan Williams. Last performed in 1909, the year of The Wasps and On Wenlock Edge, this setting of four sonnets by the Victorian poet Dante Gabriel Rossetti has recently been reconstructed from the autograph score, and orchestral material made available on hire from the publisher. Reflecting the veiled eroticism and sombre atmosphere of the texts, the music is dark-hued andsensuous, its wordless female choir looking forward to the Five Mystical Songs, A Sea Symphony and Flos Campi. In this heightened atmosphere of Pre-Raphaelite passion, the composer's richly chromatic harmonies sound an unfamiliar note, and the piece, which lasts about 14 minutes, will not only fascinate specialists, but also have a broad appeal to many lovers of English music, for whom it will be a significant discovery. A recording of Willow-wood on the Naxos label is scheduled for release early in 2006.

Music played an enormous role in the works of William Shakespeare, while his own sonnets, poems and soliloquies have provided continuing inspiration for many composers through the years. The Novello Shakespeare Choral Collection, inspired by the 400th anniversary of the Bard's death in 2016, is an exciting anthology of choral works that are settings of Shakespeare's words. For choirs of all types and abilities, this collection has been edited by David Wordsworth so that all the pieces are fantastic both to sing and hear.The collection features some beautiful settings that have well and truly stood the test of time, such as Thomas Arne's Blow, Blow, Thou Winter Wind and Henry Leslie's How Sweet The Moonlight Sleeps. More recent settings from 20th century and contemporary composers include Ernest Moeran's Sigh No More, Ladies, Gary Carpenter's Lo, Here, The Gentle Lark and John Tavener's Fear No More and Look In Thy Glass.Not only this, the Shakespeare Choral Collection boasts several works that were specially commissioned, including John Joubert's Be Not Afeard, Richard Sisson's Light Thickens and Pawel Lukaszewki's Weary With Toil, I Haste Me To My Bed. Some pieces have never appeared before in print, such as those by Kevin Olsen, Bernard Hughes and John Gardner. These songs truly are a joy to perform, with some relatively simple arrangements that are purely fun to sing, while some more complex settings that will be thoroughly rewarding for choirs and audiences alike.A total of 26 fantastic works comprise The Novello Shakespeare Choral Collection, which would work as a wonderful concert programme on its own, or could provide a wealth of options for choirs looking to expand their repertoire with a range of unique settings. Also included is a fascinating introduction by editor David Wordsworth, and notes describing each piece.Words written by indisputably the greatest writer in the English language can only be matched with music by composers of talent and renown such as these. The Novello Shakespeare Choral Collection is an essential anthology of stunning settings of beautiful words which will be performed and enjoyed for many years to come. / Choeur Mixte (SATB)

Par VIVALDI ANTONIO. One of the best known and loved collections of string music in history. The programmatic nature of the Four Seasons, based on the lines of sonnets printed along with the music, brings seasonal sights and sounds readily and delightfully to the ear: the bird calls in Spring, the swarms of wasps in Summer, the hunters' horns in Autumn, the winds and icy snow of Winter. Dr. Eleanor Selfridge-Field, a recognised authority on music of the Italian Baroque, has researched primary sources in Italy to prepare this specially commissioned, authoritative new edition./ Répertoire / Partition de Poche

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

Set to the text of Pierre de Ronsard this set of songs for Two Tenors and Piano was commissioned by Peter Pears in 1952.