The album "Birdsong" explores art songs associated with the female voice, featuring a cross-gender approach by baritone Roderick Williams.
Interpretation
Baritone Roderick Williams was inspired to create this album after a competition refused his choice of Brahms's Sapphische Ode, deeming it 'a woman's song'.
Composer Biography
Richard Stokes, in the booklet notes, suggests that Johannes Brahms's songs reflect his melancholic nature and difficulty in sustaining emotional relationships with women.
Performer Biography
Roderick Williams and Andrew West, the performers on this album, have previously released acclaimed recordings, including a three-volume set of Parry's English Lyrics.
Interpretation
Robert Schumann's Frauenliebe und-leben, which intimately explores a young woman's feelings towards an older man, acquires new facets when performed by baritone Roderick Williams.
Composition History
Sally Beamish's Four Songs from Hafez are inspired by the evocative translations and artistic renderings of the 14th-century Persian Sufi poet's texts by Iranian-born, Glasgow-based Jila Peacock.
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