The full cycle of Vaughan Williams's Songs of Travel, including the posthumously discovered epilogue, was not published until 1960, despite individual songs appearing earlier.
Recording & Production
This album is the first of two planned discs celebrating the 150th anniversary of Ralph Vaughan Williams's birth, featuring many previously unpublished songs by Elizabeth Maconchy.
Composer Biography
Elizabeth Maconchy's husband, William LeFanu, was a distinguished librarian at the Royal College of Surgeons for nearly 40 years and translated Greek lyrics from the Anacreontea, which Maconchy set to music.
Compositional Technique
Elizabeth Maconchy's song 'The Cloths of Heaven' uses unsettling, slow-throbbing piano harmonies that constantly pull against the vocal line, creating a subtly grating dissonance.
Interpretation
While Vaughan Williams's Songs of Travel are best known for baritone or bass-baritone, this recording presents some songs in tenor versions, aiming to highlight their delicacy and suitability for the tenor voice.
Composer's Artistic Vision
Elizabeth Maconchy, a composer on this album, believed her teacher Ralph Vaughan Williams, also on this album, inspired students to write better music and imparted a high ideal for a composer, discouraging writing for 'cheap effect'.
Composer Biography
Ralph Vaughan Williams, a composer featured on this album, maintained a close friendship with his former student Elizabeth Maconchy, also featured on this album, for the rest of his life, often addressing her as 'Dearest Bey' and signing off as 'Uncle Ralph'.
