Elizabeth Maconchy and Ralph Vaughan Williams were lifelong friends, with their friendship dating back to Maconchy's student days at the Royal College of Music in the 1920s.
Composition History
Vaughan Williams's 'Four Last Songs' were originally intended to form part of two separate song cycles, not the unified group we know today.
Composition History
Maconchy's 'The Garland' songs, originally a set of seven 'Variations on a theme' from 1938, set texts from the ancient Greek 'Anacreontea' translated by her husband, William LeFanu.
Performer Biography
James Geer, tenor, and Ronald Woodley, piano, are experienced partners in exploring 20th-century British repertoire, specializing in honesty and clarity.
Interpretation
Vaughan Williams's song cycle 'Songs of Travel' gains new buoyancy when performed by a tenor, as on this album, rather than the more common baritone.
Compositional Technique
Elizabeth Maconchy's setting of 'The Exequy' uses an insistent, tolling accompaniment reminiscent of Ravel's 'Le Gibet'.
Composition History
Many of Elizabeth Maconchy's songs on this album are previously unpublished and some were recovered from manuscripts, having been largely ignored.
