Mezzo-soprano Sarah Connolly CBE studied piano and singing at the Royal College of Music, where she is now a Fellow, and has been nominated for a Grammy Award twice.
Composer's Artistic Vision
Herbert Howells considered his 1919 song 'King David' a masterpiece, stating he was prouder of it than almost any other work he wrote.
Composition History
Peter Warlock's 'The First Mercy' was his first collaboration with Bruce Blunt, a poet he met in 1927, and was so successful that an arrangement for a trio of ladies' voices was published the following year.
Composer Biography
Ivor Gurney, while a student at the Royal College of Music in 1914, wrote five Elizabethan songs for mezzo-soprano and chamber ensemble, though only the piano versions were published.
Album & Artwork
The songs on this album are divided into three groups: four arrangements by Benjamin Britten, ten songs mostly from the 1920s, and a group of songs by Sir Richard Rodney Bennett published in 1995.
Compositional Technique
Benjamin Britten's folk song arrangements are considered art songs because he uses a controlling accompanying figure that pervades the entire song, rather than an unobtrusive background.
Recording & Production
The poems for Sir Richard Rodney Bennett's 'A History of the Thé Dansant' were inspired by a sepia photo of the poet Meg Peacocke's parents with Roger Quilter, and her mother's habit of fantasizing about her youth.
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