3 - Naxos Music Library

SIR EDWARD ELGAR (1857- 1934)
Three Part-songs O p 18 Q0:30)
(M7EI
1 0 Happy Eyes
(S:02)
2 Love
(2:46)
Allegretto
Allegretto
3 My Low dwelt in a Northern Land (432)
Moderato
Five Part-songs from
The Greek dathoiogy Op 45 (7:51)
rn
InBBI
fl
1 Yea, cast me from
Heights of the Mountains
Allegretto con luoco
2 Whether 1 Find Thee
El
3 After man; a Dusty Mile
Allemtto
Allegretto
4 It's oh1 to be a Wild Wind
Allegretto
5 Wasting I Watch
Allegro
Four Part-songs Op 53
F-mBI
1 There Is Sweet Music
Andante
8
2 Deep in my Soul
Andante espressivo
3 0 wild West Wlnd!
Nobilmente - Alleyo moderato
4 Owls (An Epitaph)
Moderato
2
(I:29]
(1:07]
Two Partesongs Op. 7 1
(6:28)
ISATBI
1
c he ~hbwer
(255)
Moderato
2 The Fountain
(227)
Allegro moderato
THE FINZI SINGERS
Paul Spicer Director
Death on the Hills Op. 72 1.408)
(SShArrSJs)
Moderato
Two Part-songs Op. 73
(5:04)
Sopranos
1MTB)
1 Love's Tempest
(2511
Adagio - Arlegm con tuoco
2 Serenade
(2:Q8)
Altos
Allegretto - Comodo
How Calmly the Evening
(2:52)
WTEI
Andante con moto
Weary Wind of the West
Tenors
(3:12)
WTS)
Noderato
Evening Scene
(3:20)
(HTfil
Moderato
The Prince of Sleep
(4:54)
WTBJ
Larghetto
Go,
Song of Mine Op 57
[SSAATTBB)
Lento solenne
(5:32)
Base5
Anna Crookes
Juliet Schiernann
Rachel Wheatley
Belinda Yates
Lindsay Wagstaff
Susanna Spicer
Richard Wyn Roberts
Camllne S t o n e r
Stephen Carter
James Oxley
Andrew Carwood
Tom Philllps
Simon Davies
Robert Hollingworth
Roderick W~lliams
Noel Mann
Paul Robinson
Paul Grier
T
HE composition of part-songsoccupiedElgar throughout his career. Many of them are rnasterpieces which hold as much o i the secret Elgar as some of his works in larger forms. Some.
too, are of a peculiar domestic intimacy, such as the three songswhich form Opus 18.0 Happy
Eycs is a setting of words by the composer's wife Alice and was composed in 1890, the year after
their weddlng. Its lyricism reflects the couple's happiness. I t was published in 1896, but i t s
companion, Love, was not added until Elgar's fiftieth birthday. 2 June 1907, when he set this poem
by Arthur Naquarie as a tribute to Alice's encouragement over the years. Ro doubt he remembered
how in 1889 she wrote alternative words to fit the rnuslc of My Love dwelt in a Plorthern Landwhen
the author of the poem, Andrew Lang, seemed likely to refuse permission for use of hls text. But
he relented, gracelessly, and the part-songwas the first music by Elgar to be published by IYovello's.
in 1890. I t is an attractive setting, with a central melody that is unmistalrably 'Elgarian'.
Part-songs were in demand at the beginning of the 20th century when the competitive music
festlval movement was growing in popularity, especially in the North of England. In Movemkr 1902.
Elgar wrote five settings for male voice choir of translations by English poets contributing to an
anthology of Greek verse. These were not designed as competition pieces, being first sung by the
London Choral Society in the Royal Albert Hall in 1904, but they were soon taken up by competing
choirs, who relished their humour and colour. The start of Yea, cast me from Heights may strike
some listeners as a vocal foreshadowing of the sweeping opening of the Introduction and Allegro
for Stringsof 1905. A crack choir is needed to bring off the whispered asides in It's oh! to be a Wild
Wind as fancifully as Elgar wished.
The four songs of Opus 53 are dedicated to close friends and obviously reflect deep feelings. They
were written in Rome in February 1907 when Elgar's thoughtswere beginning to dwell on his First
Symphony and they have an expansiveness and colour which suggest orchestral treatment. There
is Sweet Music (words by Tennyson) is dedicated to Canon Charles Gorton, who was chairman of
the Morecambe competitive festival and was consulted by Elgar about the librettos of Tht Apostles
and The Klngdom. The Byron setting. &ep in my Soul, rornantlc and mysterious, b dedicated to
Ma Julia Worthington, a wealthy ArnerIcan hostess at whose villa in Italy the Elgars stayed. I t is
in E flat, as is 0 wild West Wind (Shelley),the most challenging of the set, marked nobilmente and
'with great animation: The dedicatee is W.O.NcAaught, who edited The Musical Times and was a
fellow-adjudicator with Elgar at Norecambe. The masterpieceof Op 53 is the haunting Owls, also
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in E flat, described as an epitaph and dedicated to'my friend fietro d' Alba: He was a white angora
rabbit belonging to Elgar's daughter Carlce. The words are by Elgar, who sald the song 'means
nothing. I t is in a wood at night evidently and the recurring "Nothing" is only an owlish sound'.
He never wrote a more eerie song and the words mean a lot: 'A wild thing hurt in the night, and
i t cries i n its dread, till it lies dead a t the foot of the tree'.
I t was W.G. MclYaught who suggested that Elgar should call his Opp 71 and 72 'choral songs' in
recognition of their ambitious scope. The two comprising Op71 are settings of Henry Vaughan.
the 17th century mystic. They were composed in 1914 and again enshrlne personab memories. The
serenely lovely The Showerrernembers a drive Elgar and his wife took to Totteridge - 'lovely there:
Lady Elgar wrote in her dlary, 'larks singingand water Iiliescomingout'. In the diatonic dream-idyll
The Fountain, a trip lo Kill Hill with Alice Stuart Wortley was the inspiration.
'One of the biggest things I have ever done' was Elgar's verdict on Death on the Hills, Rosa
Newmarch's translation of a Russian poem by Mafkov about Death selecting his victims in a village.
The basses represent Death, the remainder of the chorus the villagers.
Another Maikov poem translated by Newmarchwasset in 1914 as the first of Elgar's Op 73. Love's
Tempest is a passionate outpouring, beginning as calmly as the 'sapphire ocean' and mounting
to a tumult of love 'wilder than the storm at sea: Its companion-piece, Serenade, is a haunting
example of Elgar's way with dreams, always a potent stimulus to him. All the poems of these 1914
songs seem to have been chosen to illustrate some emotional turmoil. But 'homely but felt' is how
Elgar described the tranquil How Calmly the Evening once more is descending, a 1907 composjtion.
The last four part-songson this disc begin with another i n E Rat. Weary Wind oftbe West, to words
by the Manx poet T. E. Brown, was composed in 1902 as a Morecambe Festival test-pieceand is still
a test of a choir's control of pitch and dynamics. Elgar conducted the first performance before an
audience of over 6,000. Evening Scene, in D minor, was written in 1935 as a tribute to the bank
manager R. G. H. Howsonwho was described by Elgar as 'the muslcai soul' of the Morecambe Festival.
This exquisite settlng of Coventry Patmore was likened by A.J.Jaeger ('Nimrod') to Schubert and
Elgar regarded it as 'my best bit of landscape so far i n that line'. With The Prince of Sleep
we move forward t o 1925. Elgar set this Walter de la Hare poem i n the rapt manner he reserved
for special moments of vision.
Go, Song o f Mine is Elgar's greatest work for unaccompanied chorus. He wrote it i n Italy
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in 1909 and we can hear i n i t anticipations of the Violin Concerto and kcond Symphony. Its c!imax
has all Elgar's 'stately sorrow' but is in reallty a quotation from the Liebestod i n Wagner s Tristan
und Isolde. Here once again, in a setting of words by Cavalcanti translated by D.G.Rossetti, we
penetrate to the secret heart of Elgar.
@ 1994 Michael Kennedy
E
DWARD E K A R komponierte im Laufe seines Lebens immer wieder 'part-songs'(rnehrstimmige
Gesangssthcke). Viele von ihnen sind Meisterwerke, die das "Geheirnnis Elgar" ebenso
enthalten wie manche seiner gr68eren Werke. DarLiberhinausbesitzen einige von ihnen eine
eigenthmliche, fast hsuslich zu nennende Intimitit, wie etwa die drei Lieder des Opus 18. Der Text
t u C Happy Eyesstammt von Elgars frau Alice: Elgar schrieb dieses Lied 1890, ein Jahr nach ihrer
Hochzeit. In der Lyrik des Liedes spiegelt sich dasjunge Gliick des Paares wider. Vefiffentlicht wurde
O Happy Eyesim Jabr 1896, wahrend Love, das meit.? Lied aus Opus 18, erst zu Elgars 50. Geburtstag
am 2. Juni 1907 hinzugefogtwurde. Mit dieser Vertonungeines Gedichtesvon Arthur Naquariewollte
Llgar seiner Frau ihr ihre langjahrige Unteathtzung danken. Zweiiellos erinnerte er sich an cine
Situation im Jahr 1889, als Alice einen Text geschriehn hatle, der der Musik zu My love dwelt in
a northern Land unterlcgt werden sollte. Seinerzeit nimlich schien es wahrscheinlich, dafl der Autor
des Qedichtes. Andrew Lang, die Erlaubnis zur Benutzung seines Textes wnveigern wurde. Doch
Lang liefi sich am Ende uberreden, und so wurde dieser 'part-song' die erste Komposition. die Elgar
1890 ki NoveIFo ver6ffentlichen konnte, Ls ist ein reizvolles Stuck mit einer zentralen Nelodie, die
unverkennbar Elgars Handschrift tragt.
In England - und zwarvor allem im norden des Landes - wurden zu Beginn des 20. Jahrhunderts
Musik-FestlvaIs,bei denen Chdre und Ensembles miteinander tvetteiferten, immer beliebter. Durch
diese steigende Zahl von Chorwettbewerben gewannen 'part-songs' in dieser Zeit immer mehr an
Attraktivitit. Im November 1902 schrieb Elgar funf Kompositionen fGr Minnerchor, denen
Dbersetzungeneiner griechischen Gedichtanthologie durch englische Dichter zugrundelagen. Die
Stiicke waren urspronglich nicht far Wettbewerbe gedacht, doch schon bald nachdem die London
Choral Society diese Kornpositionen im Jahr 1934 erstmals in der Royal Albert Hall gesungen hatte.
wurden sie von einer Reihe von Ch6ren in ihr Repertoireaufgenommen: geschitzt wurden die Sthcke
vor allem wegen ihres Murnors und ihrer Farbigheit. Der Beginn von Yea, cast me from Heights mag
einigen l-idrer wieeine vokale Vorwegnahme der rauschendenEmfhung zu lntroductlon and Allegro
for Strings von 1905 erscheinen, Nur ein sehr versierter Chor wird in der Lage sein, die geflilsterten
Phrasen in It's oh! to be a Wild Wind in einer solch geheimnisvollen Weise vorzutragen, wie Elgar
sich das wohl vorgestellt hat.
Die vier Lleder des Opus 53 hat Elgar engen Preunden gewidmet: in ihnen spiegeln sich tiefe
Gefihle wider. Geschrieben wurden sie im Februar 1907 in Rom, als Elgar bereits uber seine erste
Sinfonie nachzudenken begann. Die Lieder zelgen eine Weite und Farbigheit, die schon an
Orchestetwerkedenken lassen. There is Sweet Music nach Worten yon Tennyson ist Canon Charles
Gorton gewidmet, der Organisator des Norecambe Festivals war: elgar hatte Gorton in Pragen zu
den Libretti von The Apostles und The Ringdom mehrfach zu Rate gezogen. Die romantische und
geheimnisvollt Byron-Vertonung Deep in my Soul widmete Elgar Julia Warthington, einer
wohlhabenden Amerikanerin, in deren italienischer Villa die Elgars gewohnt hatten. Deep in my Soul
steht in €2-Dur, ebenso wie 0 wild West Wind (Sherley), das man woht als das schwierigste Lied der
Sammlung bezeichnen kann. 0 wild West Wind trigt die Bezeichnung nobilmente und "with great
animation". Gewidrnet ist dieses Lied W. O. Kcnaught, dem Herausgeber der Musical Times, der
zusammen mit Elgar in der Jury des Wettbewerbs in Morecambe sa0. Das Meisterwerk aus Opus 53
ist wohl Owls in e-MoI1, ein Stack, das den Zuhorer njcht mehr losliflt. Elgar schrieb es als Epitaph
auf "meinem Preund Pietro d' Alba': - das weifie Angorakaninchenseiner Tochter Carice. Auch der
Text dieses Liedes starnmt von Elgar, der darnber sagte. das Lied "bedeutet eigentlich nichts. Es
splelt nachts Im Wald und be1 dem wiederkehrenden 'Nothing' handelt es sich lediglich urn den Ruf
der Eule:' Elgar schrieb wohl kein Lied, das Owls an Unheimlichkeit noch irbertrfife, und in
Wirklichkeit bedeuten die \Vorte viel: "Ein wildes Wesen verletzt i n der Nacht, und esschreit in der
Mot, bis es tot daliegt, am Fusse des Baurnes:'
W. G. McMaught regte Elgar dazu an, seine Opera 71 und 72 als "ChorgesBnge" zu bezeichnen,
urn sie damit ins rechte Licht zu setzen. In den zwei Liedern aus Opus 71 vertonte Elgar Texte von
Henry Vaughan, einem Mystiker aus dem 17. Jahrhundert. Elgar komponierte die Lieder, denen
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wiederum personliche Erinnerungen zugrundeliegen, im Jahr 1914. Das heitere TheShowererinnert
an eine Pahrt, die Elgar zusammen mit seiner Frau Alice nachTotteridge machte. Elgars Frau schrieb
dazu in ihrem Tagebuch: "(Es war) schBn dort mit den singenden Lerchen und den Wasserlilien,
die gerade aufbluhen", Zu dem diatonischen Traum-Idyll The Fountain wurde Elgar durch eine Fahrt
mit Alice Stuart Wortley nach Mill Hill inspiriert.
Uber Death on the Hills sagte Elgar selbst einmal, es sei eines der "gr65ten Dinge, die ich je
geschaffen habe': Er vertonte hier Rosa Newmarchs Obersetzung eines russischen Gedichtes von
Maihov, in dem der Tod in eintm Dorfseine Opfer sucht. DIe Basse stehen fur den Tod, die iibrigen
Stimmen des Chores for die Bewohner des Dorfes.
Im ersten Lied aus Opus 75 vertonte Elgar 1914 ein weiteres Gedicht Maikovs, ebenfalls in einer
hersetzung von Rosa Newmarch. Love's Tempest ist ein Lied leidenschaftlicherGefohle: es beginnt
zunichst ruhig wle der "blauschimmernde Ozean", urn sich dann zu einer wilden Liebe zu stelgern,
'"wilder als ein Sturm auf 5ee". Das zweite Stiick, Srenade, zeigt eindrucksvoll, wle sehr Triume
Elgar Inspitierten. Elgar scheint allc Gedichte, die diesen 1914 entstandenen Liedern zugrunde
Ilegen, ausgewahlt zu haben, urn verschiedene emotionale Situationen musikalisch zu illustrieren.
Demgfgenuber besch~ibtcr das im Jahr 1907 entstandene ruhige Lied How Calmly the Evening
once more is descending als "anheirnelnd, doch voller Empfinduagen".
Weary Windofthe West, das erste Lied i n der letzten Gruppe von 'part-songs' auf dieser C4 steht
wieder in e-mall, Elgar homponierte es im Jahr 1902 nach einem Text van T. E. Brown; er schrieb
Weary Wind of the Westeigens als Wettbewerbs-Stilckihr das Morecambe Festival, und es ist auch
heute noch ein Werk, das sich bestens eignet. am die Fihigkeiten eines Chores i n Bezug auf
Intonation und dynamische Abstulungen za pr6fen. Die erste Auffohrung vor irber 6.000
ZuhBrern dirigierte Elgar selber. Evening Scene, i n d-Moll, entstand 1905 als Dank an den
Bankmanager R. G. H. Howson, den Elgar als die "musikalische Seele" des Morecambe
Festivals bezeichnete. A. J. Jaeger verglich dieses vorzhgliche Werk mil Schubert, und Elgar
selbst betrachtete es als seine "bisher beste Landschaftsschilderung dieser Art''. The Prince
of Sleep bringt uns i n das Jahr 1925. Elgar vertonte dieses Gedicht von Walter de [ a Mare
in einer geradezu versunkenen WeIse, die er besonderen Traumbildern vorbehielt.
Go, Song of Mine ist Elgars wichtlgstes Werk f i r a cappella-Chor. Er schrieb es 1909 in
Italien, und man kann hier btreits Anhlinge an das Yiolinkonzert und an die Zweite Sinfonie
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erkcnnen. Der H6hepunkt dieses Werkes zeigt den f ~ I Elgar
r
typischen Ausdruck von "getragener
Trauer" und ist doch in Wirklichkeit ein Zltat aus dem Liebestad von Wagnets Tristan und lsolde.
In dieset Vertonung eines Gedichtes von Cavalcanti, das D. 6. Rossetti iibersetzt hat. zeigt sich uns
Elgar noch einmal in seiner ganzen G ~ B e .
@ 1994 MichaeI Kennedy
Ubersetzung: Antonie van Schbnleld
T
OUT au longde sa caniere, Elgars'est dedle a lacomposltlon dechansons a plusleunvoix. 5on
nombre d'entre elles sont des chefs-d'oeuvre rhelant %aquintessence de sa musique aussi
ouvertement que ses oeuvres de plus grandc envergure. Certaines, comme les trois mklodies
de I Op 18, prksentent un caractere intime. 0 Happy Eyes a t t e composie en 1890 sur un texte
de la femme du compositeur, Alice, I'annee qui suivit leur mariage. Son lyrisme reflete le bonheur
du nouveau couple. Elle fut pub1it.e en 1896, mais son pendant, Love, ne fut ajoute que lors du
cinquantikme annivmaire d' Elgar, le 2 fuin 1907. Cetk chanson, sur un poeme &Arthur Maquarle.
est un hommage a sa femme qui I'encouragea pendant des annees. II a dir certainement se rappeler
qu'en 1889 elle avait ecrit des paroIes pour rernplacer celIes du potme My Lovedwelt in a Northern
-Land,dont I'auteur, Andrew brig, sernblait voulolr refuser I'autorlsatlon d'utlllserson texte. Mais
celui-ci ckda de mauvaise grice, et cette chanson fut la premiere p i k e d'Elgar ii etre publike par
Novello, en 1890. 11 s'agit d'une charmante chanson, dont la melodie de la section centrale est
typique du compositeur.
k s chansons a plusieurs voix avaient une certaine popularitk au debut du XXeme sikcle, Iorsque
les concours devenaient de plus en plus a la mode, surtout en Angleterre du Hord. En novernbre
1902 Elgarecrivit'cinq pikes pour chceur d'hommes sur des textes traduits par des poetes anglais
appartenant a une anthologie de pokiegrecque. Cependant elles ne furent tout d' abord pasconcues
comme des pitces de concours, ayant ete chantees initialement par la Societe chorale dc Londres
(London Choral Society) au Royal Albert Hall en 1904, mais elles Furent rapidement adoptees par
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His garb was grey of lavender,
A h u t his head a poppy wreath
Burned like dim coals, and everywhere
The air was sweeter for his breath.
His twilight feet no sandals wore.
His eyes shone faint in thelr own flame.
Fair moths that gtoorned his steps before
Seemed letters of his lovely name.
His house is in the mountaln ways.
A phantom house of misty walls.
Whose golden flocks at evening graze.
And witch the moon with muffled call%
UpwllTng from hls shadowy springs
Sweet waters shake a trembling 5ound.
There flit the hoot+wl's silent wings,
There hath his web the silk worm wound.
Dark i n hls pools clear visions lurk,
And rosy, as with morning buds,
Along his dales of broom and birk
Dreams haunt his solitary woods.
Wallet de la Mare
Go, Song of Mine
DishevelI'd and i n tears, go song of mine
To break the hardness o l the heart of man:
Say how his life began
From dust, and in that dust doth sink supine:
Yet. say, the unerrlng spirit of griel shall
guide
His soul, being purifled.
To seek its Maker at the heav'nly shrine.
Gufdo Cavalcantl,
transbled R G. Rossetli
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des chmurs rivaux en raison de leur richesse d'humour et de couleurs. k debut de Yea, cast me
from Heights peut frapper par son anticipation du debut de I'lntrodrrction et Allegro pour cordes
de 1905. Pour que les a park chuchotes de It's oh1 to be a Wild Wind sotent rkalisks selon les
intentions de I'auteur, cette piece requiert un choeur de niveau supirieur.
Les quatre melodlesde I'Op 53 sont dedieesa des amis tres prochesdu compositeur, etreiletent
des sentiments profonds. Elles fuwnt ecrites a Rome pendant le mois de fhrier 1907, a unt epoque
ou Elgar cornmenqait a songer i sa Remikresymphonie, et leur ampleur et leurscouleurspermettent
d'kvoquer des sonorites orchestrales. There is Swect Music (sur des paroles de Tennyson)est dedie
a Canon Charles Gorton, qui ttait pksldent du concours de Morecambe, et qu'Elgar awit consulte
pour les livrets de The Apostles et The Kingdom, La chanson sur un texte, profond et rornantique,
de Byron, Deep in my Soul, est dediee a Mme. Julia Worthington, richc dame americaine possedant
une villa en ltalie dans laquelle habitkrent Elgar avec sa femme. Comme O wjld West Wind (sur un
p d m e de Shelley), la pius importante de la sirie, cette chanson est en rnt bemol majeur. Le
dedlcataire en est W.G.NcMaught, directeur du Musical rimes et, avec Elgar, 1' un des membres du
jury de Morecambe. Lechef-d'muvre de I' Op 53 est Owls(Hiboux),egalement en mi kmol, designe
commekpitaphe, et dedit 3 I"'amj [d'Elgar] Pietro d' Alba': 11 s' agit d' un lapin angora appartenant
a la IilIe du composIteur, Carice. k s paroles sont d'Elgar lui-meme, qui affinna que cette chanson
"ne signifie rlen. Cela se passe dans un bois, la nuit, e t le "'ricn" qui revient sans cesse n'est que
It son d' un hibou". Elgar n' ajamais kcrit une melodie plus itrange, et les mots sont riches de sens:
"Un ktre sauvage blese dans la nuit, qul crledans Son angoisse, jusqu'au moment ou il est allongk,
mort, aux pieds de l'arbre".
C'est W. G. McMaught qul a suggere a Elgar d'appeler ses Op. 71 et 72 des 'Thansons chorales':
pensant que ce litre serait approprik a la conception ambitieuse de I'czuvre. Les deux melodles
de I'Op. 71 sont sur des textes de Henry Vaughan, le mystique du XYlleme siecle. Elles furent
composks en 1914, et recelent dcs souvenirs personnels. uatmosphere paisible de The Shower
kvoque une excursiona Totteridge effectuee par le couple Elgar ("'dansce lieu agrkable les alouetks
chantent et Ics nympheas surgisant de I'eau': ecrivit la remme du compositeur dans sonjournal).
L idylle oniriqut The Fountaha Ote inspirk par une autre excursion a Mi11Hill, toujoursen cornpagnje
doAliceStuart Wortley.
Death on the Hills, sur un poerne russe de Maikov traduit par Rosa Newmarch. a ett deflnj par
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le compositeur comme I'une des ses ceuvres les plus Importantes, parlant de la Mort qul choislt
ses victimes dans un village. La Mort est representee par les basses, les autres voix repesentant
les villageois.
Un autre poeme de Waikov, toujours dans la traduction de Newmarch, fut misen musique en 1914,
comme premiere piece de I' Op. 73, love's Tempest commence aussi paisiblement que I"bcPan de
saphir" pour atteindre son apogee "wilder than the storm at sea". Son pendant, Serenade, est un
exernple de la stimulation ckatrice qu'Elgar a toujours regu des rkves. Tous les poemes de ces
chansons de 1914 sembtent avoir ete choisis pour leur atmosphere de trouble des passions, How
Calmly the Evening once more is descending, compose en 1907, a tte decrit par le compositeur
comme "simple mais touchant".
La premiere des quatre dernieres chansons a plusleurs volx flgurant sur ce disque. Weary Wind
of the West, sur un texte du poete de I'Ile de Man, T. C.Brown, est en mi bemol majeur. Elle a kt6
composk en 1904 comme p i k e de concoua pour le festlval de Morecambe. Elle fut crkee devant
un public de ptus de six mille spectateurs. Evening Scene, en re mineur, ht composh en 1905 pour
le directeur de banque R. G,H, Howson, qu'elgar a definf comme "l'ame musicale" du festival de
Morecambe. Cette chanson, sur des vers dc Coventry Patmore, et qu' Elgar considkrait comme sa
rneilleure *ussite dans cette lignee de compositions, a etO rapprochee par A. J.Jaeger ("nimrod)
deschubert. La suivante. TheFrinceofSlwp,datede 1925. Elleestcompseesur un kxtede Walter
de la Ware, et kvelt I'atmosphere enchantke typique de certaines pikes d'elgar.
Go, Song of Mine est la plus importante des muvres pour chum a cappella (Elgar. Elle a ete
composee en 1909 en Italie, et anticipe certains aspects du Concerto pour violon et de la Deuxieme
symphonic. Malgk son caractkre majestueux typique du compositeur, elle a
t en realite une citation
du Liebestod de Tristan et fsolde de Wagner. Encore une fois, dans cette piece sur un pokme de
Cavalcanti traduit par D. G.Rossetti, on pinetre dans Ee plus profond dc I'lrne d'Elgar.
@ 1994 MIchael Kennedy
Traduction: Angela Canton1
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THREE EARLY PART-SOAGS O p 18
0 n.pw Eye.
0 happy eyes. For p u will set
My loue, my lady pass today:
What I may not, that may you say
And ask for answer daringly.
a happy eyes.
0 happy Awr'rs that touch her dress,
That touch her d m and t a k her smile.
0 whisper to her all the while
Some words of love in idleness,
0 happy flow'rs
0 happy airs that touch her cheek.
And lightly kiss and float away,
So careless as I f l n play,
Why take ye all the joy I seek?
0 happy eyes my love to see.
Alasl alas1 I may not greet
With word or touch my lady sweeL
More happy eyes, say all for me.
C. Alrre Elgar
mLwe
Llke tile rosy northern glow
Flushing on a moonless night
Whrre the world is levelled snow,
So thy light.
In my time of outer gloom
Thou didst wme, a tender lure:
Thou, when life was but a tomb.
Beamedst pure.
Thus Itookd to heav n again.
Yearning up wlth eager eyes,
As sunflow'rs alter drearj rain
Drtnk the skies,
Oh glow on and brighter g[ow,
k t me wer gaze on thee,
Lest I lose warm hope and so
Cease to be.
Arthur Maquarie
a My
Love dwelt In a Aortltera Land
My love dwelt i n a northern land,
A dim t a w r i n a forest green
Was his, and far away the sand
And gray wash of the waves was
seen
The woven forest boughs betwen:
And through the Northern summer
night
The sunset slowly died away,
And herds ol strange deer, siluer white,
Came gleaming through the lorest
gray,
And fled like ghosts before the day.
And OR, that month, we watch'd the
mmn
Wax great and white o'er wood and
lawn,
And wane, with waning of the June.
Till. like a brand Tor battle drawn,
She fell, and flamed in a wild dawn.
I know not if the iorest green
Still girdles round that castte gray,
1 know not if the boughs between
The white deer vanish ere the day:
The grass above my love ts, green,
His heart is colder than the clay.
Andrew b n g
FIVE PART-SONGS PROM THE GREEK
ANTHOLOOY Op 45
Yea, cast me from Heights of tlie Mountains
Yea. cast me from heights 01 the mountains to
deeps of the ocean.
Let the thunderblt stike me, o'enuhelm me with
fire or with snow!
Since him whom Lave's burden hath crushed, and
whom Ems hatb brown.
not wen the sw~ft.wing@d
lightnings of Zeus can
o'crthrow!
man., translated Alma Streftell
Whether IFind Thee
Whether I And thee bright wlth talr.
Or st111as bright with raven hair
Wtth equal grace thy tresses shine.
Ah, queen, and low will dwell dlvine
In t h e ? thy lochs, on that far day,
When gold or mblr turns to grey'
anon., transfated Andrew fang
Afkr many a Dusty Mile
After many a dusty mile.
Wand'rer, linger here awhile:
Stretch your limbs in this long grass:
Through these pines a wind shall pass
That shall cool you with its wing.
Grasshoppen shall shout and slng.
While the shepherd on the h~ll,
Near a Fountain warbling still.
Modulates, when noon is mute.
Summer songs along his flute;
Underneath a spreading tree.
None so easy-limbed as he,
Sheltered Imm the dog5tar's heat.
Rest: and then, on Ireshcned feet.
You shall pass the forest through
It is Pan that tounxls you.
anon, translated Edmund Gosse
It's oh1 to bc a Wild Wind
It's oh! to be a wild wind - when my lady's In the
sun,
She'd just unbind her neckrchlel and tak me
breathing in.
-
It's oh!tobea red rose justa Faintly blushing one,
So she'd pull me with her hand and to her snowy
breast I'd win.
anon.. transhted W. IY. ffard~nge
kasting Iwatch
Feasting Iwatch with westward-looking eye
The Dashing constellations' pageantry
Solemn and splendid: then anon 1 wreathe
My hair, and warbling to my harp I breathe
My full heart forth, and know the hcav'ns look
down.
Pleased, tor they also have their Lyre and Crown.
Marcus Argentarius,
translbted Richard Garnett
WUR PART-S(IAGS O p 53
mere i s Sweet Music
There Is sweet rnuslc here that softer tall$
Than petals from blown mses on the grass,
Or night dews on still waters between walls
Of shadowy granite, in a gleaming pass
Music that gentlier on the spirit lies.
Than tlr'd eyelids upon tird eyes:
Music that brings sweet sleep down from the
blissful skies.
Here are cool mosses deep.
And tbro' the moss the ivies creep
And in the stream the long.leaved flowers weep
And from the craggy ledge the poppy hangs i n sleep
Alfred. Lord Tenrayson
Deep i n my Soul
Deep in my soul that tender secret dwells.
Lonely and lost to light for evermore.
Saw when to thine heart responsive swells
Then trembles into sllence as before.
There, in its centre, a sepulchral lamp
Burns the slow flame, eternal but unseen:
Which not the darkness ol Despalr can damp
Though vain its my as it had never k n .
l o r d Byron
0 wlld West Wind!
0 wlld West Windl
Make me thy lyre, ekn as the forest is,
What ilmy lcaws are falling like its own!
The tumult of the mighty harmonies
I
I
,
I
Will take from both a deep autumnal tone.
Sweet t h d i n sadness harmonies. Be thou, Spirit
fierce,
My spirit! Be thou me, impetuous one!
Driw my dead thoughts over the universe.
L ~ k ewithered leaves to quicken a new birth!
And by the incantation of this wem.
%alter, as lrom an unextinguished hearth
Ashes and sparks, my words among manklnd!
Be through my lips to unawakened earth
The trumpet of a prophecy! 0 wind!
If Wtnter comes, can Spring be far behind?
Percy Rysshe Shelley
b?
Owls (An Epitaph]
What 1s that? ..flothlng:
The leaves must fall, and falling, rustle:
That is all:
They are dead
As they fall,
Dead at the foot of the tree:
All that can be is said.
What is it?. .flolhing,
-
What is that?.. .Nothing
A wild thing hurt in the night,
And it crles
In ~ t sdread.
Till it lies
Dead at the h o t of the tree:
All that can be is said.
What i s it?. ..Nothing.
What is that?. ..Ah!
A marching slow of unseen feet
That is all:
But a bier, spread
With a pall.
Is now at the foot or the tree:
All that could be 1s said:
I t is.. .what?.. .nothing.
Edward Elgar
TWO PART-SOAGS O p 7 1
The Shower
Cloud, i l as thou dost melt, and with thy train
Of drops m a k soft thc Earth, my eyes could weep
O'er my hard heart, that's bound up and asleep;
Perhaps at last,
Some such showers past.
fly God would glue a sunshlne after rain.
iferrry Vaughan
The Fountain
The unthrift sun shot vital gold.
A thousand, thousand pieces:
And heau n Its azum, did untold
Chequer'd wtth snowy fleeces:
The air was all in spice.
And ev'ry bush
A garland wore:
Thus fed my eyes.
But all the earth lay hush.
Only a little fountain lent
Some use for ears.
And on the dumb shades language spent,
The muslc of her tears.
There let the old drink water.
There let the young folk play.
And let Me little children run
And pluck the blossoms gay:
(Death speaks)
'[ must not pass the village
Nor halt beside the rill,
For there the wives and mothers all
Their buckets take to fill.
The wile might see her husband.
The mother see her son:
So c[ose they'd cling their clasp-ings
Could never b t undone:
Malkov, translatea Rosa Newmarch
-
Henry Vaughan
TWO PhRT.SONGS O p If
Death on the Rills
Why o'er the dark'ning hiIl-slopes
Do dusky shadows creep?
Because the wind blows keenly there.
Or rainstoms lash and leap?
Low's Tempest
Silently lay the sapphtre ocean.
Till tempest came to wake
All its roaring, seething blllows
That upon earth's ramparis break.
No wind blows chill upon them,
nor are they lastid by rain:
'Tis Death who rides across the hills
With all his shadowy train.
Quiet was my heart wtthin me.
Till your image, suddenly
Rising there, awoke a tumult
W~lderthan the storm at sea.
RarRov, translated Rosa flewmarch
The old brlng up the co*ge.
In front the young folk ride.
And on Oeathg saddle in a row
The babes sit side by slde.
Serenade
Dreams all too brief,
Dreams wlthout grief.
Once they are broken, come not again.
The young folk Ilk thelr volces.
The old folk plead wlth Death:
'0let us take the village road.
Or by the brook draw breath.
Acmss the sky the dark clouds sweep.
And all Is dark and drear above:
The bare trees toss their arms and weep,
Rest on, and do not wake. dear Low.
The Pinri Singers were created for the 1987 Summer Festlvalof British Music under the auspices ofthe Finzi Trust
wh~chis the groups principal benefactor. The results were so successful that the group is now widely regarded as
the major exponent af Britlsh twentieth-century choral music in which it speclalises.
The Fin71Singerspresent original and Interesting programmes with spectal emphastson contemporary composers.
Commissioned works and first perlormancesinclude music by Michael Rcrkelcy, .ludith Bingham, John Joubert David
Matthews, Stephen Pratt Jeremy Dale Roberts, John Tawner and James Glshart. Concerts and recordings alike haw
met with cons~derablecritical acclaim.
For Chandos, The F~nziSingers are recording a variety of British music. much of which has not been heard before.
either In performance or on disc
Die FinzI Singers wurden 1987 f i r das Summer Festival of Br~tishMusic unter der khirmherrschaft des Pinzi Trusts
lormiert Die Gruppe war so erfolgreich, dafi sie slch bald als elnes der bedeutendsten Ensembles auf dem Gebiet
der br~tisthenChorrnusik des 2O.Jahrhunderts. worauf sie sich spezialisiert, etablierte
Die FintiSlngers prisentleren origlnelle und lntereaante Programme mit elnem besonderen Schwergewicht auf den
Werken solcher ~itgenossischerKomponistenwie Michael Rerkcley, Judith Bingham, John Joubert. Oav~dPlatthews
Stephen Patt, Jeremy Dale Robert4, John Tavener und dames Wishart. [hre Konterte und Schallplatten wurden von
dcr Kritik mil Beifall aufgenommen
F i r Chandos haben die Lnzi Singers eine Vielfalt von britischer Ausik eingesp~elt,darunter viele Werke, die zuvor
weder im Konzert EU horen noih aul SchalEplatte zuginglich gewesen waren.
Le gmupedes Anzi Siagelrlut c m e n 1987. a 1' occasion du festival d'ete de Musiquc britannique, souslesauspices
du Trust Pinzi. II eut taot de succes qu'il put se sptcialiser dans la musique chorale britannique du 2 E m e siecle.
de laquelle il est un des interprktes maleurs.
Les Finzi Singers prksentent des progmmmes interessants et originaux, en insistant cependant sur les auvres de
compositeurs contemprains, tels Michael Berkeley. Judith Bingham, John Joubert. Dauld Natthews, Stephen Pratt.
Jeremy Dale Roberts. John Tawncr et James Wishart. Leurs concerts. comrne lcurs enregistrernents. on1 toujours etC
acrueillis favorablement par la critique.
ksFinzi9ngers on ten re gist^ chez Chandos unevariete de musique britannique, dont unegrande partiede nouwfles
ckations, jamais entendues auparavant, ni en concert, ni sur disque.
-
THE FlNZl SINGERS
19
Previous refeases featuring The r/nz?Slngeo directed by Paul Spicer
BLISS: CHORAL W O W
Shield or Faith Mar Portugues B~rthdaySong lor a Royal Child * Klwr flusic
The world is charged with the grandeur of God
with Andrew Lumsden, organ
CHAN 8980 CD: ABTD 1568 Cassette
.
.
PINZI: CHOlUL WORKS
God is gone up Welcome sweet and sacred feast Three Short Elegies Op 5
Thou didst delight my eyes * My lovely one Let us now praise famous men
Seven Partsongs Op 17 Magnificat. Whiteflowering days * All this night
Lo, the full, final sacrllice
with Harry Bickct organ
CHAA 8936 CD: ABTO 1533 Cassette
-
.
+
HOWELLS 8 MX:CHORAL WORKS
HOWEUS: Two Madrigals * long, Long Ago. The Summer i s Coming
TaKe him, Earth for Cherishing
BAX: This Worldes Joie Mater Ora Pilium Fiw Greek Folk Songs
I Sing of a Maiden that is makeless
CHAR 9139 CD
+
HOWELLS & STEVEAS: CHORAL WORAS
tlOWELLS: Mass in the Dorian Mode Salve Regina 0 salutaris Hostia Sweetest of sweets
Come, my soul Antiphon Aunc dimittis Regina caeli
STEVENS: Mass for Double Choir
CHAN 902I CD
+
.
.
-
BOWELLS & VAUGIIAN WlmAMS: CHOML WORKS
[IOWELLS: H Sequence for St. Hichael The House of the Mind Requiem
YAUGHAN WILLIAMS: Pmyer to the Father of Heaven A Vision of Aeroplanes
Lord, Thou hast been our reluge
.
-
-
with Harry Bicket. organ d Jonathan l'mman.Athvood, trump!
CHAI 9019 CD
MOERAN C MRUICK: CHORAL WORKS
-.
AOEMFI: Songs of Springtime Phyllida add Corydon
WARU)Ck A Cornish Carol I saw a fair maiden hnedicamus Domino The Pull Heart
The Rich Cavalcade Corpus Christl All the Flowers of the Spring As Dew in hprylle
Bethlehem D m A Cornish Christmas Carol
cnAn 9182 CD
-
.
.-
- .
WALTON: CHORAL WORKS
coronation Te Deum kt me as a Seal upon thine Heart. Jubilate Dm 4 Christmas Carols
The Twelve Nagniticat and Hunc Dimittis A Lltany Missa Breuis Cantico del Sole
Where dws the Uttered Music Go?. Antiphon
with Andrew Umsden, organ
CHAM 9222 CD
- .
-
-
--
SIR EDWARD ELGAR
Recorded In association with DaRakSC Ltd.
Computer Systems Procurement Prolesslonals
A Chaados Mgital Recarding
Recording Producer: Chrls Wbster
Sound Engineer: Richard k c
Assistant Engineer: Peter Newble
Editor: Jonathan Cooper
* Recorded in St Jude's Church, Central Square, tondon n W l l on 15 & I6 January 1993
Pmnt Cover Painting: Going to the Fold, Sunset 2879 by Samuel Palmer, courtesy of the Bn'dgeman Art Library
Back Cover Photograph of Sir Edward Elgar courtesy of the Hulton Deutsch Collection
Slew DmIgn: Penny kt Art Direction: Steven John
WARNING Copyright subsln all recordings w u e d under Ih18label Any unauthorised broadcastrng, publlc
perlmnanee, wwmg or r-rdrg
thml In any manner wh3tsoever dl consMute an ~nfnngernentd such copyright
In the Unrkd KI dam lrcenceslor the use of rewrdlngs fupublc p e r f o m c s may buobt91nedfrom Phorqraphic
Performance
Gantcn House 14-22 Ganton Stresl, London W I V 1LB
~8
Printed In Germany
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CHAN 9;
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SIR EDWARD ELGAR (1857- 19%)
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