The English Singers, Steuart Wilson, Gerald Moore, Frederick Ranalow, Conchita Supervia, Ivor Newto
Release Date: 01 September 2017
Label: Albion Records
Packaging Type: Jewel Case
No of Units: 1
Barcode: 5060158190324
Genres: Classical
Description
A treasure trove of early 20th century performing styles, this Albion Records 2017 release focuses on many folk songs of classical beauty, collected in the early years of the 20th century. 78 rpm recordings are cleanly remastered, nine of them now appearing on CD for the first time.
There is a depth of humanity in these songs that connects us to a not-so distant past. The stories and sentiments they describe, of love, war, courtship, separation and the vagaries of the seasons, can make us smile, empathise and, sometimes, still move us to tears.
The recordings included on this CD are mainly taken from the collection of David Michell. He was born in 1929 and began his passion for collecting 78s in his very early years. By 2015, he had collected many thousands of discs. His records have been much sought after for reissue.
Reviews
This comes courtesy of the Ralph Vaughan Williams Society, and it is as unbridled an archival romp as you're likely to hear from the British Isles. The roster of arrangers includes the likes of Cecil Sharp, Lucy Broadwood, Percy Grainger, Ethel Smyth, Gustav Holst, and—of course—Ralph Vaughan Williams. Be ready to go back in time.
I think you would need to be a devotee of archival sources and a dyed-in-the-wool Anglophile to get truly excited about this. But if you are either in any measure, you'll have a ball. Even when the sound is bad or the interpretive style just hopelessly passé, the performances are so quintessentially British it will be hard to resist them. --GREENFIELD, American Record Review
Albion are no slouches when it comes to documentation and this matches the delights and revelations to be heard here. --Rob Barnett, Musicweb International
Everything on this disc is priceless in its way, but this proud rendition of one of our finest English tunes is beyond rubies: listening to it, one understands well what exactly is the English tradition. It is the most compelling reminder of where our national music came from. --Simon Heffer, The Daily Telegraph, 9 September 2017
Tracklisting
Tredegar Town Band, Ross Knight, Ian Porthouse, Martyn Brabbins
Alessandro Fisher, William Vann, The Navarra Quartet
Adrian Sims & Alan Rowlands
David Briggs
Chapel Choir Of The Royal Hospital, Joshua Ryan & William Vann
Timothy West, Samuel West, Mary Bevan, Sophie Bevan, Choir Of Clare College, Cambridge, Britten Sin
Various
David Welton & Iain Burnside
