This is one of those magnificent discs which as a full price
product predated MusicWeb International - or at least pre-dated
1998 when MWI began to review classical CDs on a large scale.
With the passage of time and the commercial reissue cycle becoming
shorter we are now covering such lacunae as companies re-issue their catalogue
and usually at bargain price. That’s the case with this
admirable disc. It takes its second bow to mark the 50th anniversary
of Grainger’s death in February 1961. Details of other
celebratory events can be found at the Grainger
Society website.
My own Grainger journey began with Country Gardens and
proceeded under the tutelage of BBC Radio 3. First there was the
circa 1971 broadcast by Ashley Lawrence with the BBC Concert
Orchestra tackling the wild Scotch Strathspey and Reel. Then came the feral celebratory eruption of dance and battle that is The Warriors.
In 1979 I heard a deeply impressive broadcast of Green Bushes
by the ECO and Steuart Bedford. In September 1982 there was a
further Bedford broadcast of ten songs from The Jungle Book
with Neil Jenkins (he of Lyrita Finzi songs fame) with the English
Sinfonia and the BBC Northern Singers. After this a tape exchange
with Mike Rostron gave me access to good FM quality cassettes
of most of the BBC’s 1960s Grainger broadcasts including
some no-holds-barred performances of the two piano works by
Lisa Fuchsova and Paul Hamburger. This was consolidated by Thames
Publishing’s first edition of The Grainger Companion
edited by Lewis Foreman. The The New Percy Grainger Companion
as edited by Penelope Thwaites is now out from Boydell & Brewer
- and very good it is too. I should briefly mention that Penelope
Thwaites with John Lavender recorded the Grainger two piano
music across four Pearl CDs (SHE-CD 9611, 9623, 9631) in the
mid 1980s - all now deleted, more’s the pity. She can
be heard in three discs of the music for piano solo on Chandos
CHAN 9895, 9919 and 10205 which also appear as part of the new and magnificent 19CD Chandos Edition box (Chandos CHAN 10638(19)).
The present Hyperion disc comprises 14 short pieces and the
eleven episodes that comprise the Jungle Book set. These
works are for voice, either solo or full choral, all with various
configurations of instrumental support. These ensembles are
often richly specified. The sea shanty, Shallow Brown
is heard here in its full panoply for harmonium, four guitars,
two mandolas, two mandolins, two ukuleles, piccolo, three clarinets,
bass clarinet, bassoon, contrabassoon, two alto saxophones,
horn, strings, piano, baritone and choir. Grainger was famous
for the variety of versions of each of his pieces - some very
simple - voice and piano and others more extravagant and with
a peppering of ‘unconventional’ instruments including
guitar, harp and baritone saxophone. The saxophones lend an
abrasive grunt to the end of the Peora Hunt.
Grainger’s spiced and often deeply masculine settings
encompass every step between Delian ecstasy and thuddingly rhythmic
emphasis. The latter can be heard in The Hunting Song of
the Seeonee Pack. Strange how his handling of the voices
keeps making connection with Bantock’s writing for voices in Omar Khayyam. His penchant for sentimentality can
be heard in Goodbye to Love which sounds rather as if
he might have heard Mahler’s Adagietto. Libby Crabtree’s
clarion silver illuminates so many of these tracks including
The Only Son, The sprig of Thyme (with the then
unheard of James Gilchrist) and Died for Love. The latter’s
simple string accompaniment recalls Warlock’s pristine
medieval settings. The harmonium’s elderflower wheeze
is also a hallmark of these settings and you can hear it making
its discreet obeisance in The Power of Love sung inwardly
by John Mark Ainsley. Melancholy and introspection is maintained
by Ainsley in Willow Willow with violin, strings and
harp. David Wilson-Johnson takes centre-stage for The Three
Ravens with choir, a wind nonet and that signature harmonium.
The running of Shindand is another Kipling setting, this
time for male voices a cappella. Grainger also made an arrangement
of this piece for five cellos. The affecting Love Song of
Har Dyal is for soprano (Libby Crabtree), strings, piano,
harmonium, oboe and bassoon. This Eastern mood scena is subtly
yet vividly coloured - night, the desert, the camels and the
bazaar. The scoring for this version dates from 1958.
The generous notes are by Grainger expert Barry Peter Ould and
include the sung texts alongside the commentary for each piece.
To sum up: generous timing, discoveries, Delian gauzy harmonies,
tangy instrumentation, sentimentality, aureate vocal light,
succinct and touching settings. Match this with the other Hyperion
Grainger Polyphony disc (CDH55236), the Britten/Grainger Decca
brace now on Eloquence (480 2205) and a smattering of the Chandos Grainger
Edition and you have the makings of a strong Grainger collection and one rife with poetry and delight.
Rob Barnett
Tracklisting
Shallow Brown [6:04]
David Wilson-Johnson (baritone)
Jungle Book
1: The fall of the stone [2:11]
2: Morning song in the jungle [2:50]
3: Night-song in the jungle [0:48]
4: The Inuit [2:17]
5: The beaches of Lukannon [3:23]
6: Red Dog [1:11]
John Mark Ainsley (tenor)
7: The peora hunt [0:40]
8: Hunting-song of the Seeonee pack [1:19]
9: Tiger! Tiger! [1:19]
John Mark Ainsley (tenor)
10: The only son [4:40]
Libby Crabtree (soprano), John Mark Ainsley (tenor)
11: Mowgli's song against people [3:41]
David Wilson-Johnson (baritone), James Gilchrist (tenor)
Good-bye to love [3:54] arr. Alan Gibbs (b.1932)
John Mark Ainsley (tenor)
Died for love [1:24]
Libby Crabtree (soprano)
The power of love [4:53]
John Mark Ainsley (tenor)
The Rival Brothers [1:03]
Six dukes went afishin' [2:19]
The sprig of thyme [2:35] arr. Dana Perna (b.1958)
Libby Crabtree (soprano), James Gilchrist (tenor)
Willow, willow [3:57]
John Mark Ainsley (tenor)
Recessional [3:58]
Lord Maxwell's goodnight [2:48] arr. David Tall
(b.1941)
John Mark Ainsley (tenor)
The Three Ravens [4:02]
David Wilson-Johnson (baritone)
The running of shindand [1:41]
Early one morning [2:51] arr. David Tall (b.1941)
David Wilson-Johnson (baritone), Libby Crabtree (soprano)
The love song of Har Dyal [2:14]
Lesley Jane Rogers (soprano)
My love's in Germanie [3:57]
Libby Crabtree (soprano)
John-Mark Ainsley (tenor) , David Wilson-Johnson (baritone) 
