I do not wish to discuss
individual songs – either musically
or poetically. It is clear that anyone
with even a smattering of an understanding
of English literature will be seriously
impressed with the texts chosen by Brian
Blyth Daubney. Big hitters include A.E
Housman, John Keats, W.B. Yeats, John
Betjeman and Thomas Hardy. But other
names jostle for our attention. The
great ‘socialist’ poet Randall Swingler,
the American poet Theodora Goss and
the writer of Linden Lea William
Barnes all lend their excellent poems
to the composer’s pen.
My first observation
is that Daubney is unafraid to set words
that have a life of their own. For example
all lovers of English ‘lieder’ will
know John Ireland’s setting of The
Lent Lily. And let us not forget
Ivor Gurney’s and C.W Orr’s offering
of that fine poem too. Further down
the track-list is the lovely Yeats poem
The Cloths of Heaven. I guess
most will associate this song with Janet
Baker, Gerald Moore and of course Thomas
Dunhill. In this case both Daubney and
Dunhill hit the spot – but I feel that
the utter simplicity of the latter is
not quite achieved. The Rose of Lidice
was given almost classic status by Alan
Rawsthorne – but once again Daubney
gives a totally acceptable and moving
alternative.
My second thought is
simply this. Does Daubney contribute
to the corpus of English Song? This
is a harder question to answer – on
the face of it he has created a number
of fine songs that well suit both voice
and piano - of that I have no doubt.
But the other side of the coin is that
they are quite definitely derivative.
It is not difficult to play spot the
composer – Finzi, Moeran, Ireland et
al. It is even possible to hear echoes
of Benjamin Britten. But what there
does not appear be in these songs is
a genuine Daubney style. As Hubert Culot
states in his review on these pages
– "Daubney’s songs may not add
anything new to the long British tradition
of song-writing…" The composer
does not push any boundaries: he quite
clearly avoids the more avant-garde
techniques of writing for vocal line.
He is definitely a writer in the past.
But my answer to this
is "So what!"
I have long argued
against ignoring composers simply because
they are not at the forefront of stylistic
revolutions. I care not a whit that
Stanford is beholden to Brahms – I just
adore his music. I have never had any
problems with C.W. Orr’s Delius-like
songs. The bottom line is this – some
composers make advances into new territories
– others consolidate the ground already
gained.
Perhaps the only caveat
in all this is that in many of these
songs Daubney seems caught in a style
that is pushing seventy-plus years old.
Maybe this is a little bit of musical
escapism?
But lastly I ask simply
the question – do these songs move the
listener? The answer is clearly that
many of them do. There is no more to
be said.
My last thought is
how to listen to this disc. Certainly
it is wrong to bang the CD into the
player and let rip for a generous 79
minutes and 30 songs. It needs a little
more thought and attention. I suggest
listening to it in cycles. For example
play the seven songs by Theodora Goss
at one sitting. Go have a cup of tea.
Take Swingler’s Rose of Lidice
on its own and so on. Only by doing
this can we be fair to the composer
and to the poets – and not forgetting
the two wonderful singers and a fine
pianist.
Hubert Culot concludes
his review by saying that Daubney "certainly
breathes fresh air into it" [the
English Song tradition]. With this I
heartily agree. A great release and
required listening for all enthusiasts
of English Lieder.
John France
see also review
by Hubert Culot
British
Music Society
for
details
William Berger (baritone)a; Anna
Dennis (soprano)b; John Talbot (piano)
