This disc of English songs, which takes the seasons as its theme, is
one in which connections abound. We have two father-and-son pairings for not
only is Ben Parry the son of John Parry but also in Ben Parry’s set of
songs Richard Edgar-Wilson is accompanied by his percussionist son, Sam
Wilson. The other connection is Suffolk. Britten is inextricably linked with
the county, for one thing. In addition, John Parry spent many years working
as a teacher and church organist in Ipswich. His son, Ben attended Ipswich
School and so too did Richard Edgar-Wilson and, later, his son, Sam. Andrew
Leach is the Director of Music at the same school though whether he taught
any of the aforementioned alumni of the school I don’t know. To
complete the Suffolk theme all the recordings were made at two venues in the
county and Ben Parry’s
Season Songs are settings of Cecil Lay
(1885-1956), who lived in Suffolk all his life and between 1898 and 1904 he
studied at - yes, you’re right - Ipswich School.
Right, so now we know we’re discussing a ‘Suffolk
Project’. What of the music and the performances? Easily the
best-known work here is Britten’s set of songs to words by Thomas
Hardy; indeed, all the other music on this disc is being recorded for the
first time. I’m sure I must have heard Richard Edgar-Wilson sing
previously but I can’t readily remember the occasion. However, he
makes an excellent impression here. Throughout the recital his tone is well
produced and even, there’s excellent dynamic control, his voice is
clear and ringing and his diction is immaculate. His partner in the Britten
and John Parry songs is the American, Eugene Asti, who I
know
I’ve heard several times before, including in recitals with Sarah
Connolly (
review) and James Rutherford (
review). Throughout both the cycles on this disc in
which he features Asti’s accompaniments are exemplary.
The Britten is very well done. The only reservation I have comes
towards the end of the first song, ‘At Day-close in November’
where Edgar-Wilson sings very quietly. The problem is that, to my ears, he
sings
too softly and it’s not always easy to hear the vocal
line - and I don’t believe Asti is playing too loudly. Otherwise, all
is well. I like the delicacy that both artists bring to both ‘Wagtail
and Baby’ and to ‘The Little Old Table’; both these songs
are well-pointed. Much of ‘The Choirmaster’s Burial’ is
almost like a sparingly accompanied
recitativo and I like the way
Richard Edgar-Wilson tells the story. I also admire his admirably light
tone, especially at the start and close of the song. ‘Before Life and
After’, the concluding song, features some lovely quiet singing early
on - the singer becomes more impassioned later. In the very first phrase of
this song one can so easily hear in ones mind echoes of Peter Pears, for
whom it was written, but this is very much Edgar-Wilson’s performance
and a fine one it is.
John Parry’s
Six Songs set poems by Catherina Marriott
from a collection entitled
Impressions(1991). Apparently, the poems made an
immediate impression on Parry, who determined that several were ripe for a
musical setting; and I’m not surprised. As a point of reference only I
would say that anyone who responds to the music of Britten will respond to
John Parry’s songs also though, as I say, that’s a comparison
for reference only; Parry’s songs have their own voice. I liked
‘A Year to Remember’, which is a slightly nostalgic poem of the
seasons. In ‘Dancing Lesson’ memories of a child’s dancing
lesson are entertainingly conveyed by both poet and composer while the final
song, ‘Making Music’ has witty words set to witty music. These
are enjoyable songs and so far as I can tell on first acquaintance,
they’re done extremely well by Edgar-Wilson and Asti.
If John Parry’s name was new to me the same is not true of his
son. I’ve come across Ben Parry as a conductor with the Rodolfus Choir
(
review) and I believe he was also the co-founder of the
Dunedin Consort (
review). I’ve also encountered him as an arranger of
Christmas music (
review) but
Season Songs is much more substantial
fare. He sets eight poems by the Suffolk poet, Cecil Lay. The settings are
marked out not least by the unusual combination of solo voice and marimba,
unprecedented in my experience. The songs are dedicated to Richard
Edgar-Wilson and his son. I guess that the very fact that a marimba is
required for the accompaniment may inhibit frequent performances but the
songs are attractive and the accompaniment is not only novel but intriguing.
The subtle sounds of the marimba create their own fascination and the
accompaniment provides an interesting underpinning for the vocal line in the
second song, ‘Summer Song’. The marimba’s timbres work
particularly well in songs 4 - 6, which illustrate Autumn or Winter and I
love the dancing rhythms - which extend to the vocal part also - in the
concluding ‘Spring’. Here the music conveys Spring joy and the
rising of the sap most delightfully.
I wish I could be so enthusiastic about Andrew Leach’s songs
but I found they had an almost unrelieved gloominess to them. Part of the
trouble is his choice of texts: four poems by the Welsh poet, R.S. Thomas
(1913-2000). I’m sure these poems display great literary
accomplishment - not long before his death Thomas was nominated for the
Nobel Prize for Literature - but I’m afraid the dark imagery in these
poems does little for me. Unsurprisingly, Leach’s music is
consistently serious in tone; had he selected even just one cheerful text
and set it accordingly I could probably have lived with the rest. Others may
respond more positively.
Despite my reservations about the final set of songs there’s
much to enjoy here and it’s good that these unfamiliar songs have been
given a recording alongside the Britten. Collectors of English song can
investigate this disc confident that the standard of performance is
consistently high, as is the standard of the recorded sound and the
documentation.
John Quinn
Britten discography & review index:
Winter
Words
