Bantock Songs
Little-known English repertoire – some simple gems, some over-elaborate
View record and artist detailsRecord and Artist Details
Composer or Director: Granville Bantock
Genre:
Vocal
Label: Dutton Laboratories
Magazine Review Date: 4/2003
Media Format: CD or Download
Media Runtime: 77
Mastering:
Stereo
DDD
Catalogue Number: CDLX7121
Tracks:
Composition | Artist Credit |
---|---|
Songs from the Chinese, Series I |
Granville Bantock, Composer
David Owen Norris, Piano Granville Bantock, Composer Peter Savidge, Baritone |
Songs from the Chinese, Series II, Movement: (A) Dream of Spring (Ts'en Ts'an) |
Granville Bantock, Composer
David Owen Norris, Piano Granville Bantock, Composer Jean Rigby, Mezzo soprano |
Songs from the Chinese, Series II, Movement: Desolation (Kao-Shih) |
Granville Bantock, Composer
David Owen Norris, Piano Granville Bantock, Composer Jean Rigby, Mezzo soprano |
Songs from the Chinese, Series III, Movement: (A) Feast of Lanterns (Yuan Mei) |
Granville Bantock, Composer
David Owen Norris, Piano Granville Bantock, Composer Jean Rigby, Mezzo soprano |
Songs from the Chinese, Series III, Movement: Adrift (Li Po) |
Granville Bantock, Composer
David Owen Norris, Piano Granville Bantock, Composer Jean Rigby, Mezzo soprano |
Captain Harry Morgan |
Granville Bantock, Composer
David Owen Norris, Piano Granville Bantock, Composer Peter Savidge, Baritone |
(6) Jester Songs, Movement: In Tyme of Olde |
Granville Bantock, Composer
David Owen Norris, Piano Granville Bantock, Composer Peter Savidge, Baritone |
(6) Jester Songs, Movement: Serenade |
Granville Bantock, Composer
David Owen Norris, Piano Granville Bantock, Composer Peter Savidge, Baritone |
Songs of Persia |
Granville Bantock, Composer
David Owen Norris, Piano Granville Bantock, Composer Peter Savidge, Baritone |
Celtic Songs, Movement: In the Hollows of the Hills |
Granville Bantock, Composer
David Owen Norris, Piano Granville Bantock, Composer Jean Rigby, Mezzo soprano |
Celtic Songs, Movement: At the Rising of the Moon |
Granville Bantock, Composer
David Owen Norris, Piano Granville Bantock, Composer Jean Rigby, Mezzo soprano |
(The) Singer in the Woods |
Granville Bantock, Composer
David Owen Norris, Piano Granville Bantock, Composer Peter Savidge, Baritone |
Song to the seals |
Granville Bantock, Composer
David Owen Norris, Piano Granville Bantock, Composer Jean Rigby, Mezzo soprano |
(5) Ghazals of Hafiz, Movement: Alá yá! Send the Cup Around |
Granville Bantock, Composer
David Owen Norris, Piano Granville Bantock, Composer Peter Savidge, Baritone |
(5) Ghazals of Hafiz, Movement: Oh! Glory of thefull-mooned Fairness |
Granville Bantock, Composer
David Owen Norris, Piano Granville Bantock, Composer Peter Savidge, Baritone |
Pippa Passes |
Granville Bantock, Composer
David Owen Norris, Piano Granville Bantock, Composer Jean Rigby, Mezzo soprano |
(A) Woman's Last Words |
Granville Bantock, Composer
David Owen Norris, Piano Granville Bantock, Composer Jean Rigby, Mezzo soprano |
I Go to Prove my Soul |
Granville Bantock, Composer
David Owen Norris, Piano Granville Bantock, Composer Peter Savidge, Baritone |
(The) Songs of Egypt, Movement: Invocation to the Nile (Helen Bantock) |
Granville Bantock, Composer
David Owen Norris, Piano Granville Bantock, Composer Jean Rigby, Mezzo soprano |
Moon Maiden's Song |
Granville Bantock, Composer
David Owen Norris, Piano Granville Bantock, Composer Jean Rigby, Mezzo soprano |
(The) Bluebell Wood |
Granville Bantock, Composer
David Owen Norris, Piano Granville Bantock, Composer Jean Rigby, Mezzo soprano |
Ozymandias |
Granville Bantock, Composer
David Owen Norris, Piano Granville Bantock, Composer Peter Savidge, Baritone |
Author: John Steane
Here, at the very least, is new repertoire and a possible opening to more. Lewis Foreman’s useful introductory essay tells of 260 published songs and at least 117 still in manuscript. The current record catalogue has only one – the Song to the Seals which, with its memorable refrain ‘Hoi-ron, oi-ron, oi-ro’, used to grace the later concert programmes of John McCormack. That is included here, beautifully (though a little placidly at the ‘splash’) sung by Jean Rigby; and one more, Captain Henry Morgan, may be familiar from recordings by another great populariser, Peter Dawson. For the rest, most will be unknown to most listeners, who assuredly will be hoping to like what they hear.
That is probably why I said ‘at the very least’: my own feelings are mixed. Speaking personally, I like Bantock least when he is occupied most grandly, leading with declamatory gestures from the piano, venturing beyond lyrical song and its wise disciplines or just simply overloading his settings with passion that is willed rather than being driven by a genuine melodic impulse. Perhaps the 7'51" of the second Ghazal of Hafiz may commend itself with repeated playing: I’ve not yet found it to do so. The true song-writer, I think, is discovered in the simpler things – The Moon Maiden’s Song and At the Rising of the Moon for instance.
These are particularly well sung by Jean Rigby, who knows how to sing legato and copes successfully with songs which sometimes appear to call for a soprano rather than a mezzo voice. Peter Savidge has a good, sturdy voice, but I kept hoping for some more vibrant ring and resonance. In all of these songs there is plenty of work for the pianist, and David Owen Norris clearly relishes the opportunities to ‘orchestrate’: the lines, colours and perspectives are very vivid in his hands.
Perhaps there will be a second volume. That will tell whether they’ve skimmed off the best of the 260 here or whether there is a genuinely rich output in reserve.
That is probably why I said ‘at the very least’: my own feelings are mixed. Speaking personally, I like Bantock least when he is occupied most grandly, leading with declamatory gestures from the piano, venturing beyond lyrical song and its wise disciplines or just simply overloading his settings with passion that is willed rather than being driven by a genuine melodic impulse. Perhaps the 7'51" of the second Ghazal of Hafiz may commend itself with repeated playing: I’ve not yet found it to do so. The true song-writer, I think, is discovered in the simpler things – The Moon Maiden’s Song and At the Rising of the Moon for instance.
These are particularly well sung by Jean Rigby, who knows how to sing legato and copes successfully with songs which sometimes appear to call for a soprano rather than a mezzo voice. Peter Savidge has a good, sturdy voice, but I kept hoping for some more vibrant ring and resonance. In all of these songs there is plenty of work for the pianist, and David Owen Norris clearly relishes the opportunities to ‘orchestrate’: the lines, colours and perspectives are very vivid in his hands.
Perhaps there will be a second volume. That will tell whether they’ve skimmed off the best of the 260 here or whether there is a genuinely rich output in reserve.
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