Search - Tear, Ledger :: Vaughan Williams: Folksong Arrangements

An intense, sometimes harrowing recital of native English so

Santa Fe Listener | Santa Fe, NM USA | 10/19/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Tenor Robert Tear takes a serious, sometimes severe approach to 21 English folksongs gathered in the field by Vaughan Williams and then set to simple, unadorned piano accompaniments (a violin is added to three songs, reminiscent of the Victorian parlor musicale). I felt as if I had been dragged into a Protestant chapel in Wessex on a chill winter night. I think the composer would approve, because the ethos surrounding native folksongs, particularly in that era, was high-minded: these are expressions of England's deep ancestral spirit. The tone is set by the first, lamenting tune, 'The Captain's Apprentice,' which recounts the abuse of a young boy taken to sea, which is so brutal that he dies. Many other songs remind us that rural life was harsh, a reality that these lyrics capture rather than evade. (A handful of items are French or from the New World.)



Tear was in great voice in 1976, and he performs with suitable bite and intensity, although a touch of humor might have leavened the mix. Pianist Philip Ledger tamely follows the singer. As a filler EMI provides a 1963 account of V-W's Six Studies in English Folk-Song arranged for viola and performed by a personal firend of the composer's, Jean stewart. It, too, is a somber, haunting work.



All told, if you are in the mood to travel back to the dark, sometimes harrowing atmosphere of pre-industrial England, this CD communicates with integrity and beauty."

A treasured LP finally makes it to CD

John Temple | Cape Cod, MA | 03/29/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Back in the 1970s Robert Tear and Philip Ledger made two great folksong recordings, one containing 19 of Britten's arrangements and the other consisting of the Vaughan Williams arrangements contained in this CD. The Britten LP was released in a 2-CD set several years ago, but the Vaughan Williams took a lot longer, first appearing in the big 2008 "Collector's Edition" and now finally on its own. Of the many highlights on this disc the greatest is surely the last song, "How cold the wind doth blow," or The Unquiet Grave, one of the most haunting, spare and at the same time voluptuous folksong arrangements ever thanks to Hugh Bean's wonderful violin obbligato. The song itself obviously appealed to Vaughan Williams, as he also made the quite different version recorded by the London Madrigal Singers. But to me, this is the real keeper. It's a mystery to me why more people haven't recorded it. But now you can discover it for yourself, and for probably less money than I spent on the original LP."