Music for Voice and String Quartet

PETER WARLOCK (1894-1930): Chopcherry, Corpus Christi, The Fairest May, Mourn no moe, A Sad Song, My ghostly fader, My Lady is a pretty one, My little sweet darling, Sleep, Sorrow’s Lullaby, Take, O take those lips away, FREDERICK DELIUS (1862-1934): I-Brasil, Twilight Fancies, Young Venevil (arr. Roderick Williams [b.1965]), SAMUEL BARBER (1910-1981): Sleep Now, Sure on this shining night (arr. Williams), Dover Beach, SALLY BEAMISH (b.1956): Tree Carols (First Recordings of the Beamish and the Williams arrangements.)

Description: A recital focusing on a 20th-century phenomenon: works for voice and string quartet. It takes its title from a James Agate setting by Samuel Barber (whose masterly Dover Beach is also heard), here in a sublime arrangement by Roderick Williams. Williams also provides arrangements of Barber’s Sleep Now and three Delius pieces from his Seven Songs from the Norwegian: the evocative Twilight Fancies, vivacious Young Venevil and exotic I-Brasil. Composed for Williams and the Coull Quartet, Sally Beamish’s five-part Tree Carols offer striking, variegated settings of poems by Fiona Sampson in their premiere recording. Texts included. Roderick Williams (baritone), Sophie Bevan (soprano), James Gilchrist (tenor), Coull Quartet.