Notes and Editorial Reviews
The facility with which Ned Rorem tunes into the shift of language and of tones of voice from Elizabethan England to Gertrude Stein finds its match here in the warm, easeful communication of Susan Graham and Malcolm Martineau.
Ned Rorem is one of the most fluent and prolific composers in the pantheon of American songwriters who have dominated English-language verse setting in the last 50 years. The facility with which he tunes into the shift of language and of tones of voice from Elizabethan England to Gertrude Stein, from Tennyson to Roethke, finds its match here in the warm, easeful communication of Susan Graham and Malcolm Martineau. The Berlin-based Ensemble Oriol plays its part in evoking the wide spaces and
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heat-hazes of Rorem’s Santa Fe Songs.
There are times when you long for Rorem to have a tougher tussle with the poets he sets: his languid fluency somehow bypasses much of the mystery behind the apparent simplicity of, for instance, Robert Frost or Yeats. But the performances bring to bear every nuance that’s possible, be it in the breathless, ecstatic archaisms of Rorem’s ‘Ronsard’, or in the sense of a song without beginning or ending which is Paul Goodman’s ‘Clouds’.
Among this generous and sensitively paced programme of 32 songs, I particularly enjoyed Rorem’s oblique, Brittenesque arrangement of Stephen Foster’s ‘I dream of Jeannie with the light brown hair’, and Graham’s exquisitely sung performance of the Christina Rossetti setting ‘Ferry me across the water’.
Performance: 5 (out of 5), Sound: 5 (out of 5)
-- Hilary Finch, BBC Music Magazine
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Works on This Recording
1.
Clouds by Ned Rorem
Performer:
Susan Graham (Mezzo Soprano),
Malcolm Martineau (Piano)
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1953; USA
Date of Recording: 09/1999
Venue: Teldec Studio, Berlin, Germany
Length: 2 Minutes 8 Secs.
Language: English
2.
Early in the morning by Ned Rorem
Performer:
Susan Graham (Mezzo Soprano),
Malcolm Martineau (Piano)
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1955; USA
Date of Recording: 09/1999
Venue: Teldec Studio, Berlin, Germany
Length: 2 Minutes 0 Secs.
Language: English
3.
The Serpent by Ned Rorem
Performer:
Susan Graham (Mezzo Soprano),
Malcolm Martineau (Piano)
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1972; USA
Date of Recording: 09/1999
Venue: Teldec Studio, Berlin, Germany
Length: 2 Minutes 6 Secs.
Language: English
4.
Now Sleeps the Crimson Petal by Ned Rorem
Performer:
Susan Graham (Mezzo Soprano),
Malcolm Martineau (Piano)
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1963; USA
Date of Recording: 09/1999
Venue: Teldec Studio, Berlin, Germany
Length: 4 Minutes 19 Secs.
Language: English
5.
I Strolled Across an Empty Field by Ned Rorem
Performer:
Susan Graham (Mezzo Soprano),
Malcolm Martineau (Piano)
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1959; USA
Date of Recording: 09/1999
Venue: Teldec Studio, Berlin, Germany
Length: 1 Minutes 6 Secs.
Language: English
6.
To a Young Girl by Ned Rorem
Performer:
Susan Graham (Mezzo Soprano),
Malcolm Martineau (Piano)
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1951; USA
Date of Recording: 09/1999
Venue: Teldec Studio, Berlin, Germany
Length: 1 Minutes 33 Secs.
Language: English
7.
For Poulenc by Ned Rorem
Performer:
Susan Graham (Mezzo Soprano),
Malcolm Martineau (Piano)
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1963; USA
Date of Recording: 09/1999
Venue: Teldec Studio, Berlin, Germany
Length: 2 Minutes 33 Secs.
Language: English
8.
Little Elegy by Ned Rorem
Performer:
Susan Graham (Mezzo Soprano),
Malcolm Martineau (Piano)
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1949; USA
Date of Recording: 09/1999
Venue: Teldec Studio, Berlin, Germany
Length: 1 Minutes 18 Secs.
Language: English
9.
Alleluia by Ned Rorem
Performer:
Malcolm Martineau (Piano),
Susan Graham (Mezzo Soprano)
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1946; USA
Date of Recording: 09/1999
Venue: Teldec Studio, Berlin, Germany
Length: 2 Minutes 49 Secs.
Language: Latin
10.
Look down, fair moon by Ned Rorem
Performer:
Susan Graham (Mezzo Soprano),
Malcolm Martineau (Piano)
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1957; USA
Date of Recording: 09/1999
Venue: Teldec Studio, Berlin, Germany
Length: 1 Minutes 16 Secs.
Language: English
11.
O you whom I often and silently come by Ned Rorem
Performer:
Malcolm Martineau (Piano),
Susan Graham (Mezzo Soprano)
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1957; USA
Date of Recording: 09/1999
Venue: Teldec Studio, Berlin, Germany
Length: 0 Minutes 32 Secs.
Language: English
12.
I Will Always Love You by Ned Rorem
Performer:
Susan Graham (Mezzo Soprano),
Malcolm Martineau (Piano)
Period: 20th Century
Written: USA
Date of Recording: 09/1999
Venue: Teldec Studio, Berlin, Germany
Length: 2 Minutes 23 Secs.
Language: English
13.
The tulip tree by Ned Rorem
Performer:
Susan Graham (Mezzo Soprano),
Malcolm Martineau (Piano)
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1953; USA
Date of Recording: 09/1999
Venue: Teldec Studio, Berlin, Germany
Length: 1 Minutes 32 Secs.
Language: English
14.
I am Rose by Ned Rorem
Performer:
Susan Graham (Mezzo Soprano),
Malcolm Martineau (Piano)
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1955; USA
Date of Recording: 09/1999
Venue: Teldec Studio, Berlin, Germany
Length: 0 Minutes 27 Secs.
Language: English
15.
The Lordly Hudson by Ned Rorem
Performer:
Susan Graham (Mezzo Soprano),
Malcolm Martineau (Piano)
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1947; USA
Date of Recording: 09/1999
Venue: Teldec Studio, Berlin, Germany
Length: 2 Minutes 23 Secs.
Language: English
16.
Far-Far-Away by Ned Rorem
Performer:
Susan Graham (Mezzo Soprano),
Malcolm Martineau (Piano)
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1963; USA
Date of Recording: 09/1999
Venue: Teldec Studio, Berlin, Germany
Length: 1 Minutes 49 Secs.
Language: English
17.
For Susan by Ned Rorem
Performer:
Susan Graham (Mezzo Soprano),
Malcolm Martineau (Piano)
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1953; USA
Date of Recording: 09/1999
Venue: Teldec Studio, Berlin, Germany
Length: 1 Minutes 9 Secs.
Language: English
18.
A journey by Ned Rorem
Performer:
Malcolm Martineau (Piano),
Susan Graham (Mezzo Soprano)
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1974; USA
Date of Recording: 09/1999
Venue: Teldec Studio, Berlin, Germany
Length: 1 Minutes 26 Secs.
Language: English
19.
Love by Ned Rorem
Performer:
Malcolm Martineau (Piano),
Susan Graham (Mezzo Soprano)
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1953; USA
Date of Recording: 09/1999
Venue: Teldec Studio, Berlin, Germany
Length: 1 Minutes 48 Secs.
Language: English
20.
Orchids by Ned Rorem
Performer:
Malcolm Martineau (Piano),
Susan Graham (Mezzo Soprano)
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1959; USA
Date of Recording: 09/1999
Venue: Teldec Studio, Berlin, Germany
Length: 2 Minutes 9 Secs.
Language: English
21.
Stopping by woods on a snowy evening by Ned Rorem
Performer:
Susan Graham (Mezzo Soprano),
Malcolm Martineau (Piano)
Period: 20th Century
Written: USA
Date of Recording: 09/1999
Venue: Teldec Studio, Berlin, Germany
Length: 1 Minutes 53 Secs.
Language: English
22.
Do I love you more than a day? by Ned Rorem
Performer:
Susan Graham (Mezzo Soprano),
Malcolm Martineau (Piano)
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1962-1963; USA
Date of Recording: 09/1999
Venue: Teldec Studio, Berlin, Germany
Length: 1 Minutes 34 Secs.
Language: English
23.
That shadow, my likeness by Ned Rorem
Performer:
Susan Graham (Mezzo Soprano),
Malcolm Martineau (Piano)
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1963; USA
Date of Recording: 09/1999
Venue: Teldec Studio, Berlin, Germany
Length: 1 Minutes 50 Secs.
Language: English
24.
Santa Fe Songs (12): no 4, Sonnet by Ned Rorem
Performer:
Malcolm Martineau (Piano),
Susan Graham (Mezzo Soprano),
Sebastian Gottschick (Viola),
Christiane Plath (Violin),
Friedeman Ludwig (Cello)
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Ensemble Oriol
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1980; USA
Date of Recording: 09/1999
Venue: Teldec Studio, Berlin, Germany
Length: 1 Minutes 59 Secs.
Language: English
25.
Santa Fe Songs (12): no 2, Opus 101 by Ned Rorem
Performer:
Christiane Plath (Violin),
Sebastian Gottschick (Viola),
Friedeman Ludwig (Cello),
Malcolm Martineau (Piano),
Susan Graham (Mezzo Soprano)
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Ensemble Oriol
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1980; USA
Date of Recording: 09/1999
Venue: Teldec Studio, Berlin, Germany
Length: 2 Minutes 54 Secs.
Language: English
26.
Jeanie with the Light Brown Hair [after Stephen Foster] by Ned Rorem
Performer:
Malcolm Martineau (Piano),
Susan Graham (Mezzo Soprano)
Period: 20th Century
Written: USA
Date of Recording: 09/1999
Venue: Teldec Studio, Berlin, Germany
Length: 2 Minutes 38 Secs.
Language: English
27.
Poèmes (6) pour le paix: no 2, Ode by Ned Rorem
Performer:
Susan Graham (Mezzo Soprano),
Malcolm Martineau (Piano)
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1953; USA
Date of Recording: 09/1999
Venue: Teldec Studio, Berlin, Germany
Length: 1 Minutes 39 Secs.
Language: French
28.
Santa Fe Songs (12): no 8, The Wintry Mind by Ned Rorem
Performer:
Susan Graham (Mezzo Soprano),
Malcolm Martineau (Piano)
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1980; USA
Date of Recording: 09/1999
Venue: Teldec Studio, Berlin, Germany
Length: 2 Minutes 34 Secs.
Language: English
29.
O do not love too long by Ned Rorem
Performer:
Susan Graham (Mezzo Soprano),
Malcolm Martineau (Piano)
Period: 20th Century
Written: USA
Date of Recording: 09/1999
Venue: Teldec Studio, Berlin, Germany
Length: 1 Minutes 23 Secs.
Language: English
30.
Sometimes with the one I love by Ned Rorem
Performer:
Susan Graham (Mezzo Soprano),
Malcolm Martineau (Piano)
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1957; USA
Date of Recording: 09/1999
Venue: Teldec Studio, Berlin, Germany
Length: 1 Minutes 33 Secs.
Language: English
31.
Nantucket Songs (10): no 9, Ferry me across the water by Ned Rorem
Performer:
Susan Graham (Mezzo Soprano),
Malcolm Martineau (Piano)
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1978-1979; USA
Date of Recording: 09/1999
Venue: Teldec Studio, Berlin, Germany
Length: 1 Minutes 34 Secs.
Language: English
32.
Santa Fe Songs (12): no 12, The Sowers by Ned Rorem
Performer:
Friedeman Ludwig (Cello),
Susan Graham (Mezzo Soprano),
Malcolm Martineau (Piano),
Christiane Plath (Violin),
Sebastian Gottschick (Viola)
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Ensemble Oriol
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1980; USA
Date of Recording: 09/1999
Venue: Teldec Studio, Berlin, Germany
Length: 1 Minutes 45 Secs.
Language: English
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