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Notes and Editorial Reviews
NEW ALBUM OF WAR SONGS BY OLIVIER AND GRAMOPHONE AWARD-WINNING BARITONE SIMON KEENLYSIDE
“The world’s greatest lyric baritone” (BBC Music Magazine)
“In a league of his own” (The Sunday Telegraph)
Just as his Gramophone Award-winning debut recording for Sony Classical, 'Tales of Opera', featured a personal selection of the singer's favourite arias, so the eagerly-anticipated 'Songs of War' incorporates Keenlyside’s hand-picked selection of war songs that reflect such universal themes as fear, yearning, loss, restlessness, homesickness and love.
Simon Keenlyside has provided the sleeve notes himself for this album, displaying his own personal thoughts on the compositions, poetry and subject
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matter. The album’s cover image, provided by the Imperial War Museum, is a photograph of a soldier from WW1 writing a letter home, reflecting the album’s themes of longing and homesickness. Full song texts are included in the booklet.
R E V I E W S:
"Despite the title, most of the songs in this admirable collection are anything but warlike. There is no place for patriotic bombast here; instead, these polished miniatures yearn for a vanished pastoral England and express nobly romantic notions of love, fidelity and the human spirit. Vaughan Williams, Butterworth, Gurney, Ireland, Warlock and Somervell are all represented, but Simon Keenlyside and Malcolm Martineau do not limit themselves to England's whimsical finest, finding room for astringent examples from Ned Rorem and Kurt Weill as well. It's a beautifully judged recording, exquisitely sung; poignant but never sentimental."
-- Stephen Pritchard, The Observer (UK) [12/11/2011]
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Works on This Recording
1.
Sea fever by John Ireland
Performer:
Simon Keenlyside (Baritone),
Malcolm Martineau (Piano)
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1913; England
5.
A Shropshire Lad by George Butterworth
Performer:
Simon Keenlyside (Baritone),
Malcolm Martineau (Piano)
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1912; England
8.
White in the moon by Arthur Somervell
Performer:
Simon Keenlyside (Baritone),
Malcolm Martineau (Piano)
9.
Bredon Hill and Other Songs by George Butterworth
Performer:
Simon Keenlyside (Baritone),
Malcolm Martineau (Piano)
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1912; England
10.
The vagabond by John Ireland
Performer:
Simon Keenlyside (Baritone),
Malcolm Martineau (Piano)
Period: 20th Century
Written: England
11.
Three ravens by John Ireland
Performer:
Simon Keenlyside (Baritone),
Malcolm Martineau (Piano)
Period: 20th Century
Written: circa 1920; England
13.
Thy hand in mine, H 124 by Frank Bridge
Performer:
Simon Keenlyside (Baritone),
Malcolm Martineau (Piano)
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1917; England
14.
Songs of travel: no 1, The vagabond by Ralph Vaughan Williams
Performer:
Simon Keenlyside (Baritone),
Malcolm Martineau (Piano)
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1901-1904; England
17.
In Flanders by Ivor Gurney
Performer:
Simon Keenlyside (Baritone),
Malcolm Martineau (Piano)
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1917; England
Customer Reviews
Average Customer Review: 
( 1 Customer Review )
Keenlyside and Martineau -- how can you go wrong? January 27, 2013
By Stephen M. (Houston, TX) See All My Reviews
"This is a lovely recording. Some of the advertised war connections are a bit tenuous, but with singing like this does it really matter? Much of this literature is otherwise unavailable on recording and here it finds a worthy exponent. As is generally the case, Mr. Keenlyside sings with beautiful rich tone and seamless line, immersed at every turn in the substance and subtlety of the texts. Martineau is a sympathetic partner, playing as usual with elegance and a real sense of collaboration. Highly recommended."
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