Sullivan's ballads are mostly early works, written before his greater celebrity as a theatre composer. The earliest piece here, Ich mochte hinaus es jauchzen, from 1859, was one of his student efforts in Leipzig. There are many interesting ripples of melody that stamp these songs with the direct, story-telling sentimentality that marks the quieter or more solemn moments in Sullivan's operas.
Golden days, to words by Lionel Lewin, begins with something of the mood of Nanki-Poo's serenade, and the subsequent A life that lives for you has a tripping theme that would not be out of place in Titipu. Both date from the early 1870s. Lewin died in 1874, aged only 26; his Guinevere! is a narrative poem which grew out of a never-completed libretto he planned on the same subject for Sullivan. The song was dedicated to Therese Tietiens, one of the greatest Victorian prima donnas, who sang in Sullivan's Festival Te Deum at the Crystal Palace in 1872. A fourth Lewin poem, Once again, has one of those irresistible longing, yearning, rising melodies in which all Victorian balladeers seemed to specialize.
A group of Scottish songs, to words by Walter Scott (County guy), Burns (Mary Morison) and Robert Graham (If doughty deeds) is less characterful. Sullivan's Shakespeare settings are better known, Orpheus with his lute was a Janet Baker favourite, and Sigh no more, ladies and O mistress mine both have simple charm. Of course, what is missing from all these songs is that dash of pepper and zest that Gilbert's lyrics brought forth from Sullivan. We modern listeners have problems with Victorian sentimentality and piety (Sullivan's most famous song, The lost chord, is not included). It is the world of Gilbert's pranks or George and Weedon Grossmith's satires to which we respond: Hartley Coleridge, George Herbert and Alfred Lord Tennyson are all mighty serious.
Richard Conrad, fondly remembered for his contribution as a tenor to the Sutherland/Horne/Bonynge Decca album ''The Age of Bel Canto'' some 30 years ago, now sings as a baritone. His intentions are of the purest, diction perfectly dear—he is a veteran of ten G&S roles—and he obviously has a feeling for the style. His voice though, does not have much range or colour to it and the high notes are only achieved with some effort. The enterprise is interesting and students of Sullivan's music will find much fascinating material here, but the general listener should be prepared to sample just one or two songs at a time.'