English Mad Songs and Ayres
View record and artist detailsRecord and Artist Details
Composer or Director: Thomas (Augustine) Arne, Henry Purcell, John Blow
Label: Dorian
Magazine Review Date: 5/1992
Media Format: CD or Download
Media Runtime: 51
Mastering:
DDD
Catalogue Number: DOR90105
Tracks:
| Composition | Artist Credit |
|---|---|
| O Solitude! my sweetest choice |
Henry Purcell, Composer
Ann Mackay, Soprano Colin Tilney, Harpsichord Henry Purcell, Composer Julianne Baird, Soprano |
| (The) Fatal hour comes on apace |
Henry Purcell, Composer
Ann Mackay, Soprano Colin Tilney, Harpsichord Henry Purcell, Composer Julianne Baird, Soprano |
| (An) Evening Hymn on a Ground, 'Now that the sun hath veil'd his light' |
Henry Purcell, Composer
Ann Mackay, Soprano Colin Tilney, Harpsichord Henry Purcell, Composer Julianne Baird, Soprano |
| With sick and famish'd eyes |
Henry Purcell, Composer
Ann Mackay, Soprano Colin Tilney, Harpsichord Henry Purcell, Composer Julianne Baird, Soprano |
| Welcome Song, 'Fly, bold rebellion' |
Henry Purcell, Composer
Henry Purcell, Composer |
| (The) Fairy Queen, Movement: Hark! the echoing air |
Henry Purcell, Composer
Ann Mackay, Soprano Colin Tilney, Harpsichord Henry Purcell, Composer Julianne Baird, Soprano |
| Bess of Bedlam, 'From silent shades' |
Henry Purcell, Composer
Ann Mackay, Soprano Colin Tilney, Harpsichord Henry Purcell, Composer Julianne Baird, Soprano |
| (The) Second Part of Musick's Hand-maid, Movement: A New Ground in E minor, Z T682 (Welcome to all ths, Z339) |
Henry Purcell, Composer
Colin Tilney, Harpsichord Henry Purcell, Composer |
| Oedipus, Movement: Music for a while (song) |
Henry Purcell, Composer
Ann Mackay, Soprano Colin Tilney, Harpsichord Henry Purcell, Composer Julianne Baird, Soprano |
| (The Masque of) Comus, Movement: Fame's an echo |
Thomas (Augustine) Arne, Composer
Ann Mackay, Soprano Colin Tilney, Harpsichord Julianne Baird, Soprano Thomas (Augustine) Arne, Composer |
| (The Masque of) Comus, Movement: Not on beds of fading flowers |
Thomas (Augustine) Arne, Composer
Ann Mackay, Soprano Colin Tilney, Harpsichord Julianne Baird, Soprano Thomas (Augustine) Arne, Composer |
| (The) Fall of Phaeton |
Thomas (Augustine) Arne, Composer
Ann Mackay, Soprano Colin Tilney, Harpsichord Julianne Baird, Soprano Thomas (Augustine) Arne, Composer |
| Judith |
Thomas (Augustine) Arne, Composer
Ann Mackay, Soprano Colin Tilney, Harpsichord Julianne Baird, Soprano Thomas (Augustine) Arne, Composer |
| Lysander, I pursue in vain |
John Blow, Composer
Ann Mackay, Soprano Colin Tilney, Harpsichord John Blow, Composer Julianne Baird, Soprano |
Author: Lindsay Kemp
It's perhaps a bit misleading of Dorian to call this disc ''English Mad Songs and Ayres''; the emphasis on the former is actually not all that marked (three numbers out of 14) and one suspects that the title is really there to catch the eye. We shouldn't complain, though, for this well-presented recital of vocal music by Purcell, Arne and Blow certainly repays a second glance. The mad element—which tends to find expression in such musical 'irrationalities' as unusual dissonances and sudden, disjointed changes of mood—is present in Blow's surprisingly fine Lysander, I pursue in vain and in two characteristically powerful works by Purcell: From silent shades and With sick and famish'd eyes, the latter a sacred song which articulates its urgent appeal for divine guidance using an unequivocally 'mad' vocabulary.
All three are intelligently sung by Julianne Baird; her small yet slightly soft-centred voice is not one would at first suspect to be particularly suited to such urgently dramatic music, but the imagination she shows in her interpretations makes easy amends. Pleasing, too, is the way in which she responds to the drama in the music without sacrificing anything in lyrical sweetness, the only exception being a deliberate one when she delivers the words of Purcell's love-crazed Bess in the sort of cronish voice normally reserved for the witches in Dido and Aeneas; it's an interesting idea, though I'm not sure it comes off. Colin Tilney's accompaniments, some supported by a gamba, are tastefully inventive, and they are well served by a recording balance which renders them immediate but not obtrusive. With the disc totalling only 51 minutes, however, it seems a pity that if Tilney is to play a solo he's allowed only one (and that strangely late in the programme).
The other 11 pieces are less overtly dramatic, though in a number of Purcellian cases—O solitude, my sweetest choice, The fatal hour comes on apace or Music for a while—just as emotionally charged. Here Baird's attractive voice and artful use of it are a constant pleasure, while Arne's four little songs are invested with all the touching, simple charm his somewhat less profound music demands. In short, any admirer of Purcell who doesn't take the trouble to hear this disc is probably fit to end up like poor old Bess!'
All three are intelligently sung by Julianne Baird; her small yet slightly soft-centred voice is not one would at first suspect to be particularly suited to such urgently dramatic music, but the imagination she shows in her interpretations makes easy amends. Pleasing, too, is the way in which she responds to the drama in the music without sacrificing anything in lyrical sweetness, the only exception being a deliberate one when she delivers the words of Purcell's love-crazed Bess in the sort of cronish voice normally reserved for the witches in Dido and Aeneas; it's an interesting idea, though I'm not sure it comes off. Colin Tilney's accompaniments, some supported by a gamba, are tastefully inventive, and they are well served by a recording balance which renders them immediate but not obtrusive. With the disc totalling only 51 minutes, however, it seems a pity that if Tilney is to play a solo he's allowed only one (and that strangely late in the programme).
The other 11 pieces are less overtly dramatic, though in a number of Purcellian cases—
English Mad Songs and Ayres
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