Gibbs Songs

Record and Artist Details

Composer or Director: Cecil Armstrong Gibbs

Label: Marco Polo

Media Format: CD or Download

Media Runtime: 53

Mastering:

DDD

Catalogue Number: 8 223458

Tracks:

Composition Artist Credit
(2) Songs, Movement: The Bells Cecil Armstrong Gibbs, Composer
Cecil Armstrong Gibbs, Composer
Nik Hancock-Child, Baritone
Rosemary Hancock-Child, Piano
(4) Songs from 'Crossings' Cecil Armstrong Gibbs, Composer
Cecil Armstrong Gibbs, Composer
Nik Hancock-Child, Baritone
Rosemary Hancock-Child, Piano
(3) Songs, Movement: Five eyes Cecil Armstrong Gibbs, Composer
Cecil Armstrong Gibbs, Composer
Nik Hancock-Child, Baritone
Rosemary Hancock-Child, Piano
(3) Songs, Movement: As I lay in the early sun Cecil Armstrong Gibbs, Composer
Cecil Armstrong Gibbs, Composer
Nik Hancock-Child, Baritone
Rosemary Hancock-Child, Piano
(The) Tiger-lily Cecil Armstrong Gibbs, Composer
Cecil Armstrong Gibbs, Composer
Nik Hancock-Child, Baritone
Rosemary Hancock-Child, Piano
(The) Sleeping Beauty Cecil Armstrong Gibbs, Composer
Cecil Armstrong Gibbs, Composer
Nik Hancock-Child, Baritone
Rosemary Hancock-Child, Piano
(The) Wanderer Cecil Armstrong Gibbs, Composer
Cecil Armstrong Gibbs, Composer
Nik Hancock-Child, Baritone
Rosemary Hancock-Child, Piano
Take Heed, Young Heart Cecil Armstrong Gibbs, Composer
Cecil Armstrong Gibbs, Composer
Nik Hancock-Child, Baritone
Rosemary Hancock-Child, Piano
Proud Maisie Cecil Armstrong Gibbs, Composer
Cecil Armstrong Gibbs, Composer
Nik Hancock-Child, Baritone
Rosemary Hancock-Child, Piano
Jenny Jones Cecil Armstrong Gibbs, Composer
Cecil Armstrong Gibbs, Composer
Nik Hancock-Child, Baritone
Rosemary Hancock-Child, Piano
(The) Ballad of Semmerwater Cecil Armstrong Gibbs, Composer
Cecil Armstrong Gibbs, Composer
Nik Hancock-Child, Baritone
Rosemary Hancock-Child, Piano
Padriac the Fidiler Cecil Armstrong Gibbs, Composer
Cecil Armstrong Gibbs, Composer
Nik Hancock-Child, Baritone
Rosemary Hancock-Child, Piano
(2) Songs, Movement: Down in Yonder Meadow Cecil Armstrong Gibbs, Composer
Cecil Armstrong Gibbs, Composer
Nik Hancock-Child, Baritone
Rosemary Hancock-Child, Piano
Dream Song Cecil Armstrong Gibbs, Composer
Cecil Armstrong Gibbs, Composer
Nik Hancock-Child, Baritone
Rosemary Hancock-Child, Piano
Midnight Cecil Armstrong Gibbs, Composer
Cecil Armstrong Gibbs, Composer
Nik Hancock-Child, Baritone
Rosemary Hancock-Child, Piano
(A) Ballad-maker Cecil Armstrong Gibbs, Composer
Cecil Armstrong Gibbs, Composer
Nik Hancock-Child, Baritone
Rosemary Hancock-Child, Piano
(The) Witch Cecil Armstrong Gibbs, Composer
Cecil Armstrong Gibbs, Composer
Nik Hancock-Child, Baritone
Rosemary Hancock-Child, Piano
(The) Splendour Falls Cecil Armstrong Gibbs, Composer
Cecil Armstrong Gibbs, Composer
Nik Hancock-Child, Baritone
Rosemary Hancock-Child, Piano
(The) Cherry Tree Cecil Armstrong Gibbs, Composer
Cecil Armstrong Gibbs, Composer
Nik Hancock-Child, Baritone
Rosemary Hancock-Child, Piano
Hypochondriacus Cecil Armstrong Gibbs, Composer
Cecil Armstrong Gibbs, Composer
Nik Hancock-Child, Baritone
Rosemary Hancock-Child, Piano
Nightfall Cecil Armstrong Gibbs, Composer
Cecil Armstrong Gibbs, Composer
Nik Hancock-Child, Baritone
Rosemary Hancock-Child, Piano
(2) Songs, Movement: Silver Cecil Armstrong Gibbs, Composer
Cecil Armstrong Gibbs, Composer
Nik Hancock-Child, Baritone
Rosemary Hancock-Child, Piano
Cecil Armstrong Gibbs (1889–1960) is one of the shadowy figures of British musical history. We may know his name, but perhaps little more. The notes to this enterprising and welcome Marco Polo CD suggest that, if his name is remembered at all, it is because of the lasting appeal of two Walter de la Mare settings, Five eyes and Silver. Both are already represented in the catalogue and are included here, as is the waltz Dusk, with which, as Grove affirms, Gibbs ''enjoyed an immense commercial success in the late 1940s'' and which rounds off the present collection in a vocal arrangement.
If it is still Five eyes, de la Mare's delightfully amusing portrait of three cats (one of them with only one eye) that grabs the attention above all, there are certainly other rewarding pieces in the collection. I especially admired the four songs from de la Mare's school play Crossings, above all the haunting ''Ann's Cradle Song'', with its insistent bass accompaniment.
Twenty-five songs in under 53 minutes means that many of the songs are distinctly brief, but the conciseness of Gibbs's settings is one of his virtues. There are no false pretensions about the settings, and both words and music are readily accessible. As the programme notes emphasize, Gibbs believed that the words were paramount and always allowed the poem to dictate the musical shape of the song.
Baritone and accompanist perform with a skill and conviction that support their case for this music being unjustly neglected. It would have made a rewarding issue even more so if Marco Polo could have supplied the texts, but it remains well worth investigating.'

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