Tree of Life

Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
Lila Downs's sophomore U.S. release sees her take a much more folkloric tack than her debut, delving into the mystical codices of the Mexican Mixtec natives (her ancestry on her mother's side)--not that the entire album is made up of ancestral songs. There's also "Nueve Viento," a bolero son as rich and satisfying as anything to come out of Buena Vista Social Club. But the heart of this album beats strongest when it's barest, making the stark "Yunu Yucu Ninu" (which she performed differently on her debut) into an eerie delight. Blessed with a remarkable voice, operatic training, and jazz chops, Downs can cover a lot of territory. "Tres Pedernal" recalls the husky Tropicalia of Gal Costa. With its look at native culture and lore, this is a record that delves much deeper than Mexican pop, marking Downs as a serious singer of talent and depth. --Chris Nickson

From Rhythm Magazine
This album combines modern production with the unselfconsciousness of a field recording. The sophisticated music features rich arrangements and the encompassing voice of Downs, who sings in Spanish, Zapotec, Mayan and Mixtec. Born in Oaxaca to a Mexican mother and an American father, she grew up between the two countries, and her music blends blues, gospel, ranchera, bolero and opera. You can feel Downs' authority as she sings of humanity's birth from nature and of the people-red, brown, black... read more

Tree of Life

Tree of Life, Music, Lila Downs, Int'l & World Music, Latin Pop/Rock, Mexican, Native American, Pop, Vocal Jazz, World Music, Worldbeat

Gilbert & Sullivan - Highlights from The Mikado, The Pirates of Penzance, H.M.S. Pinafore, The Yeomen of the Guard, Trial of Jury
Average customer rating:

The Best Of Gilbert And Sullivan

Pure delight

Delicious G&S samplings abound here.

Fine Intro to G&S

Gilbert & Sullivan - Highlights from The Mikado, The Pirates of Penzance, H.M.S. Pinafore, The Yeomen of the Guard, Trial of Jury
Nicholas Folwell , Arthur Sullivan , Marie McLaughlin , Rebecca Evans , Anthony Rolfe Johnson , John Mark Ainsley , Alwyn Mellor , Anne Howells , Barry Banks , Eric Garrett , Felicity Palmer , Gareth Rhys Davies , Janice Watson , Julie Gossage , Neill Archer , Pamela Helen Stephen , Peter Savidge , Richard Stuart , Richard Suart , Richard Van Allan , Sir Thomas Allen [baritone] , Sir Charles Mackerras , and Welsh National Opera
Manufacturer: Telarc
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

All Works by Sullivan | Sullivan, Arthur | ( S ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music
Allen, Thomas | ( A ) | Featured Performers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music
General | Symphonies | Classical | Styles | Music
General | Classical | Styles | Music
General | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music
Operettas | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music
4-for-3 Classical | 4-for-3 Music | Stores | Music
4-for-3 All Music | 4-for-3 Music | Stores | Music
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The Ultimate Gilbert & Sullivan Collection

Topsy-Turvy - The Music of Gilbert & Sullivan: From the Original Motion Picture Soundtrack

The Best of Gilbert & Sullivan

The Gilbert and Sullivan Overtures

The Complete Annotated Gilbert & Sullivan

ASIN: B000003D1Y
Release Date: 1996-01-23

Tracks:

A Wandering Minstrel I
Behold The Lord High Executioner!
Three Little Maids From School Are We
Braid The Raven Hair
The Flowers That Bloom In The Spring
On A Tree By A River, A Little Tom-tit Sang, 'Willow, Tit-willow'
For He's Gone And Married Yum-Yum
We Sail The Ocean Blue
I'm Called Little Buttercup
My Gallant Crew
When I Was A Lad
Things Are Seldom What They Seem
Never Mind The Why And Wherefore
Climbing Over Rocky Mountain
Poor Wand'ring One
How Beautifully Blue The Sky
I Am The Very Model Of A Modern Major-General
When The Foeman Bares His Steel
Ah, Leave Me Not To Pine
With Cat-Like Tread
Is Life A Boon?
I Have A Song To Sing, O!
Were I Thy Bride
Oh, A Private Buffoon Is A Light-Hearted Loon
When A Wooer Goes A-Wooing
When I, Good Friends, Was Called To The Bar
A Nice Dilemma We Have Here
Oh, Joy Unbounded

Customer Reviews:

The Best Of Gilbert And Sullivan.......2004-03-15

At the end of the 19th century (1870's, 80's and 90's) the compatible duo of librettist and composer Gilbert and Sullivan popularized the pre-Broadway entertainment of Savoy opera. These were light operas or operettas whose content was satire and comedy, full of bouncy melodies and beautiful singing, highly entertaining theatrical works staged at London's Savoy theatre. Gilbert and Sullivan did not always get along and in fact there was a time when they ended their professional relationship because personal conflicts surfaced. But they managed to create the world's most beloved light operas, over 40 of them. Their most famous are what I call the Big Three- The H.M.S. Pinafore, The Pirates Of Penzance and The Mikado. Other works include their first hit Trial By Jury, The Yeomen Of The Guard, Princess Ida, The Gondoliers, Patience and several others. A standard signature of Gilbert and Sullivan was in the colorful cast- a comic actor with a special kind of baritone voice, a canary-like and sweet-voiced coloratura or lyric diva, a mezzo soprano with strong chest register and a lyric tenor as the romantic hero. On this album, English conductor Sir Charles Mackerras, a popular figure in the classical music scene and opera, guides the Chorus and Orchestra Of the Welsh National Opera in generally well-delivered performances of excerpts from the operas The Mikado, The H.M.S. Pinafore, The Pirates Of Penzance, Yeomen Of The Guard and Trial By Jury. Although I feel that the recordings made by the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company, with Isodore Godfrey conducting and starring the best cast of the Gilbert and Sullivan repertoire- the singers of the 60's and 70's- tenor Phillip Potter, soprano Valerie Masterson, baritone John Reed, Donald Adams and mezzo soprano Christine Palmer. Their version of the Pirates Of Penzance and the Mikado far outshine the Welsh National Opera in technical mastery and vibrant tone color.

But these are fine excerpts. Especially appealing is the famous and cheerful "Three Little Maids From School Are We", a trio that imitates Japanese style melody. Most of the Mikado does this, for it was inspired by Japanisme or the new fashion in Victorian England- everything Japanese, from prints to paintings to poetry. Gilbert and Sullivan simply "Japanized" their English operettas. The Finale "For He's Gone To Marry Yum Yum" is an ebullient and pleasant finale. Not featured here is the domineering and powerful Katisha, a figure who stands out in the Mikado.

The H.M.S. Pinafore is Gilbert and Sullivan's most popular work. The sea chanty "We Sail The Ocean Blue" opens the opera with appropriate atmosphere and it seems to fit perfectly with the other scene in which the Captain greets his crew and they sing his praises "My Gallant Crew..I am the Captain Of The Pinafore". A beautiful melody that seems to come out of a romantic Offenbach tune is "I"m Called Little Buttercup". The finale, not featured here, is also very engaging "For He Is An Englishman" which can almost resemble a British national anthem. The Yeomen Of The Guard was Gilbert and Sullivan's "serious opera" eventhough it remains very Savoyard. The plot deals with Tudor England and takes place at the London Tower. "I have a song to sing" makes use of what can be taken for an English ballad of the Renaissance. Trial By Jury, about the eccentric and hilarious activity of a court trial, has a sextet that although different in composition, has the sextet "Che Mi Frena" from Donizetti's Lucia Di Lammermoor in mind. All in all, an excellent recording sure to delight young and old.

Pure delight.......2003-08-02

--Gilbert & Sullivan--
William Gilbert and Arthur Sullivan were a match made in heaven, yet on earth their pairing seems even with hindsight a most unlikely coupling. Both were destined for other things, Gilbert in fact for decidedly non-musical careers. Introduced by a mutual friend, Fred Clay, the fledgling lyricist Gilbert met the military-band-leader's son Sullivan and together continued to conspire to inspire the delights of audiences from high Victorian times down to the present, as their work in musical theatre comedy continues to provide merriment throughout the English-speaking world and beyond.

--The Music--
This collection includes highlights from five of the most popular Gilbert & Sullivan operettas: The Mikado, HMS Pinafore, The Pirates of Penzance, The Yeoman of the Guard, and Trial by Jury. The arrangements and orchestrations are delightfully energetic and clear; the characterisation and vocal qualities of the leads are perfect for their roles. The haughty if misplaced Lord of the Admiralty has the perfect combination of insecurity and pompous officiousness. The Plaintiff and the Defendant in the Trial are perfectly cast. This is a collection of highlights - at least three but no more than seven songs each, but this gives a good flavour of the music. The recordings on this collection come from complete performances by Mackerras and the WNO.

--Sir Charles Mackerras--
Mackerras is one of the geniuses of the twentieth century musical scene. Having a conducting career that includes the Hamburg Opera, the English National Opera (formerly Sadlers Wells Opera), and the Welsh National Opera (the performers for this piece), he has also conducted major orchestras on the continent of Europe and in the United States. The holder of many major awards and honourary doctorates, he has devoted much time and energy to the preservation and performance of eighteenth and nineteenth century music, as well the restoration of historical musical venues, such as the Estates Theatre in Prague, scene of the original production of Don Giovanni (Mackerras conducted the opera there to commemorate the bicentenary of the death of Mozart).

--Welsh National Opera Orchestra and Chorus--
The seeds of the WNO were planted in Cardiff during World War II by music lovers; the first performances occurred a year after the war's end, with Cavalleria rusticana and Pagliacci on the bill, with Faust the next night. Popular appeal was so great that the WNO was established, later adding choruses in both Cardiff and Swansea. The professional chorus was established in 1973, with a strength that matches the orchestra. They continue an ambitious performance schedule for recording and live events; Mackerras remains the Conductor Emeritus, as the WNO continues under the direction of Carlo Rizzi. The list of awards the WNO has won over the years is staggering - they are a world class institution by any measure.

--Other performers--
Notable singers such as Richard Stuart, Rebecca Evans, Felicity Palmer, John Mark Ainsley and Anne Howells lead the chorus with stunning vocals and clever characterisations of the parts they play. Many (such as Stuart and Evans) play the leading roles across several of the pieces of the disc.

--Liner Notes--
The liner notes give a good introduction and biographical information about Gilbert and Sullivan, as well as synopses of the five pieces presented here. It does not, unfortunately, include any information about Mackerras, the WNO Orchestra and Chorus, or the other special performers. It also does not include the lyrics to the songs. Were the quality of the CD not so great, this might cost it a star in rating.

--Overall Impressions--
I play this CD in my car, in my home and in my office frequently. It is a great sing-along work and a great comedic relief from the stresses of the day. The music is bubbly and clear; the recording quality is excellent and crisp. I recommend this to any Gilbert & Sullivan lover, any fan of musical comedy, opera and operettas, and anyone who delights in good music.

Delicious G&S samplings abound here........2003-05-06

The first thing I should be saying is "What an infectuous G&S CD." Indeed this is, with this fine sampling of the peppy and bright Mackerras series. I know I have praised its "Mercedes-Benz quality" elsewhere on these pages, but that doesn't stop me from saying that everyone is in fine voice. This generously filled CD may only focus on five operas, but at least you can savour a reasonable choice sampling of delights from each one. Of particular interest is Richard Suart's patter-baritone parts and the soaring lyric soprano of Rebecca Evans. The selection on this disc is filled with a mixture of familiar favourites and lesser-known gems such as the female choruses in Mikado and Pirates. Mackerras is a true G&S conductor, but one who always springs rhythms crisply, and adopts peppy tempo for the fast bits. The one drawback is that this selection is far too infectuous that you'll want to shell out money to buy the full 5-CD Mackerras cycle - an incredible bargain with most of the operas fitted onto one disc each. But still, this is at least a decent G&S sampling for beginners, capped with Steven Ledbetter's copious liner notes. It will leave you wanting to say "dammit I'm going to play it again."

Fine Intro to G&S.......2000-12-30

This is the perfect CD for those who may not be familiar with G&S, or for the initiated who want a smattering but don't have the mother of all CD changers. The difficulty with any G&S Greatest Hits CD is determining which pieces to leave off; while one could easily point to any number equally good bits, it would be difficult to argue about the quality of the choices included. The only problem, such as it is, is that after listening to it I am usually induced to go back and listen to the whole opera anyway. The Mackerras recordings are uniformly excellent. I have read elsewhere the criticism that they are too 'operatic' for light opera. If by this it is meant that the singers are too good, then I leave it to the discretion of the listener when the singing becomes too good to be enjoyable.

Average customer rating:

Exelente Musica
Powerful Vocals
The folksy folks
The Jazzier side of Lila
Back to roots

Tree of Life
Lila Downs
Manufacturer: Narada
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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Latin Pop | Latin Music | Styles | Music

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La Sandunga
Border (La Linea)
Una Sangre (One Blood)
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La Llorona

ASIN: B00004X0PS
Release Date: 2000-09-12

Tracks:

Simuna
Nueve Viento
Arenita Azul
La Iguana
Yunu Yucu Ninu
Xquenda
Nueve Hierba
Tres Pedernal
Luna
Semilla De Piedra
Arbol De La Vida
Icnocuicatl
Uno Muerte

Amazon.com

Lila Downs's sophomore U.S. release sees her take a much more folkloric tack than her debut, delving into the mystical codices of the Mexican Mixtec natives (her ancestry on her mother's side)--not that the entire album is made up of ancestral songs. There's also "Nueve Viento," a bolero son as rich and satisfying as anything to come out of Buena Vista Social Club. But the heart of this album beats strongest when it's barest, making the stark "Yunu Yucu Ninu" (which she performed differently on her debut) into an eerie delight. Blessed with a remarkable voice, operatic training, and jazz chops, Downs can cover a lot of territory. "Tres Pedernal" recalls the husky Tropicalia of Gal Costa. With its look at native culture and lore, this is a record that delves much deeper than Mexican pop, marking Downs as a serious singer of talent and depth. --Chris Nickson

Customer Reviews:

Exelente Musica.......2007-05-19

la mescla de musica es muy importante,el tono y realmente es la unica cantante mexicana que realmete canta canciones del pueblo, con estilo.

Powerful Vocals.......2007-05-09

Lila Downs is a most powerful singer.I only wish I could understand the language.

The folksy folks.......2006-05-08

This is Lila's most folksy album ever. And also one of her most beautiful, intense and probably long lasting ones. This music will be still as great as it is today, in, say, twenty years from now.

Do not miss this one. The music speaks for itself, not that I can add much more.

The Jazzier side of Lila.......2004-11-18

TREE OF LIFE is quieter all around: Downs' songs present more of her jazzy side, tend towards less passionate riffs and displays, yet are smoothly evocative of her Mexican roots and heritage.
This isn't to say there's no spirit here: 'Nuevo Viento', for example, adopts a near-flamenco guitar style and exhibits the force of Downs' vocal trills.

Back to roots.......2004-07-13

To the anonymous music fan from Seattle....shame on you. You have no idea what traditional Mexican music is...you must be one of those people that think burritos & "combinations" are traditional Mexican cuisine and that waltzes performed by misguided sell out mariachi bands are traditional Mexican music. Just as there is infinitely more to Mexican cuisine than is available in the U.S., consciousness about Mexican music is very superficial. Are southern gospel tunes or appalachian jigs any less American than Glenn Miller or Elvis Presley just because they were never discovered by mainstream audiences? While it is true that Lila fuses foreign influences with indigenous doesn't invalidate it...because Mexico's essence is one of mestizaje (fusion...racial, idiomatic, visual, and musical).

Average customer rating:

My outlook on On theSunday of Life
If you're a fan, you should get this
Call me crazy...
Not for beginners
I guess some just might not get it...

On the Sunday of Life
Porcupine Tree
Manufacturer: Snapper UK
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music

General | Rock | Styles | Music

Progressive Rock | Progressive | Rock | Styles | Music

Psychedelic Rock | Classic Rock | Styles | Music

Pop Rock | Pop | Styles | Music

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Voyage 34
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ASIN: B0002N4ZEM
Release Date: 2004-09-27

Tracks:

Music For The Head
Jupiter Island
Third Eye Surfer
On The Sunday Of Life...
The Nostalgia Factory
Space Transmission
Message From A Self Destructing Turnip
Radioactive Toy
Nine Cats
Hymn
Footprints
Linton Samuel Dawson
And The Swallows Dance Above The Sun
Queen Quotes Crowley
No Luck With Rabbits
Begonia Seduction Scene
This Long Silence
It Will Rain For A Million Years

Product Description

1. Music For The Head
2. Jupiter Island
3. Third Eye Surfer
4. On The Sunday Of Life...
5. The Nostalgia Factory
6. Space Transmission
7. Message From A Self-Destructing Turnip
8. Radioactive Toy
9. Nine Cats
10. Hymn
11. Footprints
12. Linton Samuel Dawson
13. And The Swallows Dance Above The Sun
14. Queen Quotes Crowley
15. No Luck With Rabbits
16. Begonia Seduction Scene
17. This Long Silence
18. It Will Rain For A Million Years

Format: CD

Customer Reviews:

My outlook on On theSunday of Life.......2007-06-27

Some of the songs on here I have heard from Compilation Albums. Songs like Lynton Samuel Dawson is almost comical. It gives me a laugh which is a good thing. On the sunday of life is a beautiful song. I have always loved And the swallows dance above the sun. I believe its Space Transmission that I am thinking of but it gives off a sort of eerie feeling. It may not be their greatest work ever but it is definitely compelling in nature.

If you're a fan, you should get this.......2007-05-30

You should buy the album, not only to familiarize yourself with the band's beginnings, but for one song: "It Will Rain for a Million Years". I agree that most of the album isn't very good, and all the other good songs on here (Nine Cats, Radioactive Toy, Nostalgia Factory, And the Swallows Dance Above the Sun) can be found on Stars Die, the compilation of their early work. But I would recommend buying the album just for the beautiful closing song, which itself is worth the price of admission. It can't be found anywhere else, and it's one of my favorite Tree songs of all time. It's classic PT, and really showed where the band (Or really, just Wilson at the time) was going with their sound. Anyway, yeah. Overall, a lot of experimental stuff, but still worth buying for the closer.

Call me crazy..........2007-04-18

Call me crazy, but this is my favorite porcupine tree album. I agree that it is TOTALLY different from any other PT album, so I wouldn't recommend making it your first PT purchase. In my opinion it seems as though Steve Wilson was at the peak of his creativity during the making of this album, even if he was still undeveloped technically. While this album doesn't have all the bells and whistles that later PT albums have, I feel as though it is the most unique and creative of their albums (to be fair, i've only heard about 7-9 of their albums; not all of them).

Not for beginners.......2006-05-20

The reason I chose the title for this review is, if this was your first glimpse into this immensely talented, super- intelligent group, it may detract from what was to come. But I feel that this collection gets undeserved poorer ratings. You have to keep in mind that these songs were only meant to be demos from a fictitious group of musicians (almost a tongue- in- cheek joke, if you will.) Sure they are what you would call "humble beginnings" but there are some really cool songs on here. The ones you personally dislike can always be skipped (I thank God daily for CD's!!!)I personally am glad to own this collection of tunes. It's somewhat like sharing in the journey of one of the greatest (IMHO) rock bands ever! But, I would start out with some of the band's more recent additions: In Absentia, Deadwing or Lightbulb Sun to break you in. To be honest, some of the songs on the above mentioned took a LITTLE time to grow on me, but most I loved instantly. I haven't been this excited about a band in many years ,but this wouldn't be a good place to start your journey. It's kinda like with any of the great bands I like (Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin, Yes,) I started out with the more current offerings at the time and went back through their catalog to see how far they had progressed. You will be amazed.....

I guess some just might not get it..........2006-03-17

Those who critique this album for being what appears, at first glance, to be a thrown together mess seem to be missing the point that On The Sunday Of Life... is not an album on par with the sweat and tears that surely must have gone into later PT studio masterpieces such as In Absentia. Rather, Steven Wilson's debut album is almost entirely devoid of any commercial strain to be recognized by record companies, the almost randomness of the songs keeping true to Steven's notes in the reissue of this album, which states that most of the songs were written, recorded, and mixed in a matter of a few hours. While much of the album sounds horrible in retrospect to later PT classics, this still says a lot for Wilson's musical imagination as far as songs like Nine Cats and Third Eye Surfer go.

More present than on any other album, the psychedelic influence is especially present here, most notably on the aforementioned Third Eye Surfer, Music For The Head, and the title track, which are all euphoric exercises in space-like early Pink-Floydish jams. Footprints and It Will Rain For A Million Years are also a lot of fun, but not nearly as much as Nine Cats, which is in my opinion one of Wilson's most beautiful and soaring compositions to date, as well as the explosive Radioactive Toy, which has since become an epic concert favorite (as highlighted on their live album Coma Divine.) And yes, as just about every other review has and probably will mention, Jupiter Island and Linton Samuel Dawson are about as pleasing to listen to as nails on a chalkboard when I'm in the mood for PT, but stay true to the playful mood in which much of this album was conceived.

Steven had yet to take on a full-time band lineup for PT yet, and his musicianship was not up to the level it is at now, but for the primitive recording techniques he had available (and considering all the drums are created by his cheap drum machine) On The Sunday Of Life... should be studied by all students of the studio engineering programs rapidly growing in music schools, as to how exactly an amateurish home recording should sound. 4 stars, even with the filler.

Average customer rating:

Only half the songs of the original set!!
Its all Christmas
A Good Basic Collection
cd reviews
Poor Quality

The Time-Life Treasury of Christmas

Manufacturer: Time Life Records
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

Suites | Forms & Genres | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

Noels | Vocal Non-Opera | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

Holiday Music | Compilations | Miscellaneous | Styles | Music

General Christmas | Holiday | Miscellaneous | Styles | Music

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Pop Vocal | Holiday | Miscellaneous | Styles | Music

Traditional Vocal Pop | Broadway & Vocalists | Styles | Music

General | Broadway & Vocalists | Styles | Music

General | Vocal Pop | Pop | Styles | Music

Classic | Vocal Pop | Pop | Styles | Music

Orchestral Pop | Easy Listening | Pop | Styles | Music

Traditional Pop | Oldies | Pop | Styles | Music

General Christmas | Holiday Music | Special Features | Music

Pop Vocal | Holiday Music | Special Features | Music
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Time-Life Music: Treasury of Christmas - Holiday Memories
Ultimate Christmas
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Now That's What I Call Christmas!
Now That's What I Call Christmas! The Signature Collection

ASIN: B00005NOZH
Release Date: 2001-09-11

Tracks:

Home For The Holidays - Perry Como
White Christmas - Bing Crosby
Jingle Bells - Ella Fitzgerald
Do You Hear What I Hear? - Andy Williams
Carol Of The Bells/Deck The Halls - The Robert Shaw Chorale
I Heard The Bells On Christmas Day - Harry Belafonte
Blue Christmas - Elvis Presley
My Favorite Things - Eddie Fisher
Joy To The World - Julie Andrews
Here We Come A-Caroling - The Mormon Tabernacle Choir
March Of The Toys - The Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra
O Holy Night - Luciano Pavarotti

Tracks:

Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer - Gene Autry
It's The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year - Andy Williams
The Twelve Days Of Christmas - Roger Whittaker
Dance Of The Sugar Plum Fairy - The Boston Pops Orchestra
Mary's Boy Child - Harry Belafonte
I'll Be Home For Christmas - Elvis Presley
Rockin' Around The Christmas Tree - Brenda Lee
Sleigh Ride - Johnny Mathis
Tennessee Christmas - Alabama
Baby's First Christmas - Connie Francis
The Little Drummer Boy - Harry Simeone Chorale
Auld Lang Syne - Guy Lombardo

Customer Reviews:

Only half the songs of the original set!!.......2007-01-17

Although I love the CDs, I was disappointed that there were only about half of the songs I thought there would be. I bought the original double cassette set back in the early 90's and when I found the CDs with the same name and cover, I thought I was getting the same thing only on CD. But the Cassettes had twice as many songs, including Let it Snow,Have Yourself a merry Little Christmas,The First Noel, Jingle Bells by Jim Reeves, The Christmas song by the Carpenters and so many others!!

Its all Christmas.......2007-01-09

It reminded me of Christmas as a child. I played this all throughout the holidays.

A Good Basic Collection.......2006-02-11

This is a good, basic collection of Christmas Music. As a general rule, Time-Life has selected what is probably the definative artist/arangement of each song.

My only complaints are that there are only 24 songs on two disks and one or two of them are not ones that I would have picked (not my style).

Overall, it's a good set that I would recommend to anyone who wants to start a collection.

cd reviews.......2006-01-15

this cd was very good, much recommended

Poor Quality.......2005-12-05

The only good thing about this collection is the inclusion of so many Christmas standards. I was very disappointed in the quality of the recordings, they obviously need digital inhancement.

Average customer rating:

mediocre for nancy rumbel
I like it: Good for what it is.
Rumbel touches all aspects of our spirits.

Notes From the Tree of Life
Nancy Rumbel
Manufacturer: Narada
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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Meditation | New Age | Styles | Music

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ASIN: B000005OZI
Release Date: 1995-09-12

Tracks:

Tree Of Life
Lullaby
Night Tribe
Anansi
Passing Fancy
Song Of Hope
Dona Nobis Pacem
Coyote Dance
Delicate Balance
Satie

Customer Reviews:

mediocre for nancy rumbel.......2006-05-03

Would like to hear more oboe, and less of the flute

I like it: Good for what it is........2006-04-13

I was given this CD as a gift and I definitely enjoyed it. There's no "ground-breaking" music but it is nice for background music. The musicianship is very good and there is a nice variety of styles. I like it better than what I've heard of Nancy Rumbel's work with others.

At times it is relaxing, at other times, uplifting. As is the case with much of what is called New Age, it's a bit full of itself as to its importance.

Don't let that scare you off. At least preview the music. It is is done well.

Rumbel touches all aspects of our spirits........1998-12-09

From start to finish, this album touches all aspects of your spirit. "Tree of Life" is flowing and meditative. "Night Tribe" evokes the earth side of our inner spirits. "Passing Fancy" will make you want to get up and dance with it's island rhythms. Rumbel's rendition of "Dona Nobis Pacem" could easily be played at a High Mass. All together this work touches all those places and spirits inside us.

Average customer rating:

4 Disc tour de' force of "high church" Christmas music

CHRISTMAS at King's College

Manufacturer: EMI Classics
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Sacred & Religious | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

Anthems | Vocal Non-Opera | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

Choruses | Vocal Non-Opera | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

Motets | Vocal Non-Opera | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

Noels | Vocal Non-Opera | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

Oratorios | Vocal Non-Opera | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

Holiday Music | Compilations | Miscellaneous | Styles | Music

General Christmas | Holiday | Miscellaneous | Styles | Music

Opera & Vocal | Holiday | Miscellaneous | Styles | Music

A Cappella | Folk | Styles | Music

Classical | Box Sets | Stores | Music

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General Christmas | Holiday Music | Special Features | Music

Box Sets | Holiday Music | Special Features | Music

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A Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols
Carols from Trinity
O Come All Ye Faithful: Christmas Carols at King's College, Cambridge
Noel: Christmas at Kings
Carols From King's / Choir of King's College, Cambridge · Stephen Cleobury

ASIN: B000009RSR
Release Date: 1998-09-15

Tracks:

Once In Royal David's City - King's College Choir, Cambridge
O Little Town Of Bethlehem - Palestrina
The First Nowell - King's College Choir, Cambridge
I Saw Three Ships - King's College Choir, Cambridge
Personent hodie - Byrd
Myn Lyking - Byrd
A Spotless Rose - Gibbons
Away In A Manger - Weelkes
I Sing Of A Maiden - Weelkes
O Come, O Come Emmanuel - King's College Choir, Cambridge
While Shepherds Watched - King's College Choir, Cambridge
Up! Good Christian Folk And Listen - King's College Choir, Cambridge
In The Bleak Midwinter - King's College Choir, Cambridge
Silent Night - King's College Choir, Cambridge
The Holly And The Ivy - King's College Choir, Cambridge
It Came Upon A Midnight Clear - Taylor
The Three Kings - King's College Choir, Cambridge
On Christmas Night - King's College Choir, Cambridge
A Child Is Born In Bethlehem - King's College Choir, Cambridge
In dulci jubilo - King's College Choir, Cambridge
O Come, All Ye Faithful - King's College Choir, Cambridge
Hark! The Herald Angels Sing - Warlock

Tracks:

Once In Royal David's City - King's College Choir, Cambridge
Bidding Prayer - King's College Choir, Cambridge
Resonet in laudibus - King's College Choir, Cambridge
Genesis 3 - King's College Choir, Cambridge
Adam lay ybounden - King's College Choir, Cambridge
Sussex Carol - King's College Choir, Cambridge
Isaiah 9 - King's College Choir, Cambridge
Joseph And Mary - King's College Choir, Cambridge
St Luke 1 - King's College Choir, Cambridge
A Maiden Most Gentle - King's College Choir, Cambridge
St Luke 2 - King's College Choir, Cambridge
Stille Nacht! - King's College Choir, Cambridge
Chester Carol - King's College Choir, Cambridge
St Luke 2 - King's College Choir, Cambridge
Angels, From The Realms Of Glory - King's College Choir, Cambridge
St Matthew 2 - King's College Choir, Cambridge
A Babe Is Born - King's College Choir, Cambridge
St John 1 - King's College Choir, Cambridge
O Come, All Ye Faithful - King's College Choir, Cambridge
Collect For Christmas Eve And The Blessing - King's College Choir, Cambridge
Hark! The Herald Angels Sing - King's College Choir, Cambridge
In dulci jubilo - King's College Choir, Cambridge

Tracks:

Hodie Christus natus est - King's College Choir - Philip Ledger
Hodie Christus natus est - King's College Choir - Philip Ledger
O magnum mysterium - King's College Choir - Philip Ledger
Senex puerum portabat - King's College Choir - Philip Ledger
Senex puerum portabat - King's College Choir - Philip Ledger
Hodie beata virgo - King's College Choir - Philip Ledger
Hosanna To The Son Of David - King's College Choir - Philip Ledger
Hosanna To The Sun Of DAvid - King's College Choir - Philip Ledger
Gloria in excelsis Deo - King's College Choir - Philip Ledger
When To The Temple Mary Went - King's College Choir - Philip Ledger
Nowell! Nowell! Nowell! - King's College Choir - Philip Ledger
The Holly And The Ivy - King's College Choir - Philip Ledger
Angelus ad virginem - King's College Choir - Philip Ledger
Angelus ad virginem - King's College Choir - Philip Ledger
I Sing Of A Maiden - King's College Choir - Philip Ledger
Watt's Cradle Song - King's College Choir - Philip Ledger
My Dancing Day - King's College Choir - Philip Ledger
Sing A Song Of Joy - King's College Choir - Philip Ledger
Jesus Christ The Apple Tree - King's College Choir - Philip Ledger
Most Glorious Lord Of Life - King's College Choir - Philip Ledger
That Lord That Lay In Asse Stall - King's College Choir - Philip Ledger
Where Riches Is Everlastingly - King's College Choir - Philip Ledger

Tracks:

I Look From Afar - The Choir Of King's College, Cambridge
Come, Thou Redeemer Of The Earth - The Choir Of King's College, Cambridge
Isaiah 40: 1 - 8 - The Choir Of King's College, Cambridge
Drop Down, Ye Heavens, From Above - The Choir Of King's College, Cambridge
Jeremiah 23: 5 - 6 - The Choir Of King's College, Cambridge
O Come, O Come Emmanuel! - The Choir Of King's College, Cambridge
Haggai 2: 6 - 9 - The Choir Of King's College, Cambridge
Up, Awake And Away! - The Choir Of King's College, Cambridge
All And Some - The Choir Of King's College, Cambridge
Isaiah 35: 1 - 6 - The Choir Of King's College, Cambridge
'Twas In The Year - The Choir Of King's College, Cambridge
The Cherry Tree Carol - The Choir Of King's College, Cambridge
King Jesus Has A Garden - The Choir Of King's College, Cambridge
On Jordan's Bank The Baptist's Cry - The Choir Of King's College, Cambridge
St. Luke 1: 26 - 35 And 38 - The Choir Of King's College, Cambridge
Gabriel's Message - The Choir Of King's College, Cambridge
Wake, O Wake! With Tidings Thrilling - The Choir Of King's College, Cambridge
St. Mark 1: 1 - 4a And 7 -15 - The Choir Of King's College, Cambridge
I Wonder As I Wander - The Choir Of King's College, Cambridge
My Dancing Day - The Choir Of King's College, Cambridge
Judah And Jerusalem, Fear Not - The Choir Of King's College, Cambridge
Prayers And Blessing - The Choir Of King's College, Cambridge
Lo! He Comes With Clouds Descending - The Choir Of King's College, Cambridge
Nun komm', der Heiden Heiland - The Choir Of King's College, Cambridge

Customer Reviews:

4 Disc tour de' force of "high church" Christmas music.......2003-04-19

It's in there.. this is a great collection of Anglican Cathedral Christmas music. Highly recommended.

Puccini - Madam Butterfly / Cheryl Barker, PO, Yves Abel [in English]

Average customer rating:

A touching English Butterfly

Puccini - Madam Butterfly / Cheryl Barker, PO, Yves Abel [in English]
Giacomo Puccini , Yves Abel , Cheryl Barker , Paul Charles Clarke , and Simon Birchall
Manufacturer: Chandos
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

Romantic (c.1820-1910) | Historical Periods | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

Italian | Languages | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

Operettas | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music
Similar Items:

Turandot (Chandos Opera in English)
Puccini - La bohème / Haymon · O'Neill · Opie · McLaughlin · A. Miles · Dazeley · Shore · PO · Parry
Verdi: La Traviata
Tchaikovsky - Eugene Onegin / Te Kanawa · Hampson · Rosenshein · Gedda · Sir Charles Mackerras [in English]

ASIN: B00005QF3K
Release Date: 2001-11-20

Tracks:

Act I: Introduction - Cheryl Barker
Act I: 'So The Walls And The Ceiling...' - Ann Taylor/Stuart Kale
Act I: 'I Think Your Honour's Smiling' - Jean Rigby/Ann Taylor/Stuart Kale
Act I: 'It Can't Be Much Further Now!' - Gregory Yurisich/Stuart Kale/Ann Taylor
Act I: The Whole World Over - Ann Taylor/Gregory Yurisich
Act I: 'Fate Can't Crush Him' - Ann Taylor/Gregory Yurisich
Act I: 'Is The Bride Very Pretty?' - Gregory Yurisich/Stuart Kale/Ann Taylor
Act I: 'True Love Or Fancy' - Ann Taylor/Gregory Yurisich
Act I: 'See Them! They're Climbing The Summit Of The Hill!' - Gregory Yurisich/Cheryl Barker/Gregory Yurisich
Act I: 'We Are Honoured' - Cheryl Barker/Ann Taylor/Gregory Yurisich/Stuart Kale
Act I: 'The Imperial Commissioner' - Stuart Kale/Ann Taylor/Cheryl Barker/Simon Birchall
Act I: 'Oh, Indeed, My Friend, You're Lucky!' - Gregory Yurisich/Cheryl Barker
Act I: 'Come, My Beloved' - Ann Taylor/Cheryl Barker/Stuart Kale
Act I: 'My Fate I Have To Follow' - Cheryl Barker
Act I: 'Silence! Silence!' - Stuart Kale/Roland Wood/Cheryl Barker
Act I: 'Congratulations' - Roland Wood/Ann Taylor/Gregory Yurisich/Frances Brett/Clive Bayley/Stuart Kale
Act I: 'Dearest, My Dearest, Weep No More' - Roland Wood/Ann Taylor/Jean Rigby
Act I: 'Evening Is Falling...' - Roland Wood/Ann Taylor/Jean Rigby
Act I: 'Child, From Whose Eyes The Witchery Is Shining' - Ann Taylor/Cheryl Barker
Act I: 'Ah, Love Me A Little' - Cheryl Barker/Ann Taylor
Act II Part I: 'Izaghi Izanami' - Jean Rigby/Cheryl Barker
Act II Part I: 'One Fine Day' - Cheryl Barker

Tracks:

Act II Part I: 'Come, Let's Enter' - Stuart Kale/Gregory Yurisich/Cheryl Barker
Act II Part I: 'Yamadori, And Has your Unrequited Love Not Yet Released You? - Cheryl Barker/D'Arcy Bleiker/Gregory Yurisich/Stuart Kale
Act II Part I: 'Now, At Last!' - Gregory Yurisich/Cheryl Barker
Act II Part I: 'Just Two Things I Could Do' - Cheryl Barker/Gregory Yurisich
Act II Part I: 'This Child! This Child, Then!' - Cheryl Barker/Gregory Yurisich
Act II Part I: 'Do You Know, My Darling' - Cheryl Barker
Act II Part I: 'I Must Be Going' - Gregory Yurisich/Cheryl Barker/Jean Rigby
Act II Part I: 'Ah! Ah!' - Stuart Kale/Jean Rigby/Cheryl Barker
Act II Part I: 'Look, It's A Man-of-war!' - Jean Rigby/Cheryl Barker
Act II Part I: Flower Duet: 'Shake The Cherry Tree' - Cheryl Barker/Jean Rigby
Act II Part I: Humming Chorus - Geoffrey Mitchell Choir
Act II Part 2: Prelude - Jean Rigby/Cheryl Barker
Act II Part 2: Daybreak Over Nagasaki - Jean Rigby/Cheryl Barker
Act II Part 2: 'It's Morning' - Jean Rigby/Cheryl Barker
Act II Part 2: 'Who Is It?...' - Jean Rigby/Ann Taylor/Gregory Yurisich
Act II Part 2: 'I Know For Such Misfortune There Is No Consolation' - Gregory Yurisich/Jean Rigby/Ann Taylor
Act II Part 2: 'Farewell, Oh Happy Home!' - Ann Taylor/Gregory Yurisich
Act II Part 2: 'Then Will You Tell Her?' - Ann Taylor/Jean Rigby
Act II Part 2: 'Suzuki, Where Are You?' - Cheryl Barker/Jean Rigby
Act II Part 2: 'You, Suzuki, You're Always So Faithful' - Cheryl Barker/Jean Rigby
Act II Part 2: 'Viper! I Want You To Answer' - Cheryl Barker/Jean Rigby/Gregory Yurisich/Ann Taylor
Act II Part 2: 'Your Little Fluttering Heart Is Beating' - Jean Rigby/Cheryl Barker
Act II Part 2: 'Death With Honour Is Better Than Life With Dishonour' - Cheryl Barker

Amazon.com

This performance, the only one available in English, is problematic. Best is Yves Abel's leadership of the orchestra, which sounds wonderful, imbuing Puccini's lush score with just the right exoticism and emphasis. But aside from Gregory Yurisch's fine Sharpless, the singers don't please. Paul Charles Clarke as Pinkerton is lacking stylistically and vocally, and as Butterfly, Cheryl Barker sounds under strain and never pretty. While she has the power and feeling for the big second-act climax (the sighting of the ship), she never for a moment sounds fragile or girlish, not even in the all-important early scenes. English or not, this set isn't in the running. Stick with Callas or Scotto in Italian, and follow the libretto. --Robert Levine

Customer Reviews:

A touching English Butterfly.......2002-03-27

Anyone familiar with Cheryl Barker's Butterfly will be interested in hearing this recording. I have heard her in the role twice - in Auckland and London - and her voice has filled out as the years have gone on. She hasn't a large italianate soprano; the sound is too slender somehow. Yet there is the paradox - it has great carrying power and a decent cutting edge to make itself heard above the orchestral climaxes. What really impresses is the sense of vulnerability and moral strength she imparts, making sense of the big moments of the secong act. The sound in Act one is gorgeous (and a super D flat in theentrance aria) and she differentiates impressively between the child-bride and the embittered woman of the two acts.

She is surrounded by a mixed supporting cast. Jean Rigby is maternal, warm and affecting as Suzuki. Gregory Yurisich makes Sharpless' dilemma more understandable than usual, rather than being completely ineffectual. Paul Charles Clarke perhaps illustrates Pinkerton's arrogance with a degree of vocal swagger, but the sound is rough-hewn and unlovely save for some moments in the love duet. Stuart Kale's Goro is suitable ingratiating and oily.

Abel's conducting is the other chief draw of this set. That he has experience of the score in the theatre means that his pacing is really superb, and the lush orchestration is given its due, the potent intermezzo during the overnight vigil sounding suitably ominous.

Tracks:

A Soft Day - Bernadette Greevy
Irish Skies - Bernadette Greevy
Cherry Ripe - Janice Watson
Mustard And Cress - Neal Davies
The Lily Of A Day - Janice Watson
Henry King - Neal Davies
Fain Would I Change That Note - Graham Johnson
In Summer-Time On Bredon - Christopher Maltman
The Lads In Their Hundreds - Christopher Maltman
Among The Rocks - Graham Johnson
It Was A Lover And His Lass - Anthony Rolfe Johnson
The Water Mill - Anthony Rolfe Johnson
On Wenlock Edge - Anthony Rolfe Johnson
The Call - Graham Johnson
Silent Noon - Graham Johnson
Now In These Fairylands - Philip Langridge
The Dream-City - Philip Langridge
Margrete's Cradle Song - Susan Gritton
The Heart Worships - Christopher Maltman
Take, O Those Lips Away - Anthony Rolfe Johnson
Now Sleeps The Crimson Petal - Graham Johnson
Love Calls Through The Summer Night - Anthony Rolfe Johnson
I Will Go With My Father A-Ploughing - Graham Johnson
The Rio Grande (Capstan Shanty) - Ian Partridge
Theodore, Or The Pirate King - Ian Partridge
A Long Time Ago (Hilliard's Shanty) - Ian Partridge
Oh Dear, What Can The Matter Be? - Bernadette Greevy

Tracks:

The Grenadier - Richard Edgar-Wilson
The Young Lover - Richard Edgar-Wilson
Betty And Johnny - Richard Edgar-Wilson
Rise Up And Reach The Stars - Richard Edgar-Wilson
The Bells - Nik Hancock-Child
Ann's Cradle Song - Nik Hancock-Child
As I Lay In The Early Sun - Nik Hancock-Child
The Cherry Tree - Nik Hancock-Child
Dusk - Nik Hancock-Child
Peter Warlock's Fancy - John Constable
The Frostbound Wood - John Constable
Chopcherry - John Constable
A Sad Song - John Constable
Rutterkin - John Constable
Bethlehem Down - John Constable
Wapping Old Stairs - Felicity Lott
Long Steel Grass - Martyn Hill
Tango-Pasodoble - Martyn Hill
Popular Song - Martyn Hill
Beatriz's Song - Felicity Lott
Lay Your Sleeping Head, My Love - Philip Langridge
Early One Morning - Felicity Lott
The Foggy, Foggy View - Philip Langridge
Now The Leaves Are Falling Fast - Philip Langridge
Tell Me The Truth About Love - Della Jones
The Choirmaster's Burial - Philip Langridge

Customer Reviews:

A century of British art songs to delight those who love them.......2006-06-26

These 53 songs have been collected by Naxos from their extensive acquisitions from Collins Classics, and perhaps other British sources now out of business. There's a steady cottage industry, year after year, producing the typical English art song, which is usually based on folk songs, but even in more modern idioms is profuondly conservative and nostaligic. Half these songs, not to mention half the composers, are totally unknown to American audiences, but the familiar names of Vaughan Williams and Britten represent high quality, and the lesser lights, such as Warlock and Quilter, are mainstays in this repertoire.

I'd challenge all but the most addicted listener to make it through more than ten songs at a sitting, and many of these pieces are tepid, offering comfort rather than inspiration. The singers are among the best, but Graham Johnson and Steuart Beford, who do most of the accompaniments, are lackluster. I know that won't be a popular comment, yet if you compare any of these songs with rendiitons done by Janet Baker, John Shirley-quirk, and most recently Bryn Terfel and Ian Bostridge, you immediately notice how much more intensity and drama is pesent than htis colleciton reveals.

Average customer rating:

Great renditions
excellent representation of an unknown 20th century master

Rebecca Clarke: The Cloths of Heaven

Manufacturer: Guild
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Symphonies | Classical | Styles | Music

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General | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

Modern & 20th Century | Historical Periods | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

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Similar Items:

Rebecca Clarke: The Complete Choral Music
Rebecca Clarke: Chamber Music
Rebecca Clarke: Midsummer Moon, Passacaglia, Rhapsody etc.

ASIN: B0000542IP
Release Date: 2005-01-17

Customer Reviews:

Great renditions.......2004-11-10

The execution on this CD is excellent from all participants. Extremely musical, well thought out, just gorgeous, understandable from all perspectives.

excellent representation of an unknown 20th century master.......2004-02-24

From www.rebeccaclarke.org
The songs on this disk represent a wide range of Clarke's output, from the earliest mature songs ("Tears," "The Cloths of Heaven," ca. 1912) to her last completed work ("God Made a Tree," 1954, according to the catalogue by her estate manager, Christopher Johnson), and music both published (some from the 1994 collection reprinted by Boosey & Hawkes) and still unpublished ("Tears," "Tiger, Tiger" and "The Donkey"). 53 songs by Clarke survive (mostly for solo voice and piano, and also several other combinations including the songs arranged for voice and violin).

John Masefield was not yet Poet Laureate of Great Britain when Clarke met him in 1925 to discuss her settings of his writings. "June Twilight" and "The Seal Man" both evoke undulating scenes of nature, but there the similarities end. "June Twilight" is rapturous in its joy of a country scene, wistful only at the temporal finiteness of that beauty. A prose text from Masefield's A Mainsail Haul, Clarke set "The Seal Man" in 1922. Based on the Celtic myth of the seal who takes on the form of a man in order to lure women to their death in the sea, the legend reverses the genders of the Greek myth of the Siren. This declamatory prose setting is one of which she always spoke of as being one of her favorites.

W. B. Yeats was a favorite poet of composers of Clarke's generation. She dedicated "Shy One" "The Cloths of Heaven" to the famous English tenor Gervase Elwes, who was one of the first to champion her music, and who sang her music in New York City just days before his 1921 death in a Boston train accident. Clarke's setting of "Shy One" is warmly tinged with modal flavor and a strongly profiled melody; yet the Musical Times attacked its use of dissonance.

With its imagery of flowers and romance, Anna Wickham's poem "The Cherry Blossom Wand" might at first glance seem to be cheerful, but closer reading reveals a dark cynicism. The poem was widely read when it was first published in 1915, but although labeled "To be set to music" (Wickham herself trained as a singer), Clarke's is the only setting. Clarke knew the poet through their mutual friend, cellist May Mukle.

Clarke would go on to set three more works by women poets to music, the resulting songs a small but distinct part of her output. Ella Young, an Irish poet and novelist, settled in California in 1925. Clarke's setting of Young's "Greeting" is a small but strongly chiseled lyrical expression. Starting with rolling waves and buoyant melody, the mention of a lost love darkens the mood and leads to harmonic twists and shifts of texture.

The poet of "God Made a Tree," Katherine Kendall, is unknown in literature and was a British friend of Clarke, and a devout Catholic. Rebecca and her siblings were raised "in the strictest irreligion," as one of her nieces recalls, but did gain an informal interest in western religion and Christianity as shown by her Psalm settings of the early 1920s, and this setting of the Kendall text, and also the setting of Chesterton's wry but profound Palm Sunday text, "The Donkey"; interestingly, none of these religious-themed works were published. Clarke dedicated "The Donkey" to the Danish dramatic soprano Povla Frijsch in 1941. Frijsch had long championed Clarke's songs, naming her in a Musical America interview as among her favorite American composers. Frijsch's release of "Shy One" on a recording, the first of Clarke's music, may have motivated the dedication.

Clarke's setting of Psalm 63 was one of the works she showed to Gustav Holst in 1921 in order to receive his opinion and advice. It reveals the influence of Ernst Bloch, as well as Clarke's exposure to Jewish chanting through her London friends the Bentwiches.
While many of Clarke's British contemporaries set texts from A. E. Housman's early publication A Shropshire Lad, Clarke was the first to turn to his Late Poems, from which "Eight O'Clock" is drawn. Clarke illustrates the concise text in a work of devastating impact.

The anonymous poem "Tears" (labeled by Clarke as "Old Chinese Words") reveals Clarke's fascination with the Far East, which had grown since encountering a Javanese Gamelan at the World Exposition in Paris in 1900. The spacious span of its opening, and its use of wholetone scales create an austere and exotic atmosphere.

"Come, O Come my Life's Delight" offers a rapturous view of love. Based on words set by the seventh-century Thomas Campion, Clarke based this 1924 song on her own earlier choral setting. Claude Flight, author of "The Aspidistra," was an artist and friend of Clarke's. Parodying the conventions of the Victorian Parlour, "The Aspidistra" is a bold statement in its outrageous humour.

The Blake settings "Cradle Song" and "Infant Joy," evoke the traditional maternal position. Since Clarke had no children, these works might be understood as a musical expression of her perceived feminine role. "Cradle Song" employs clarity of structure and rhythm, and accessible poetic scansion; these are enriched by the impressionist vocabulary of chordal parallelism. Also a Blake setting, "Infant Joy" is a gem, a radiant outburst of devotion. Clarke also wrote several instrumental lullabies, with one for violin and voice included here.

"Tiger, Tiger" also sets Blake, a text that Benjamin Britten would turn to in the 1960s in his much more reserved setting. Clarke's work is her darkest song, with swirling chromaticism bordering on the expressionist, matching the text's evocation of the erotic and the unknowable subconscious realm. Clarke probably wrote "Tiger, Tiger" with John Goss in mind, as she relentlessly revised it during her romantic entanglement with him (ca. 1929-1933); she was also discouraged by a publisher's rejection of the work; they no doubt preferred lighter fare, especially from women. The disturbing power of "Tiger, Tiger" suggests that Clarke deserves consideration as a major composer of twentieth century song.

Like most violists, Clarke started on the violin as a child, switching to the viola while at the Royal College, and at the suggestion of Stanford. Yet, she sometimes still played the violin, in family or informal settings, or in her role as a versatile freelance musician. A former teacher and suitor, Percy Miles, died in 1922 leaving Clarke a Stradivarius violin, which she occasionally played in subsequent years.

"Midsummer Moon" was dedicated to Adila Fachiri, with whom Clarke often performed in ensemble concerts in England. "Starting a fiddle piece using some old scraps," she wrote of the work in February of 1924, a vivid description reflecting Clarke's hobby as an avid sewer. The Musical Times noted the brilliance of the work, while determined to consider it only as representative of the "'new' woman composer."

The arrangements of Old English Songs, and Irish Folk Songs for voice and violin were among Clarke's most popular pieces, which she sometimes played for pleasure as well as in concert settings. Their folk and traditional themes remind us that Clarke should be squarely placed in the mainstream of the English Musical Renaissance, since they both suggest her influence by Holst's settings of the same unusual combination, and her possible influence on Vaughan Williams who would write for voice and violin in 1928.

Liane Curtis

Shakespeare's Songbook, Vols. 1 & 2
Average customer rating:
Shakespeare's Songbook, Vols. 1 & 2

Manufacturer: Azica
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music
General | Classical | Styles | Music
Similar Items:

Shakespeare's Songbook

Songs and Dances from Shakespeare

Shakespeare Songs

Shakespeare's Musick (Songs & Dances from Shakespeare's Plays) / Pickett, Musicians of the Globe

William Shakespeare's Hamlet (Two-Disc Special Edition)

ASIN: B0002IQL08
Release Date: 2004-07-06

Tracks:

Ah Robin (Round)
And Let Me The Cannikin Clink
And Will He Not Come Again
Be Merry, Be Merry
Black Spirits
Blow, Blow Thou Winter Wind
Bonny Sweet Robin
But Shall I Go Mourn
Can'st Thou Not Hit It
Come Away
Come Away, Hecate
Come Live With Me
Come O'er The Burn
Come Thou Monarch (Version 2)(Round)
Come Unto These Yellow Sands
A Cup Of Wine
Farewell, Dear Heart
Fathers That Wear Rags
Fear No More
Fie On Sinful Fantasy
Fill The Cup (Round)
Flout 'Em And Cout 'Em (Round)
Fools Had Ne'er Less Grace
For I'll Cut My Green Coat
The Friar And The Nun
Full Fathom Five
The George Alow (Version 1)
Get You Hence
The God Of Love
Hark, Hark The Lark
Have I Caught My Heavenly Jewel
Heart's Ease
Hold Thy Peace (Version 2)(Round)
Honor, Riches
I Am Gone Sir
I Loathe The I Did Love
It Was A Lover And His Lass
Jepha
Jog On
Jolly Shepherd (Round)
King Stephen Was A Worthy Peer
Lawn As White
Love, Love, Nothing But Love (Version 2)
The Master, The Swabber (Version 2)
No More Dams
An Old Hare Hoar (Version 1)
O Mistress Mine (Version 1)
Orpheus With His Lute
O Sweet Oliver
Pardon Goddess Of The Night
Roses Their Sharp Spines
Sigh No More, Ladies
Some Men For Sudden Joy (Version 1)
Take, O Take Those Lips
Tell Me, Where Is Fancy Bred
That Sir Which Serves
There Dwelt A Man In Babylon (Version 1)
There Was Three Fools
Three Merry Men (Round)
Tomorrow Is St. Valentine's Day
Under The Greenwood Tree
Up And Down (Round)
Urns And Odours Bring Away
Walsingham
Was This Fair Face
Wedding Is Great Juno's Crown
What Shall He Have (Round)
When Arthur First In Court
When Daffodils Begin To Peer
When Daisies Pied
When Griping Grief
When Icicles Hang By The Wall
When That I Was And A Little Tyne Boy
Where The Bee Sucks
While You Here Do Snoring Lie
Who Is Silvia
Why Let The Strucken Deer
Willow, Willow (Version 1)
Will You Buy Any Tape
The Woosel Cock
You Spotted Snakes

Tracks:

Awake, Awake
Battle Of Agincourt
Bride's Goodmorrow
Broom
Callino
Carmen's Whitle
Chi Passa
Come Kiss Me, Kate (Round)
Come Thou Monarch (Version 1)
Cup Of Wine (Version 1)
Damon
Daphne
Diana (2 Versions)
Dulcina
Eglamore
Eighty-Eight
Fortune My Foe
George Alow (Version 2)
Glass Doth Run
Goddesses
Go From My Window
Greensleeves (2 Versions)
Guy Of Warwick
Hem Boys (2 Versions)
Hey Ho for A Husband (2 Versions)
Hobbyhorse
Hold Thy Peace (Versions 1 & 3)
Hunt's Up
I Cannot Come Every Day (2 Versions)
In Crete
In Peascod Time
Jack Boy (Round)
King Cophetua
King Lear
King Solomon
Light O Love
Loath To Depart (2 Versions)
Love, Love (Version 1)
Master, Swabber (Version 1)
Mounsier Mingo
Mounsieur's Almaine
My Mind To Me
Nutmegs (Of All The Birds)
Nutmegs (Wooing Of The Baker's Daughter)
O Death (2 Versions)
Old Hare Hoar (Version 2)
O Mistress Mine (Version 2)
O' The Twelfth Day Of December
Oyster Pie
Peg A Ramsey (2 Versions)
Phillida (3 Versions)
Please One
Pyramus
Queen Dido (2 Versions)
Ratcatcher
Rich Jew
Robin Goodfellow
Robin Hood
Rogero
Rowland
Sellenger's Round
Shore's Wife (2 Versions)
Sick, Sick (3 Vesions)
Some Men For Sudden Joy (Round)
There Dwelt A Man (Version 2)
Titus Andronicus
Tom A Bedlam (2 Versions)
Troilus
Troy Town
Wellady
Whenas We Sat In Babylon
Where Is The Life
Whoop
Why Let The Strucken (If Care Do Cause)
Willow, Willow (Version 2)
Will Ye Buy A Fine Dog
With A Fading

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