Ralph Vaughan Williams: Folk Songs, Vol. 4 Roderick Williams, Mary Bevan, Nicky Spence, William Vann

• Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872 - 1958): Folksongs for Schools (Excerpts):
• 1 Williams: Folksongs for Schools (Excerpts): No. 1, The Jolly Ploughboy [Version for Solo Voice & Piano] 00:57
• 2 Williams: Folksongs for Schools (Excerpts): No. 2, The Cuckoo and the Nightingale [Version for Solo Voice & Piano] 01:53
• 3 Williams: Folksongs for Schools (Excerpts): No. 3, Servant Man and Husbandman 03:57
• Traditional: The Turtle Dove (Arr. R. Vaughan Williams for Voice & Piano):
• 4 Traditional: The Turtle Dove (Arr. R. Vaughan Williams for Voice & Piano) 02:59
• 15 Folksongs from Newfoundland (Arr. R. Vaughan Williams for Voice & Piano):
• 5 Traditional: 15 Folksongs from Newfoundland (Arr. R. Vaughan Williams for Voice & Piano): No. 1, Sweet William's Ghost 06:23
• 6 Traditional: 15 Folksongs from Newfoundland (Arr. R. Vaughan Williams for Voice & Piano): No. 2, The Cruel Mother 02:53
• 7 Traditional: 15 Folksongs from Newfoundland (Arr. R. Vaughan Williams for Voice & Piano): No. 3, The Gypsy Laddie 01:56
• 8 Traditional: 15 Folksongs from Newfoundland (Arr. R. Vaughan Williams for Voice & Piano): No. 4, The Bloody Gardener 04:04
• 9 Traditional: 15 Folksongs from Newfoundland (Arr. R. Vaughan Williams for Voice & Piano): No. 5, The Bonny Banks of Virgie-O 04:14
• 10 Traditional: 15 Folksongs from Newfoundland (Arr. R. Vaughan Williams for Voice & Piano): No. 6, Earl Brand 03:30
• 11 Traditional: 15 Folksongs from Newfoundland (Arr. R. Vaughan Williams for Voice & Piano): No. 7, Lord Akeman 08:23
• 12 Traditional: 15 Folksongs from Newfoundland (Arr. R. Vaughan Williams for Voice & Piano): No. 8, The Lover's Ghost 03:07
• 13 Traditional: 15 Folksongs from Newfoundland (Arr. R. Vaughan Williams for Voice & Piano): No. 9, She's Like the Swallow 02:16
• 14 Traditional: 15 Folksongs from Newfoundland (Arr. R. Vaughan Williams for Voice & Piano): No. 10, The Maiden's Lament 01:56
• 15 Traditional: 15 Folksongs from Newfoundland (Arr. R. Vaughan Williams for Voice & Piano): No. 11, Proud Nancy 02:55
• 16 Traditional: 15 Folksongs from Newfoundland (Arr. R. Vaughan Williams for Voice & Piano): No. 12, The Morning Dew 01:36
• 17 Traditional: 15 Folksongs from Newfoundland (Arr. R. Vaughan Williams for Voice & Piano): No. 13, The Winter's Gone and Past 02:42
• 18 Traditional: 15 Folksongs from Newfoundland (Arr. R. Vaughan Williams for Voice & Piano): No. 14, The Cuckoo 01:37
• 19 Traditional: 15 Folksongs from Newfoundland (Arr. R. Vaughan Williams for Voice & Piano): No. 15, Young Floro 03:14
• Total Runtime 01:00:32

Info for Ralph Vaughan Williams: Folk Songs, Vol. 4

This is the fourth and final instalment in a series of four albums recording all 81 of the folk songs in English that Ralph Vaughan Williams arranged for voice and piano or violin. 57 of the 81 songs have not previously been recorded in these arrangements.

"This album has 19 tracks including 13 world premières. All but four of the songs were collected by Maud Karpeles in Newfoundland in 1929 and 1930. When she got back, she and Vaughan Williams spent some hours going through everything that she had found, selecting the 15 songs presented here – with an emphasis, it seems, on the sadder songs.

This album marks the release of the fourth and final volume of the Complete Folk Song Arrangements by Ralph Vaughan Williams, appropriately it turns out in 2022, which marks the 150th anniversary of the composer’s birth.

It opens with four ‘lesser known’ Folk Songs collected in England, following on with fifteen of the Songs collected in Newfoundland by Maud Karpeles. Having been a senior assistant to Cecil Sharp, she took over as principal collector after his death. What, you may ask, have Newfoundland songs to do with British folk song? The people in remote Newfoundland communities had usually come from Britain or Ireland, bringing their songs with them. These songs developed and grew with Karpeles concentrating on songs with definite British origins.

It was Karpeles who persuaded Vaughan Williams to set these songs. As pianist William Vann writes, ‘the piano accompaniments never dominate the singer, but they are always innovative, fresh and beautiful … often shaping the folk songs at their core into something closer to what we might term Art Song’. He hits the nail bang on the head, and his always intensely delicate and carefully coloured playing fits his words to perfection.

The three singers, soprano Mary Bevan, tenor Nicky Spence and baritone Roderick Williams are so well chosen to capture the very spirit of English Song. Their voices are clean and clear and since almost all these songs tell a story, their perfect diction is just what is needed here, although the accompanying booklet does print all the words of the songs.

The four English songs are all cheery and positive with Servant Man and Husbandman bringing tenor and baritone together in diverting conversation. Many of the Newfoundland songs are darker dealing with disappointment in love, death, and ghosts of lost loves. There are many versions in Scottish literature of The Cruel Mother, and The Gypsy Laddie is a variant on The Wraggle Taggle Gypsies with a different tune, but set in an equally exuberant manner by Vaughan Williams.

Every setting is instantly attractive, sung and sometimes acted out too by the performers. It was great to come across some old musical friends but in fresh garb as presented by Vaughan Williams and his four superb performers." (Alan Cooper, britishmusicsociety.co.uk)

Mary Bevan, soprano
Nicky Spence, tenor
Roderick Williams, baritone
William Vann, piano, musical director

Roderick Williams
sings a wide repertoire, from baroque to contemporary music, in the opera house, on the concert platform, and in recital. He has performed in all the major opera houses in the United Kingdom and is particularly associated with the baritone rôles of Mozart. He has also sung world premières of operas by David Sawer, Sally Beamish, Michael van der Aa, Robert Saxton and Alexander Knaifel. Williams sings concert repertoire with all the BBC orchestras as well as the Bournemouth Symphony, London Sinfonietta, Philharmonia Orchestra, Royal Scottish National Orchestra, Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, Russian National Orchestra, and Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, among many others. His festival appearances include the BBC Proms, Edinburgh, Cheltenham, Aldeburgh and Melbourne. Roderick Williams is also a composer and has had works performed at the Barbican Centre, the Purcell Room, and Wigmore Hall.

Booklet for Ralph Vaughan Williams: Folk Songs, Vol. 4