Roderick Williams & Andrew West – Birdsong (2021) [Official Digital Download 24bit/96kHz]

Roderick Williams & Andrew West – Birdsong (2021)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 59:19 minutes | 1019 MB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © SOMM Recordings

SOMM Recordings is pleased to announce Birdsong, a fascinating crossgender exploration of art songs associated with the female voice by baritone Roderick Williams, accompanied by pianist Andrew West. The recital features signature songs from the height of Romanticism by Brahms and Clara and Robert Schumann alongside a more recent quartet of sensuous songs by Sally Beamish. In his revealing foreword, Williams recalls having his choice of Brahms’s Sapphische Ode refused by competition organisers because it was “a woman’s song”. Returning recently to the work prompted him to question why some songs are considered gender specific. Birdsong is his response.

The recital features signature songs from the height of Romanticism by Brahms and Clara and Robert Schumann alongside a more recent quartet of sensuous songs by Sally Beamish. In his revealing foreword, Roderick Williams recalls having his choice of Brahms’s Sapphische Ode refused by competition organisers because it was “a woman’s song”. Returning recently to the work prompted him to question why some songs are considered gender-specific. “Birdsong” is his response.

In his informative booklet notes, Richard Stokes notes that Brahms’s songs “betrays his own essentially melancholic nature” and his difficulty in “sustaining emotional relationships with the women in his life”. His nine songs here include the bittersweet An die Nachtigall, the moving innocent ardency ofDas M”adchen spricht and the quiet, earnest longing of Sapphische Ode.

Clara Schumann’s Liebst du um Sch”onheit provides an authentic female perspective on courtship, as does Sally Beamish’s Four Songs from Hafez (for which she provides her own notes), taking inspiration from the Iranian-born, Glasgow-based Jila Peacock’s evocative translations and artistic rendering of the 14th-century Persian Sufi poet’s texts. An intimate exploration of a young woman’s feelings towards an older man of higher birth, Robert Schumann’s Frauenliebe und-leben acquires new facets when heard in Roderick Williams’ characterful baritone.

Tracklist:
01. Roderick Williams & Andrew West – Brahms: An die Nachtigall, Op. 46 No. 4 (03:18)
02. Roderick Williams & Andrew West – Brahms: Mädchenlied, Op. 107 No. 5 (01:31)
03. Roderick Williams & Andrew West – Brahms: Das Mädchen, Op. 95 No. 1 (02:22)
04. Roderick Williams & Andrew West – Schumann: Liebst du um Schönheit, Op. 12 No. 2 (02:06)
05. Roderick Williams & Andrew West – Brahms: Das Mädchen spricht, Op. 107 No. 3 (01:25)
06. Roderick Williams & Andrew West – Brahms: Salamander, Op. 107 No. 2 (01:01)
07. Roderick Williams & Andrew West – Brahms: Nachtigall, Op. 97 No. 1 (02:20)
08. Roderick Williams & Andrew West – Beamish: 4 Songs from Hafez (Arr. for Baritone & Piano): No. 1, Nightingale (03:33)
09. Roderick Williams & Andrew West – Beamish: 4 Songs from Hafez (Arr. for Baritone & Piano): No. 2, Peacock (04:22)
10. Roderick Williams & Andrew West – Beamish: 4 Songs from Hafez (Arr. for Baritone & Piano): No. 3, Fish (02:48)
11. Roderick Williams & Andrew West – Beamish: 4 Songs from Hafez (Arr. for Baritone & Piano): No. 4, Hoopoe (05:10)
12. Roderick Williams & Andrew West – Brahms: Vergebliches Ständchen, Op. 84 No. 4 (Arr. for Baritone & Piano) (01:45)
13. Roderick Williams & Andrew West – Brahms: Sapphische Ode, Op. 94 No. 4 (02:35)
14. Roderick Williams & Andrew West – Brahms: Von ewiger Lieber, Op. 43 No. 1 (04:06)
15. Roderick Williams & Andrew West – Schumann: Frauenliebe und Leben, Op. 42: No. 1, Seit ich ihn gesehen (02:13)
16. Roderick Williams & Andrew West – Schumann: Frauenliebe und Leben, Op. 42: No. 2, Er, der Herrlichste von allen (03:15)
17. Roderick Williams & Andrew West – Schumann: Frauenliebe und Leben, Op. 42: No. 3, Ich kann’s nicht fassen, nicht glauben (01:50)
18. Roderick Williams & Andrew West – Schumann: Frauenliebe und Leben, Op. 42: No. 4, Du Ring an meinem Finger (02:30)
19. Roderick Williams & Andrew West – Schumann: Frauenliebe und Leben, Op. 42: No. 5, Helft mir, ihr Schwestern (01:50)
20. Roderick Williams & Andrew West – Schumann: Frauenliebe und Leben, Op. 42: No. 6, Süsser Freund (03:52)
21. Roderick Williams & Andrew West – Schumann: Frauenliebe und Leben, Op. 42: No. 7, An meinem Herzen, an meiner Brust (01:21)
22. Roderick Williams & Andrew West – Schumann: Frauenliebe und Leben, Op. 42: No. 8, Nun hast du mir den ersten Schmerz getan (03:55)

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