Martha Jones Laurence Kilsby

Angharad Lyddon Madison Nonoa

Alex Otterburn Dominic Sedgwick

Malcolm Martineau piano

our future, now

THE CALLINTRODUCING THE NEXT

GENERATION OF CLASSICAL SINGERS

Martha Jones Laurence Kilsby

Angharad Lyddon Madison Nonoa

Alex Otterburn Dominic Sedgwick

Martha Jones Laurence Kilsby

Angharad Lyddon Madison Nonoa

Alex Otterburn Dominic Sedgwick

Malcolm Martineau

THE CALL

FRANZ SCHUBERT (1797-1828) 1 Fischerweise (Franz von Schlechta) f 2’532 Im Frühling (Ernst Schulze) a 4’32 ROBERT SCHUMANN (1810-1856) 3 Mein schöner Stern (Friedrich Rückert) d 2’39 JOHANNES BRAHMS (1833-1897) 4 An eine Äolsharfe (Eduard Mörike) f 3’52

ROBERT SCHUMANN 5 Aufträge (Christian L’Egru) b 2’30 GABRIEL FAURÉ (1845-1924) 6 Le papillon et la fleur (Victor Marie Hugo) e 2’08

CLAUDE ACHILLE DEBUSSY (1862-1918) 7 La flûte de Pan (Pierre-Félix Louis) b 2’45

REYNALDO HAHN (1874-1947) 8 L’heure exquise (Paul Verlaine) c 2’27 CLAUDE ACHILLE DEBUSSY 9 C’est l’extase (Paul Verlaine) a 2’54

FRANCIS POULENC (1899-1963) Deux poèmes de Louis Aragon (Louis Aragon) d

10 i C 2’4411 ii Fêtes galantes 0’57

GABRIEL FAURÉ 12 Notre amour (Armand Silvestre) e 1’58

THE CALL

MEIRION WILLIAMS (1901-1976) 13 Gwynfyd (Crwys) c 3’25 HERBERT HOWELLS (1892-1983) 14 King David (Walter de la Mare) b 4’51

RALPH VAUGHAN WILLIAMS (1872-1958) 15 The Call (George Herbert) f 2’1216 Silent Noon (Dante Gabriel Rossetti) c 4’03

BENJAMIN BRITTEN (1913-1976) 17 The Choirmaster’s Burial (Thomas Hardy) d 4’08

IVOR GURNEY (1890-1937) 18 Sleep (John Fletcher) e 2’55 BENJAMIN BRITTEN 19 The Last Rose of Summer (Thomas Moore) a 3’4820 Early One Morning (Anonymous) b 2’32

SERGEI RACHMANINOV (1873-1943) 21 In the Silent Night (Afanasy Afanasyevich Fet) e 2’55

63’09

MADISON NONOA sopranoMARTHA JONES mezzo-soprano

ANGHARAD LYDDON mezzo-sopranoLAURENCE KILSBY tenor

ALEX OTTERBURN baritoneDOMINIC SEDGWICK baritoneMALCOLM MARTINEAU piano

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MOMENTUM: Our Future, Now is an initiative driven by leading international artists supporting younger professional colleagues in the first substantial phase of their career. Created by Barbara Hannigan, the Momentum model is an urgent artistic and human response to the situation caused by the 2020 pandemic, yet devised with long-term staying power.

Momentum: Our Future Now, sees leading soloists and conductors supporting younger colleagues by bringing them onto main stage professional engagements. Young professional soloists are invited to share the stage on leading soloists’ engagements, while young professional conductors assist leading conductors and are given invaluable opportunities to lead an orchestra during the rehearsal period. In each case the young artist receives a fee.

The collective initiative has very quickly attracted the support of a rapidly increasing list of the world’s leading solo artists, conductors, orchestras, organisations and festivals, who have agreed to incorporate Momentum into their current season and beyond.

The Call is the first recording both inspired and supported by the Momentum initiative. Momentum extends its heartfelt thanks to Malcom Martineau for his dedication and generosity, and to Roger Wright, Britten Pears Arts, Mark Stone and Andrew Mellor.

I was honoured to be invited by Barbara Hannigan to be a part of the Momentum scheme to help young singers who had been hit particularly hard by lack of work during the pandemic. I thought that it would be a good idea to make a CD with six singers and I deliberately chose artists, either those whom I had worked with in the past or through recommendations, who had had virtually no work at all during Covid times. I asked them to choose songs with which they had a particular, personal connection and it has produced a wonderfully varied programme. Thank you again to Barbara for the motivation and inspiration and to Roger Wright and Carolyn Barnfield for enabling it all at the Maltings, Snape.

Malcolm Martineau

New Zealand soprano and Lies Askonas Fellow Madison Nonoa holds a Masters in Music (Distinction) from the Guildhall school of Music and Drama where she studied under the tutelage of Yvonne Kenny. Madison made her debut at the Glyndebourne Festival Opera as First Siren Rinaldo, and was selected as a 2020/2021 Jerwood Young Artist for the Festival. Madison is a current Samling Artist and Britten-Pears Young Artist and a former Dame Malvina Major Emerging Young Artist with New Zealand Opera, where she made her debut as Papagena Die Zauberflöte. Madison has performed nationally and internationally with the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, the Australian Brandenburg Orchestra as a concert soloist resulting in a CD recording “Noel! Noel!” and with the London Philharmonia at the Royal Festival Hall. Competition highlights include being the first prize winner of the Dame Malvina Major Arias in Christchurch and Wellington, as well as being awarded the first prize in the Napier Aria, Tauranga competitions and receiving 2nd prize in the New Zealand Aria Competition. She was a semi-finalist in the London Bach Singing competition and the International Handel Singing Competition and a finalist in the 2016 Lexus Song Quest. She acknowledges the ongoing support of the Dame Kiri Te Kanawa and Dame Malvina Major Foundations.

Martha Jones studied at the RCMIOS where she was awarded a Susan Chilcott scholarship by the Royal Philharmonic Society. She has also taken part in young artist programmes at Carnegie Hall, Ravinia Festival and was a Britten-Pears Young Artist and a Samling Scholar. Recent engagements include Dorabella Così fan tutte (English Touring Opera and Classical Opera), Annina La Traviata and Neferneferuaten Akhnaten (English National Opera), Hermia A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Nevill Holt Opera) and Opera Highlights (Scottish Opera). Other operatic engagements include FANNY PRICE Mansfield Park (The Grange Festival), Melanto/Amore The Return of Ulysses, Nancy Albert Herring and Lisetta Il Mondo Della Luna (English Touring Opera), 2nd Lady The Magic Flute (Mid Wales Opera), 2nd Witch/Lady in Waiting Macbeth (Scottish Opera) and Countess Ceprano Rigoletto (Opéra-Théâtre Limoges). She has sung in recital at St John’s Smith Square (Haydn Arianna a Naxos), the Ryedale Festival (Brahms and Mendelssohn duets), Kings Place (including Grieg, Hahn and Schumann) and

the Wigmore Hall (Samling Showcase). Orchestral song engagements include BESSIE in Weill’s Mahagonny Songspiel (Kings Place), selections from Henze’s Stimmen (Queen Elizabeth Hall), Mahler’s Das Lied von der Erde (London Mahler Orchestra) and Mahler’s Rückert Lieder (New English Ballet Theatre).

Welsh Mezzo Soprano Angharad Lyddon is a graduate of the Royal Academy of Music. She was a member of the Academy Song Circle and a Kohn Foundation Bach Cantata Scholar working with prominent Bach experts including Sir John Eliot Gardiner and Peter Schreier. Angharad was a 2013 Glyndebourne Jerwood young artist and recipient of the Wessex Glyndebourne Association award. Angharad is also a Samling Artist taking part in masterclasses with Dame Ann Murray and Olaf Bär. Angharad made her professional debut in 2015 at English National Opera as Kate in Mike Leigh’s production of The Pirates of Penzance returning in 2019 as Sotopenre in Phelim McDermott’s award-winning production of Akhnaten. Other roles include: Flosshilde in Das Rheingold at Grimeborn festival, Olga in Eugene Onegin for Buxton International Festival and Julia Bertram in Mansfield Park for The Grange Festival. Concert highlights include recitals at Wigmore Hall, Stravinsky’s Pulcinella and Requiem Canticles with Vladimir Jurowski and the LPO and Handel’s Messiah at the Royal Albert Hall. Following her success at the 2018 Welsh Singer Showcase at Cardiff’s St David’s Hall with the BBC National Orchestra of Wales, Angharad was chosen to represent Wales in the 2019 BBC Cardiff Singer of the World Competition and was a Finalist in the Song Prize.

A former BBC Radio 2 Young Chorister of the Year (2009), Laurence Kilsby is a British Tenor, Lies Askonas Fellow and ABRSM vocal scholar at the Royal College of Music, supported by the Victoria Robey Scholarship and the Drake Calleja Trust. He holds the Kathleen Ferrier Society Bursary (2018) and competes in the 2021 Das Lied: International Song Competition. Recent solo concert highlights include; Venus and Adonis with Christian Curnyn and the Early Opera Company (Wigmore Hall), St. John Passion with the Gabrieli Consort (Cathédrale de Lausanne), Elijah with Masaaki Suzuki and the OAE (Théâtre des

Champs-Elysées), Peter Sellars’ staging of the St John Passion with Sir Simon Rattle and the OAE (Elbphilharmonie, Hamburg), Lieder Recital (Akademie der Künste, Berlin), Esther with the London Handel Festival (Wigmore Hall). Recent operatic work; Apollo/Pastore/Spirito in L’Orfeo (Nederlandse Reisopera), cover Lysander/A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Nevill Holt Opera), Phoebus/The Fairy Queen (Waterperry Opera Festival), Lucano/L’incoronazione di Poppea (Longborough Festival Opera). Future engagements include cover Grimoaldo/Rodelinda (RCMIOS), company debut with the Festival d’Aix-en-Provence as Lucano/Soldato Primo/Poppea (2022). He also joins the Verbier Festival as a Young Artist this summer.

Described as “ruling the stage” (Opera Magazine) in his debut as Pluto last season in English National Opera’s new production of Orpheus in the Underworld, British baritone Alex Otterburn delights audiences and critics alike with his bright tone and commanding stage presence. As an ENO Harewood Artist, Alex has also appeared as Morales in Calixto Bieito’s production of Carmen conducted by Valentina Peleggi, and Squibby in the world premiere of Iain Bell’s Jack the Ripper: The Women of Whitechapel, conducted by Martyn Brabbins. Alex’s critically acclaimed debut as Eddy in Mark-Anthony Turnage’s Greek at the Edinburgh International Festival defined him as an exciting and important artist of the new generation, with further performances given in Glasgow for Scottish Opera and on tour to the Brooklyn Academy of Arts, marking his US operatic debut. Further successes have included Chip in Antony McDonald’s new production of On the Town at the Hyogo Performing Arts Centre and on tour in Tokyo, Harlequin in Ariadne auf Naxos for both Scottish Opera and Opera Holland Park, Pallante in Agrippina for The Grange Festival, and his company debut at Opera North as Cascada in The Merry Widow. Alex gained a first-class degree in Economics from the University of Manchester before embarking on his singing studies.

British baritone Dominic Sedgwick is a recent alumnus of the Jette Parker Young Artist Programme at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, a Samling Artist and is a Rising Star of the OAE for the 2019/20 and 20/21 seasons. He trained at GSMD with Robert Dean. In the 2019/20 season he returned to the ROH as the English Clerk in a new production of Death in

Venice by Sir David McVicar, and also made debut performances with the RLPO with Sofi Jeannin and at the Bonn Beethoven Festival with the OAE. He made his ROH debut as Marullo Rigoletto, and subsequently performed the roles of Moralès and Dancaïre Carmen, Ghost Child Coraline, Novice’s Friend Billy Budd (covering the title role) and Kuligin Katya Kabanova. Awards include the Audience Prize at the 2017 International Grange Competition and the WCOM Wigmore Recital Award in 2019. In 2020 Dominic was very fortunate to perform in numerous virtual performances of Bach Cantatas with the OAE for their Bach, the Universe and Everything Concert Series. This season he will make his debut at the Festival d’Aix-en-Provence, return to ROH and looks forward to continuing his relationship with the OAE. He is extremely proud and grateful to be a part of Momentum.

Malcolm Martineau was born in Edinburgh, read Music at St Catharine’s College, Cambridge and studied at the Royal College of Music. Recognised as one of the leading accompanists of his generation, he has worked with many of the world’s greatest singers including Sir Thomas Allen, Dame Janet Baker, Florian Boesch, Olaf Bär, Anna Netrebko, Elīna Garanča, Dorothea Röschmann, Dame Sarah Connolly, Christiane Karg, Angela Gheorghiu, Susan Graham, Thomas Hampson, Della Jones, Sir Simon Keenlyside, Angelika Kirchschlager, Dame Felicity Lott, Christopher Maltman, Karita Mattila, Dame Ann Murray, Anne Sofie von Otter, Joan Rodgers, Michael Schade, Frederica von Stade, Sarah Walker and Sir Bryn Terfel. He has appeared throughout Europe including London’s Wigmore Hall and the Barbican; La Scala, Milan; the Chatelet, Paris; the Liceu, Barcelona; Berlin’s Philharmonie and Konzerthaus; Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw and Vienna’s Konzerthaus and Musikverein; North America including both New York’s Alice Tully and Carnegie Halls. He was a given an honorary doctorate at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama in 2004, and appointed International Fellow of Accompaniment in 2009. Malcolm was the Artistic Director of the 2011 Leeds Lieder Festival. He was made an OBE in the 2016 New Year’s Honours.

FischerweiseFranz von Schlechta (1796-1875)

Den Fischer fechten SorgenUnd Gram und Leid nicht an,Er löst am frühen MorgenMit leichtem Sinn den Kahn.

Da lagert rings noch FriedeAuf Wald und Flur und Bach,Er ruft mit seinem LiedeDie gold’ne Sonne wach.

Er singt zu seinem WerkeAus voller frischer Brust,Die Arbeit gibt ihm Stärke,Die Stärke Lebenslust!

Bald wird ein bunt GewimmelIn allen Tiefen laut,Und plätschert durch den HimmelDer sich im Wasser baut -

Doch wer ein Netz will stellenBraucht Augen klar und gut,Muß heiter gleich den WellenUnd frei sein wie die Flut;

Dort angelt auf der BrückeDie Hirtin - schlauer Wicht,Gib auf nur deine TückeDen Fisch betrügst du nicht!

A Fisherman’s Ditty

The fisherman is not beset With worries, grief or sorrow. First thing in the morning He casts off his boat in good spirits.

All around him the woods, meadows and streams Are still peaceful.He wakes up the golden sun With his singing.

He sings as he works With a heart bursting with energy.The work gives him strength And that strength, a lust for life.

Soon a multi-coloured shoal will sound In the deep waters,And will splash through the reflection of the sky In the water.

Anyone who wants to cast a net Must have sharp, clear eyes,And must be as cheerful as the waves And as uninhibited as the water.

Over there, on the bridge, A shepherdess is fishing, crafty minx!Don’t try your tricks on this particular fish! You’re not going to fool him!

1

Im FrühlingErnst Schulze (1789-1817)

Still sitz’ ich an des Hügels Hang,Der Himmel ist so klar,Das Lüftchen spielt im grünen Thal,Wo ich beym ersten FrühlingsstrahlEinst, ach, so glücklich war;

Wo ich an ihrer Seite gingSo traulich und so nah,Und tief im dunkeln FelsenquellDen schönen Himmel blau und hell,Und sie im Himmel sah.

Sieh, wie der bunte Frühling schonAus Knosp’ und Blüthe blickt!Nicht alle Blüthen sind mir gleich,Am liebsten pflückt’ ich von dem Zweig,Von welchem sie gepflückt.

Denn Alles ist wie damals noch,Die Blumen, das Gefild;Die Sonne scheint nicht minder hell,Nicht minder freundlich schwimmt im QuellDas blaue Himmelsbild.

Es wandeln nur sich Will’ und Wahn,Es wechseln Lust und Streit;Vorüber flieht der Liebe Glück,Und nur die Liebe bleibt zurück,Die Lieb’ und ach, das Leid!

In Springtime

Silently I sit on the side of the hillThe sky is completely cloudlessThe light breeze frolics in the valley Where I, once upon a time In the first beams of Spring was so happy.

Where I strolled by her side, So devoted and so closeAnd I saw the beauteous sky, blue and bright, Reflected in deep, rocky Spring waters. I saw her reflected in that heaven too.

See how the brightly coloured Spring Looks out from the buds and flowers!Not every flower is equal,My favourite flower to pick Is from the branch from which she picked.

Everything is just like it was then,The flowers, the fields The sunshine is no less brightThe vision of the heavens swims no less invitingly In the stream.

Only Fate and Fantasy vacillateJoy changes places with strifeThe happiness of love flies awayAnd only love remainsLove and, oh the pain.

2

O wär’ ich doch ein Vöglein nurDort an dem Wiesenhang,Dann blieb’ ich auf den Zweigen hierUnd säng’ ein süßes Lied von ihrDen ganzen Sommer lang.

Mein schöner SternFriedrich Rückert (1788-1866)

Mein schöner Stern! ich bitte dich,O lasse du dein heitres LichtNicht trüben durch den Dampf in mir,Vielmehr den Dampf in mir zu Licht,Mein schöner Stern, verklären hilf!

Mein schöner Stern! ich bitte dich,Nicht senk’ herab zur Erde dich,Weil du mich noch hier unten siehst,Heb’ auf vielmehr zum Himmel mich,Mein schöner Stern, wo du schon bist!

If only I could be a little birdThere on the slopes of this meadowThen I would remain on the branchesAnd I would sing such a sweet song about her For the entire summer.

My Beautiful Star

My beautiful star, I ask of you,Don’t allow your serene light to dim Because of the clouds which are in me,Rather help the mist in me to be transfigured, My beautiful star!

My beautiful star, I ask of you Not to lower yourself to earth Just because you see me remain down here,Rather raise me up to heaven, My beautiful star, where you already are!

3

An eine ÄolsharfeEduard Mörike (1804-1875)

Angelehnt an die Efeuwand Dieser alten Terrasse,Du, einer luftgebor’nen MuseGeheimnisvolles Saitenspiel,Fang’ an,Fange wieder an Deine melodische Klage!Ihr kommet, Winde, fern herüber,Ach! von des Knaben,Der mir so lieb war,Frischgrünendem Hügel.Und Frühlingsblüten unterweges streifend,Übersättigt mit Wohlgerüchen,Wie süß, wie süß bedrängt ihr dies Herz!Und säuselt her in die Saiten,Angezogen von wohllautender Wehmut,Wachsend im Zug meiner Sehnsucht,Und hinsterbend wieder.Aber auf einmal,Wie der Wind heftiger herstößt,Ein holder Schrei der HarfeWiederholt mir zu süßem ErschreckenMeiner Seele plötzliche Regung,Und hier, die volle Rose streut geschütteltAll’ ihre Blätter vor meine Füße!

To an Aeolian Harp

Leaning against the ivy-clad wall Of this old terrace,Your strings sound the secret musicOf the Muse of the breezes.Begin! Begin again Your melodious lament.You, winds, come from the far-off Fresh green grave Of the boy I loved so much.And you have brushed, on your way, The spring flowers which are bursting with sweet perfume.How sweetly you press on my heart. You rustle the strings, Attracted by harmonious melancholy, Increasing sympathetically with my longing And then retreating again.But all of a sudden, As the wind blows more strongly, Comes a lovely cry from the harpComes again as a sweet shock to me, Echoing the unexpected stirring of my soul.And here, the rose in full bloom is shaken And scatters all its petals at my feet!

4

Aufträge Christian L’Egru (fl. 1850-1850)

Nicht so schnelle, nicht so schnelle!Wart ein wenig, kleine Welle!Will dir einen Auftrag gebenAn die Liebste mein.Wirst du ihr vorüberschweben,Grüße sie mir fein!Sag, ich wäre mitgekommen,Auf dir selbst herabgeschwommen:Für den Gruß einen KußKühn mir zu erbitten,Doch der Zeit DringlichkeitHätt’ es nicht gelitten.

Nich so eillig! halt! erlaube,Kleine, leichtbeschwingte Taube!Habe dir was aufzutragenAn die Liebste mein!Sollst ihr tausend Grüße sagen,Hundert obendrein.Sag, ich wär’ mit dir geflogen,Über Berg und Strom gezogen:Für den Gruß einen KußKühn mir zu erbitten,Doch der Zeit DringlichkeitHätt’ es nicht gelitten.

Messages

Not so fast, not so fast Wait a second, little waveI really want you to take a message To my belovedAs you fly past her, Send her my greeting!Say that I would have come with you, Would have ridden downstream with youBoldly to ask for a kiss In exchange for my greetingBut the pressure of time Would not allow it.

Not so hasty, stop, if you wouldn’t mind, Little light-winged dove I have something I would like you To take to my beloved!You should give her a thousand greetings, And another thousand on top of thatSay that I would have flown Over mountains and rivers to get there with youBoldly to ask for a kiss In exchange for my greeting But the pressure of time Would not allow it.

5

Warte nicht, daß ich dich treibe,O du träge Mondesscheibe!Weißt’s ja, was ich dir befohlenFür die Liebste mein:Durch das Fensterchen verstohlenGrüße sie mir fein!Sag, ich wär’ auf dich gestiegen,Selber zu ihr hinzufliegen:Für den Gruß einen KußKühn mir zu erbitten,Du seist schuld, UngeduldHätt mich nicht gelitten.

Le papillon et la fleurVictor Marie Hugo (1802-1885)

La pauvre fleur disait au papillon céleste:Ne fuis pas!Vois comme nos destins sont différents. Je reste,Tu t’en vas!

Pourtant nous nous aimons, nous vivons sans les hommesEt loin d’eux,Et nous nous ressemblons, et l’on dit que nous sommesFleurs tous deux!

Don’t wait until I have to push you, Slow-moving moon!You know quite clearly what I have told you to do For my beloved;Sneakily through the window Greet her gracefully!Say that I would have climbed on top of you To ride to her myself Boldly to ask for a kiss In exchange for my greeting,Say that you are the guilty one! Impatience Would not allow me to make such a sluggish journey.

The Butterfly and the Flower

The lowly flower said to the heavenly butterfly: Don’t fly away!See how our fates are different I stay, You fly off!

However, we love each other, we live without mankindAnd far from themAnd we resemble each other And they say we are both flowers!

6

Mais, hélas! l’air t’emporte et la terre m’enchaîne.Sort cruel!Je voudrais embaumer ton vol de mon haleineDans le ciel!

Mais non, tu vas trop loin! – Parmi des fleurs sans nombreVous fuyez,Et moi je reste seule à voir tourner mon ombreA mes pieds.

Tu fuis, puis tu reviens; puis tu t’en vas encoreLuire ailleurs.Aussi me trouves-tu toujours à chaque auroreToute en pleurs!

Oh! pour que notre amour coule des jours fidèles,Ô mon roi,Prends comme moi racine, ou donne-moi des ailesComme à toi!

But, alas, the air takes you away and the earth holds me down,Cruel fate!I would love to embue your flight with my breathIn the sky!

But no, you go too far away – Amongst the innumerable flowersYou fly away And I remain alone and see my own shadow revolve Around my feet.

You fly away, then you come back, then you fly away again,To be radiant elsewhereEven more, you always find me In tears at every sunrise.

In order that our love can remain constant for all timeOh my king,Grow some roots or give me wings Like yours.

La flûte de PanPierre-Félix Louis (1870-1925)

Pour le jour des Hyacinthies,Il m’a donné une syrinx faiteDe roseaux bien taillés,Unis avec la blanche cireQui est douce à mes lèvres comme le miel.

Il m’apprend à jouer, assise sur ses genoux;Mais je suis un peu tremblante.Il en joue après moi, Si doucement que je l’entends à peine.Nous n’avons rien à nous dire,Tant nous sommes près l’un de l’autre;Mais nos chansons veulent se répondre,Et tour à tour nos bouchesS’unissent sur la flûte.

Il est tard, Voici le chant des grenouilles vertesQui commence avec la nuit.Ma mère ne croira jamaisQue je suis restée si longtempsÀ chercher ma ceinture perdue.

The Pan-pipe

For Hyacinthus day He gave me a pan-pipe Made from the best cut reeds, Joined together with white wax Which is soft on my lips like honey.

He teaches me to play as I sit on his knee; But I am a little nervous.He plays it after me, So softly that I can barely hear it.We have nothing to say to each other, As we are so close to one another;But our songs want to answer each other, And every so often our mouths Meet on the flute.

It is late;I can hear the song of the green frogs Which begins at night.My mother will never believe That I have been out so long Looking for my lost belt.

7

L’heure exquise Paul Verlaine (1844-1896)

La lune blanche Luit dans les bois;De chaque branche Part une voix Sous la ramée...

Ô bien aimée.

L’étang reflète,Profond miroir,La silhouetteDu saule noirOù le vent pleure...

Rêvons, c’est l’heure.

Un vaste et tendreApaisementSemble descendreDu firmamentQue l’astre irise...

C’est l’heure exquise.

The Blissful Time

The white moonShines in the woodsFrom each branch Comes only one voiceUnder the leafy canopy...

O, Beloved...

The pool reflects, Bottomless mirror,The shadow Of the black willowWhere the wind weeps...

Let’s dream, it is the time...

A vast and tender Tranquillity Seems to come down From the heavens And the moon makes it gleam...

It is the blissful time.

8

C’est l’extasePaul Verlaine

C’est l’extase langoureuse,C’est la fatigue amoureuse,C’est tous les frissons des boisParmi l’étreinte des brises,C’est vers les ramures grisesLe choeur des petites voix.

O le frêle et frais murmure!Cela gazouille et susurre,Cela ressemble au bruit douxQue l’herbe agitée expire...Tu dirais, sous l’eau qui vire,Le roulis sourd des cailloux.

Cette âme qui se lamenteEt cette plainte dormanteC’est la nôtre, n’est-ce pas ?La mienne, dis, et la tienne,Dont s’exhale l’humble antiennePar ce tiède soir, tout bas ?

It Is Ecstasy

It is long drawn-out ecstasyIt is the lethargy of lovingIt is all the trembling of the woodsEmbraced by the breezesIt is, reaching towards the grey branches,The chorus of tiny voices.

Oh, the fragile, fresh murmuring!That prattling and whispering,That sounds like the soft cryWhich exudes from the grass as it is ruffled,You would say, under the all-enveloping water,The soft sound of the rolling pebbles

This soul which moans In this sleepy lament,It is ours, isn’t it?Mine, say, and yours?Out of which comes the lowly anthemOn this balmy evening, so softly.

9

CLouis Aragon (1897-1982)

J’ai traversé les ponts de CéC’est là que tout a commencé

Une chanson des temps passésParle d’un chevalier blessé

D’une rose sur la chausséeEt d’un corsage délacé

Du château d’un duc insenséEt des cygnes dans les fossés

De la prairie où vient danserUne éternelle fiancée

Er j’ai bu comme un lait glacéLe long lai des gloires faussées

La Loire emporte mes penséesAvec les voitures versées

Et les armes désamorcéesEt les larmes mal effacées

Ô ma France ô ma délaisséeJ’ai traversé les ponts de Cé.

C

I crossed the bridges at CéIt was there where it all began

A song of bygone daysSpeaks of a wounded knight

It speaks of a rose on the roadAnd of an unlaced bodice

Of the castle of an unhinged dukeAnd of the swans in the ditches

Of the meadow where An eternal fiancée comes to dance

And I imbibed, like iced milk,The long tale of false triumphs

The Loire carries away my thoughtsAlong with the overturned cars

And the defused weaponsAnd the badly hidden tears

Oh, my France! Oh my deserted one!I crossed the bridges at Cé.

10

Fêtes galantesLouis Aragon

On voit des marquis sur des bicyclettesOn voit des marlous en cheval-juponOn voit des morveux avec des voilettesOn voit les pompiers brûler les pompons

On voit des mots jetés à la voirieOn voit des mots élevés au pavoisOn voit les pieds des enfants de MarieOn voit le dos des diseuses à voix

On voit des voitur’ à gazogèneOn voit aussi des voutur’ à brasOn voit des lascars que les longs nez gênentOn voit des coïons de dix huit carats

On voit ici ce que l’on voit ailleursOn voit des demoiselles dévoyéesOn voit des voyous, On voit des voyeursOn voit sous les ponts passer des noyés

On voit chômer les marchands de chaussuresOn voit mourir d’ennui les mireurs d’œufsOn voit péricliter les valeurs sûresEt fuir la vie à la six quat’ deux.

Courtship Parties

You see the marquises on bicyclesYou see pimps as carnival horsesYou see snotty-nosed children in mourning You see firemen burning their pom-poms

You see words thrown into the trashYou see words raised to gloryYou see the feet of orphan girlsYou see the back of cabaret diseuses

You see cars running on fake petrolYou see handcarts as wellYou see lying rogues impeded by their long noses You see top-price idiots

You see what you see elsewhereYou see young ladies led astray You see yobs, you see voyeursYou see the drowned bodies passing beneath the bridges

You see the unemployed shoe salesmen You see the egg-testers dying of boredomYou see secure values in grave danger And life is hurtling towards a shoddy end.

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Notre amourArmand Silvestre (1837-1901)

Notre amour est chose légèreComme les parfums que le ventPrend aux cimes de la fougèrePour qu’on les respire en rêvant.– Notre amour est chose légère!

Notre amour est chose charmante,Comme les chansons du matinOù nul regret ne se lamente,Où vibre un espoir incertain.– Notre amour est chose charmante!

Notre amour est chose sacréeComme les mystères des boisOù tressaille une âme ignorée,Où les silences ont des voix.– Notre amour est chose sacrée!

Notre amour est chose infinie,Comme les chemins des couchantsOù la mer, aux cieux réunie,S’endort sous les soleils penchants,– Notre amour est chose infinite!

Notre amour est chose éternelleComme tout ce qu’un dieu vainqueurA touché du feu de son aile,Comme tout ce qui vient du coeur, – Notre amour est chose éternelle!

Our Love

Our love is a feather-light thingLike the perfumes that the wind collectsFrom the very tips of the fern So that we can inhale them while we dreamOur love is a feather-light thing!

Our love is something that charmsLike the morning songsIn which no regret is lamented In which an unsure hope comes to life Our love is something that charms!

Our love is a sacred thingLike the mysteries of the woodsWhere an abandoned soul shivers Where every silence has a voiceOur love is a sacred thing!

Our love is an infinite thingLike the paths of sunsetsWhere the sea, reunited with the sky Falls asleep under the setting sun Our love is an infinite thing!

Our love is an eternal thingLike everything the triumphant godHas touched with his fiery wingLike everything that emanates from the heart.Our love is an eternal thing!

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GwynfydCrwys (1875-1968)

Ei enw yw Paradwys wen, Paradwys wen yw enw’r byd, Ac wylo rwyf o’i golli cyd,A’i geisio hwnt i sêr y nen.

Nid draw ar bell-bell draeth y mae, Nac obry ’ngwely’r perlau chwaith, Ond mil-mil nes a ber yw’r daithI ddistaw byrth y byd di-wae.

Tawelach yw na’r dyfnaf hun, Agosach yw na throthwy’r drws, Fel pêrwelyau’r rhos o dlws,Ar allwedd yn fy llaw fy hun.

13 Paradise

Its name is ParadiseThe land of beauty and peaceI weep when I am away from itAnd seek it beyond the stars and skies.

It is not found on some far-away shoreNor within the pearly deepOne does not journey a thousand miles To find the gates to this peaceful land.

More peaceful than the deepest sleepI keep it close in my heart.As beautiful as the roseI hold the key to it in my own hand.

15 The CallGeorge Herbert (1593-1633)

Come, my Way, my Truth, my Life:Such a Way, as gives us breath:Such a Truth, as ends all strife:Such a Life, as killeth death.

Come, My Light, my Feast, my Strength:Such a Light, as shows a feast:Such a Feast, as mends in length:Such a Strength, as makes his guest.

Come, my Joy, my Love, my Heart:Such a Joy, as none can move:Such a Love, as none can part:Such a Heart, as joys in love.

14 King DavidWalter de la Mare (1873-1956)

King David was a sorrowful man:No cause for his sorrow had he;And he called for the music of a hundred harps,To ease his melancholy.

They played till they all fell silent:Played and play sweet did they;But the sorrow that haunted the heart of King DavidThey could not charm away.

He rose; and in his gardenWalked by the moon alone,A nightingale hidden in a cypress tree,Jargoned on and on.

King David lifted his sad eyesInto the dark-boughed tree --“Tell me, thou little bird that singest,Who taught my grief to thee?”

But the bird in no-wise heeded;And the king in the cool of the moonHearkened to the nightingale’s sorrowfulness,Till all his own was gone.

Silent NoonDante Gabriel Rossetti (1828-1882)

Your hands lie open in the long fresh grass, –The finger-points look through like rosy blooms:Your eyes smile peace. The pasture gleams and glooms’Neath billowing skies that scatter and amass.All round our nest, far as the eye can pass,Are golden kingcup fields with silver edgeWhere the cow-parsley skirts the hawthorn hedge.’Tis visible silence, still as the hour glass.

Deep in the sunsearched growths the dragon-flyHangs like a blue thread loosened from the sky: –So this winged hour is dropt to us from above.Oh! clasp we to our hearts, for deathless dower,This close-companioned inarticulate hourWhen twofold silence was the song of love.

The Choirmaster’s BurialThomas Hardy (1840-1928)

He often would ask usThat, when he died,After playing so manyTo their last rest,If out of us anyShould here abide,And it would not task us,We would with our lutesPlay over himBy his grave-brimThe psalm he liked best –The one whose sense suits“Mount Ephraim” –And perhaps we should seemTo him, in Death’s dream,Like the seraphim.

As soon as I knewThat his spirit was goneI thoguht this his due,And spoke thereupon.“I think,” said the vicar,“A read service quickerThan viols out-of-doorsIn these frosts and hoars.That old-fashioned wayRequires a fine day,And it seems to meIt had better not be.”

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SleepJohn Fletcher (1579-1625)

Come, Sleep, and with thy sweet deceivingLock me in delight awhile;Let some pleasing dreams beguileAll my fancies; that from thenceI may feel an influenceAll my powers of care bereaving.

Though but a shadow, but a sliding,Let me know some little joy!We that suffer long annoyAre contented with a thoughtThrough an idle fancy wrought:O let my joys have some abiding!

18Hence, that afternoon,Though never knew heThat his wish could not be,To get through it fasterThey buried the masterWithout any tune.

But ’twas said that, whenAt the dead of next nightThe vicar looked out,There struck on his kenThronged roundabout,Where the frost was grayingThe headstoned grass,A band all in whiteLike the saints in church-glass,Singing and playingThe ancient staveBy the choirmaster’s grave.

Such the tenor man toldWhen he had grown old.

The Last Rose of SummerThomas Moore (1779-1852)

’Tis the last rose of summer,Left blooming alone;All her lovely companionsAre faded and gone;No flow’r of her kindred,No rosebud is nighTo reflect back her blushes,Or give sigh for sigh.

I’ll not leave thee, thou lone one,To pine on the stem;Since the lovely are sleeping,Go, sleep thou with them;Thus kindly I scatterThy leaves o’er the bed,Where thy mates of the gardenLie senseless and dead.

So soon may I follow,When friendships decay,And from Love’s shining circleThe gems drop away!When true hearts lie wither’d.And fond ones are flown,Oh! who would inhabitThis bleak world alone?

Early One MorningAnonymous

Early one morning, just as the sun was rising,I heard a maid sing in the valley below.“O don’t deceive me, O never leave me,How could you use a poor maiden so?”

“O gay is the garland, fresh are the rosesI’ve culled from the garden to bind on thy brow.O don’t deceive me, O do not leave me!How could you use a poor maiden so?”

Remember the vows that you made to your Mary,Remember the bow’r where you vowed to be true.O don’t deceive me, O never leave me.How could you use a poor maiden so!”

Thus sung the poor maiden, her sorrow bewailing,Thus sung the poor maid in the valley below;“O don’t deceive me! O do not leave me!How could you use a poor maiden so?”

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In the Silent NightAfanasy Afanas’yevich Fet (1820-1892)

O, dolgo budu ïa, v molchan’ïi nochi taïnoï,Kovarnyï lepet tvoï, ulybku, vzor sluchaïnyï,Perstam poslushnuïu volos, volos tvoikh gustuïu pr’ad’,Iz mysleï izgon’at’, i snova prizyvat’;Sheptat’ i popravl’at’ bylyïe vyrazhen’ïaRecheï moikh s toboï, ispolnennykh smush’en’ïa,I v opïanen’ïi, naperekor umu,Zavetnym imenem budit’ nochnuïu t’mu.

21

Oh, for a long while, in the silence of the mysterious night, Your beguiling murmur, smile, fleeting glance, A luscious strand of your hair, obedient to my fingers, Will I banish from my thoughts - but then recall again; Whisper and reconsider the phrases Of my embarrassed conversations with you, And, as if intoxicated, against all reason, With your cherished name awaken the nightly darkness.

We are very grateful to Roger Wright, Britten Pears Arts, Andrew Mellor and Malcolm Martineau for their generous support towards the making of this recording.

Produced, engineered and edited by Andrew Mellor.Recorded 8-9 December 2020 at the Britten Studio, Snape Maltings, Suffolk, U.K.

Steinway technician: Graham Cooke.

Cover: photograph of Martha Jones © 2012 Raphaëlle Photography; photograph of Laurence Kilsby © 2019 Eoin Schmidt-Martin; photograph of Angharad Lyddon © 2019 Connor Wood;

photograph of Alex Otterburn © 2017 Christina Riley; photograph of Madison Nonoa © 2016 Steven Godbee; photograph of Dominic Sedgwick © 2020 Clare Park.

Inside front cover: photograph of Malcolm Martineau 2019 Elisenda Canals 2019.Non-literal English translations of German and French text © 2021 Malcolm Martineau.

English translation of Welsh text © 2021 Angharad Lyddon.English translation of Russian text © 2017 Sergey Rybin.

Sung text of Deux poèmes de Louis Aragon © Editions Salabert, reproduced with the kind authorization of Universal Music Publishing and Editions Salabert.Sung text of Gwynfyd reproduced by kind permission of Tŷ Cerdd.

Sung text of King David reproduced by kind permission of The Literary Trustees of Walter de la Mare and the Society of Authors as their Representative.

Design: Red Engine Design.

Printed in the E.U.

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