There is too a good sense of the direction of a lyrical line, without the over-refined legato that smooths out the rhythm - and thus the folk origins. The intonation is unfailing, even when Britten takes the piano accompaniment into bitonal territory as in “The Ash Grove”. “I wonder as I wander” shows at the outset several of Milfoher’s qualities diction that easily and naturally distinguishes between the first vowel sounds in “wonder” and “wander”, a range of dynamic and vocal colour from an intimate mezza-voce (but with no hint of crooning) to a virile open-throated ringing top (more Peter Grimes than a wandering folk minstrel). What we have here are Britten songs with a folk origin, and of great range, treating of war, death, love, heartbreak, tragedy – and not a little comedy in several of the characterisations. But there are no “pure and authentic” folk songs, and certainly no urtext of any. Hence the sometimes startling accompaniments, which initially led to some resistance from those who thought that something pure and authentic was being sullied. In fact the tenor also writes the informative booklet note, and quotes Pears’ opinion that Britten “takes the tune as if he had written it himself and thinks himself back as to how he would turn it into a song (an art-song)”. For me this music can take this approach, for it restores the raw emotional directness that kept it alive through the generations, and for which it was prized and collected initially. For some listeners this might be too much – try, say, the “The Salley Gardens” if you are allergic to a real forte in such pieces. He brings his stage experience into the recital room, deploying all his considerable vocal resource, and eschewing anything precious or mannered that could be considered a ‘folksong style’. There is no sense here of the singer condescending to the music, or treating it as ‘light’. So his approach to these pieces reinforces connections to the major works. Mark Milhofer made his operatic debut as the Madwoman of Curlew River, and has sung various Britten roles on stage including Quint, Novice, Bob Boles and Lysander. They constitute a significant aspect of Britten’s art, as Johnson shows by indicating various links between particular folksongs and Britten’s original cycles and operas. Listening to all this marvellous music over a couple of days makes it clear that these collections, taken together, are more than mere chips from the workbench of a great composer. Whatever its status, it makes a marvellous opening to the first CD here. It was still often mistaken for a folksong (according to Johnson, citing The New Grove Dictionary of American Music). But it was composed by the American John Jacob Niles, developed from a fragment he collected, and he was fiercely protective of it, issuing lawsuits and demanding royalties. It featured often in recitals by Britten and Pears, who thought it too was a traditional song. There was also a minor mystery about the first song on this recital, I wonder as I wander. Graham Johnson, in his invaluable book, Britten, Voice & Piano (2003) calls it “the nearest Britten came to setting a spiritual” (which also explains the hint of a drawl from the southern United States in the voice here). I thought it might be a premiere recording but there is at least one CD of “Old American Songs” that has it, where it is just called ‘traditional’. In fact the very last song in this recording, Dink’s Song, is not even on the Naxos collection. In fact rather more, since some unpublished or posthumously published items are included too. The vocal duties there are undertaken by three singers, Philip Langridge, Felicity Lott, and Thomas Allen.īut the core of this repertoire, and I think the best of it, is found in the five published sets for voice and piano, and that is what we have here. That is certainly very comprehensive, as the involvement of the Britten Estate meant that then unpublished items are included, as are some orchestral versions. There has only been as far as I know one “complete” (a reckless claim in Britten) recorded survey of all this music, issued on three CDs by Collins Classics in 1995, and still available in its Naxos reissue. But most of the arrangements are for voice and piano and became regular features, often as encores, of Britten’s and Pears’ recital programmes. There is also a set from the 1950’s for guitar accompaniment, for the recitals that Pears gave with Julian Bream. By then he was too ill to accompany Pears at the piano, so the final settings were for tenor and harp. 22-24 August 2019 (CD1) & 6-8 August 2020 (CD2), Theater Clitunno, Trevi (PG), Italyīritten first arranged folksongs in the 1940’s during his US sojourn, and continued until the last year of his life. Mark Milhofer (tenor), Marco Scolastra (piano) Support us financially by purchasing this from
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