Head: Songs – Christopher Glynn Hyperion

1
Dear delight Youngling fair, and dear delight[2’54]Ailish Tynan (soprano)
2
Oh, for a March wind[3’10]Ailish Tynan (soprano)
3
Sweet Chance, that led my steps abroad (No 5 of Songs of the Countryside)[2’21]Ailish Tynan (soprano)
4
Tewkesbury Road It is good to be out on the road[2’53]Roderick Williams (baritone)
5
The Estuary Light, stillness and peace lie on the broad sands (No 6 of Six Poems of Ruth Pitter)[4’14]Roderick Williams (baritone)
6
Limehouse Reach I fell in love with a Limehouse lass (No 2 of Six Sea Songs)[2’35]Roderick Williams (baritone)
Over the rim of the moon[12’03]Ailish Tynan (soprano)
7
The ships of Arcady Thro’ the faintest filigree[3’48]8
Beloved Nothing but sweet music wakes[1’40]9
A blackbird singing[2’45]10
Nocturne The rim of the moon[3’50]11
October Valley Under his feet the furrows run[3’12]Catherine Wyn-Rogers (mezzo-soprano)
12
The Garden Seat Its former green is blue and thin (No 2 of More Songs of the Countryside)[2’19]Catherine Wyn-Rogers (mezzo-soprano)
13
Foxgloves The foxglove bells, with lolling tongue (No 1 of More Songs of the Countryside)[2’42]Ailish Tynan (soprano)
14
The Viper Barefoot I went and made no sound (No 2 of Six Poems of Ruth Pitter)[2’24]Roderick Williams (baritone)
15
Had I a golden pound[1’56]Ailish Tynan (soprano)
16
Lean out of the window[2’25]Roderick Williams (baritone)
17
A Piper[1’25]Catherine Wyn-Rogers (mezzo-soprano)
18
A Green Cornfield The earth was green, the sky was blue[2’18]Ailish Tynan (soprano)
19
Love’s Lament Why were you born when the snow was falling?[3’15]Catherine Wyn-Rogers (mezzo-soprano)
20
Star Candles The sun’s in his cradle[2’30]Ailish Tynan (soprano)
21
The little road to Bethlehem As I walked down the road at set of sun[2’44]Catherine Wyn-Rogers (mezzo-soprano)
22
Money, O! When I had money, money, O! (No 6 of Songs of the Countryside)[2’06]Roderick Williams (baritone)
Three Songs of Venice[11’01]Catherine Wyn-Rogers (mezzo-soprano)
23
The Gondolier Dark, he moves from shade to sun[5’09]24
St Mark’s Square A shower of pigeons arch over the rooftops[2’26]25
Rain storm Last night, a storm of rain[3’26]26
My sword for the King Farewell to the feasting[2’18]Roderick Williams (baritone)
27
You cannot dream things lovelier[2’32]Roderick Williams (baritone)

Who is Michael Head? His name may be largely forgotten but the music here forms part of the rich seam of English song in the manner of Quilter, Gurney and Warlock. Born in 1900, he worked modestly as a singer, pianist, teacher, broadcaster and adjudicator, writing his first song (The ships of Arcady) aged nineteen, studying at the Royal Academy of Music, where he became a professor of piano aged twenty-seven, remaining there for the rest of his career.

At the centre of his composing life were songs, which he used to perform as a kind of one-man band, accompanying himself at the piano. Out of more than 100, here’s a choice selection: setting poets such as Walter de la Mare, John Masefield and Christina Rossetti, many of them focus on the pleasures of England—its flora and fauna, its changing seasons and lyrical landscapes.

They’re sung by three of the brightest stars in today’s vocal firmament, Ailish Tynan (making her Hyperion debut), Catherine Wyn-Rogers and Roderick Williams, accompanied by Christopher Glynn, who adds Head to his previous recordings of Reger and Brahms.