Leighton & Britten/ James Gilchrist
Reviews
Romain
Reviewed 2011-10-24
Reviewed 2011-10-24
Wonderfully executed artsong with aptly partnered piano playing. Gilchrist's voice isn't going to be everyone's cup of tea, but his expressive range is impressive. He alternately sings different parts of his range as different characters, or as a broad continuum of the same character.
Leighton (pronounce as "lay-ton"). Expressive atonality.
Prose and poetry of Gerard Manley Hopkins, except for 1.
Text: http://www.schirmer.com/default.aspx?TabId=2420&State_2874=2&workId_2874=1278
1. Long piano intro. Dark, mysterious.
2. Headlong flight; turbulent piano.
3. Subdued winter imagery; twinkly piano.
4. Implacable turmoil.
5. Slow Schoenberg-esque melody, piano notes sprinkled like pebbles.
6. Jaunty, whirling; perpetual motion piano. Segue to next track!
7. Slow, merging into the distance.
Thomas Hardy poetry around "the fleetingness of experience".
some songs with clashing modern harmonies.
8. Barren winter landscape.
9. Bored boy stuck on a train.
10. (Wagtail = bird). Mercurial, fast and slow episodes.
11. Musical portrait of furniture.
12. A ghost story.
13. Energetic birdsong
14. Humorous, improbable meeting
15. Crooning meditation that grows into outburst.
Leighton (pronounce as "lay-ton"). Expressive atonality.
Prose and poetry of Gerard Manley Hopkins, except for 1.
Text: http://www.schirmer.com/default.aspx?TabId=2420&State_2874=2&workId_2874=1278
1. Long piano intro. Dark, mysterious.
2. Headlong flight; turbulent piano.
3. Subdued winter imagery; twinkly piano.
4. Implacable turmoil.
5. Slow Schoenberg-esque melody, piano notes sprinkled like pebbles.
6. Jaunty, whirling; perpetual motion piano. Segue to next track!
7. Slow, merging into the distance.
Thomas Hardy poetry around "the fleetingness of experience".
some songs with clashing modern harmonies.
8. Barren winter landscape.
9. Bored boy stuck on a train.
10. (Wagtail = bird). Mercurial, fast and slow episodes.
11. Musical portrait of furniture.
12. A ghost story.
13. Energetic birdsong
14. Humorous, improbable meeting
15. Crooning meditation that grows into outburst.
Track listing
| 1. | I. Prelude | ||
| 2. | Ii. Inversnaid | ||
| 3. | Iii. Contemplation - In The Snow | ||
| 4. | Iv. The Ashtree | ||
| 5. | V. Binsey Poplars | ||
| 6. | Vi. Hurrahing In Harvest | ||
| 7. | Vii. Ribblesdale | ||
| 8. | I. At Day-Close In November | ||
| 9. | Ii. Midnight On The Great Western | ||
| 10. | Iii. Wagtail And Baby | ||
| 11. | Iv. The Little Old Table | ||
| 12. | V. The Choirmaster's Burial | ||
| 13. | Vi. Proud Songsters | ||
| 14. | Vii. At The Railway Station, Upway | ||
| 15. | Viii. Before Life And After |