Ivor Gurney (1890-1937)
Songs Volume 2
Marcus Farnsworth (baritone)
Eric McElroy (piano)
rec. 2024, The Tythe Barn at Hellens Manor, Much Marcle, UK
Texts included
English Song Series Vol. 24
Naxos 8.574599 [71]
This disc was released in October 2024. For some unaccountable reason, I missed it then but have just got my hands on a copy. The disc is the latest addition to Naxos’s valuable English Song Series and it complements an earlier volume of Gurney songs which I reviewed back in 2013. The artists on that earlier disc were the mezzo-soprano Susan Bickley with pianist Iain Burnside. Ms Bickley offered 30 songs and Gurney collectors will be delighted to learn that there is virtually no overlap between the two programmes. ‘Sleep’ features on the Bickley disc (as part of a performance of the complete Five Elizabethan Songs) and the only other item in common is Snow, though, as we shall see, that’s not a straight duplication.
On this new disc Marcus Farnsworth and Eric McElroy perform 26 songs; remarkably, no fewer than 14 of them are receiving their first recording. Actually, an additional song also falls into that category because Snow is recorded for the first time in “the corrected version”. I’m not in a position to say how significant the differences are between the Bickley and Farnsworth performances just by listening to them because I haven’t seen a score of either. Before we leave statistics, it’s worth noting that, if I read the credits correctly in the Naxos booklet, only seven of the songs which Marcus Farnsworth sings are published; all the rest are sourced from the composer’s manuscripts.
I think I’ll deal first with the more familiar songs which have been recorded previously before addressing those making their recorded debut. It’s appropriate to say that if I don’t specifically mention any individual songs in either category that does not imply that either the songs or performances in question are inferior to the rest; such is not the case in what is, in all respects a very even recital.
Among the previously recorded songs are some of Gurney’s finest compositions in the genre. Farnsworth and McElroy commence with Down by the Salley Gardens. ‘She bid me take life easy’ is a phrase from the poem and it could be a metaphor for Farnsworth’s delivery, which flows in an easy, even fashion, the line scrupulously controlled. Gurney’s melodic lines fit the words like a glove. I’ve loved this song ever since I first heard it and I really enjoyed this performance. A little later, we hear Severn Meadows. This is one of the very few examples of Gurney setting his own poetry (though another example appears much later in the programme). This is, in my opinion, not only one of Gurney’s greatest songs; it’s one of the greatest in the entire genre of English song. The aching melancholy of the words and the way in which Gurney sets them are deeply moving. Farnsworth and McElroy give an ideal performance. If anything, though, ‘Sleep’ is finer still; for one thing, it stands above its companions in the set of Five Elizabethan Songs; furthermore, it’s one of the most perfect responses to a text that Gurney ever fashioned. Farnworth sings it in a most poetic fashion and McElroy’s pianism is extremely sensitive. For me, a touchstone in any performance is the way in which the pianist handles the magical transition between the two stanzas of John Fletcher’s poem; McElroy is exemplary here, as he is throughout the song; I particularly admire the subtle way he weights the left-hand chords from start to finish.
The Fields are Full is a lovely, nostalgic song; both the music and this performance have a seamless flow. Though Tarantella has been recorded before I can’t recall hearing it previously. The poem is by Hilaire Belloc. At first, both the poem and Gurney’s music are quite outgoing but towards the end (starting at ‘Never more, Miranda’) the mood of the poem switches to one of sorrowful introspection; in his music, Gurney matches this change with great understanding. Much better known, I think, is The Twa Corbies. This is setting of a traditional Borders ballad (for which Farnsworth convincingly adopts what I take to be a Borders accent). The story is graphically sinister and Gurney’s dark music suits the words very well. Farnsworth and McElroy really tell the story; theirs is an arresting performance. Before leaving the songs which have been previously recorded, I should mention one more. The programme ends with Western Sailors, which affords our second example of Gurney setting his own words. In his notes, Philip Lancaster suggests that this was the last song that Gurney composed; it dates from 1926. How fitting, then, that the words he selected were a tribute to his beloved River Severn. One thing that fascinates me about the poem is Gurney’s references to how sailors, having been borne out to sea on the river, eventually fetch up in the USA, in places such as Boston and Baltimore which Gurney never visited. It’s moving that he should imagine the Severn leading sailors, eventually, to such far-flung places.
The attention of Gurney enthusiasts is bound to be drawn to those songs that have never been previously recorded. I have to say at the outset that, such is the quality of many of these songs, I’m astonished that they have only received a first recording one hundred years or more after Gurney wrote them. It has to be acknowledged that the fact that the previously unrecorded songs are unpublished has not helped their cause but, having said that, it seems that neither The Twa Corbies nor Western Sailors have been published, yet those songs have achieved a recording.
Gurney’s response to Edward Thomas’s celebrated poem Adlestrop is a significant discovery. The melody fits the speech rhythms of the poem really well and overall, this is an excellent setting. In Memoriam (Easter 1915) is another Thomas setting. The poem is a brief, melancholy reflection on the war dead. Gurney’s music is subdued but intense. Both poet and composer say a lot in just four lines. The Lake Isle of Innisfree is a fine, intense setting of lines by W B Yeats; here, it receives an eloquent performance. Earlier, I mentioned Snow, which is another setting of Edward Thomas. The poem is a sad piece of writing which Gurney set with eloquent restraint.
Echo’s Lament of Narcissus takes a poem by Ben Jonson. The resulting song is full of emotion and introspection. Kennst du das Land? is, perhaps, not particularly notable as a setting of Goethe’s lines but the background is interesting. I’m not aware of another Gurney song that uses a German poem. Philip Lancaster says that the text was probably set by Stanford as an exercise in word-setting for his pupils at the Royal College of Music in around 1914. Lancaster suggests, quite plausibly, that it may have been this very setting which, after Stanford had pencilled in some corrections, led Gurney to exclaim “Well, Sir Charles, I see you’ve jigged the whole show” and storm out of his lesson with the senior composer. Though Naxos print all three stanzas of Goethe’s poem, Gurney actually only set the first stanza and then the last three lines of the third. The setting is rather dark and inward-looking and contains little of the overt passion of Wolf’s celebrated song. Nonetheless, it’s interesting to hear what Gurney made of the poem.
In Since thou, O fondest and truest, one of the earliest songs in this collection, Gurney takes a poem by Robert Bridges and produces an essentially strophic setting (the third of the four stanzas is given a varied treatment). What I like about this song is the noble melody which forms the basis of Gurney’s setting. Come away, death has been set by countless composers. Unsurprisingly, Gurney’s take on Shakespeare’s lines is very introspective. I think his is a significant setting of this often-set text. The penultimate song on the programme is World Strangeness, a setting of a poem by William Watson (1858-1935). By the time Gurney wrote this song he had been confined for some three years in the mental hospital where he was to see out his days. Watson’s poem itself is, as the title suggests, strange in nature and so is the music to which Gurney set it. As Philip Lancaster observes, the song “captures something of the strangeness of the surroundings in which Gurney now found himself”. I have to say, I found it haunting. The song is quite hard to grasp and one has the impression that at the very end the music rather peters out.
This is a compelling disc. The more familiar of Gurney’s songs all receive performances which are, without exception, first rate. Dare I say, though, that the real value of this release lies in the opportunity to experience on CD for the first time a considerable number of songs by Ivor Gurney which are likely to be unknown to most listeners. This makes the disc a significant addition to the discography of English song. One wonders how many more Gurney songs lie unrecorded and, therefore, not widely known. Marcus Farnsworth and Eric McElroy are ideal advocates for the songs which are new to disc – as, indeed, they are for the better-known items. Farnsworth’s singing is excellent, His voice is evenly and clearly produced throughout its compass and he shows a fine sense of musical line. His diction is crystal clear. Eric McElroy gives him terrific support from the piano; clearly, he has an intuitive understanding of this music – as Farnsworth does – and he plays with an expert, refined touch.
The production values of this release are high. Perhaps that’s no surprise given that the Producers are both notable musicians in their own right: Adrian Lucas, the former Director of Music at Worcester Cathedral, and the composer Ian Venables. Lucas was also responsible for the engineering. He’s done a fine job; both the voice and piano are clearly and well recorded and an excellent balance has been achieved between the two artists. Philip Lancaster’s booklet essay is insightful and informative.
Admirers of Ivor Gurney’s music and of English song in general should hasten to acquire this important release.
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Contents
Down by the Salley Gardens (1920)
The Fields are Full (c 1921)
Adlestrop* (1921)
Hawk and Buckle (1921)
In Memoriam (Easter 1915)* (1921)
Voices of Women* (c 1924)
The Lake Isle of Innisfree* (1918)
The Halt of the Legion* (1918)
Severn Meadows (1917)
Blaweary (1920)
Sleep (from Five Elizabethan Songs, 1914)
Red Roses (1918)
Snow (1921) (First recording of corrected version)
The Lawlands of Holland* (First setting) (1918)
Tarantella (1921)
The Twa Corbies (1914, rev, 1915)
Echo’s Lament of Narcissus* (c 1921)
The Ghost (1920)
Kennst du das Land?* (c 1914)
There’s Wisdom in Women* (from Five Songs of Rupert Brooke, 1921)
The Mugger’s Song* (1920)
Since thou, O fondest and truest* (1908? rev. 1925)
The sea is full of wandering foam* (1908)
Come away, death (1920)
World Strangeness* (1925)
Western Sailors (1926)
* First recording
