Such Stuff As Dreams Are Made On
The King’s Singers
Victoria Meteyard (soprano), Grace Davidson (soprano)
rec. 2024, St Nicholas’ Church, Kemerton, UK
Sung texts, English translations of the non-English songs
Signum Classics SIGCD887 [63]

“Such stuff as dreams are made on is an exploration of European choral music from the early 20th century (and a bit either side), much of it shaped and scarred by the spectre of conflicts that dominated the continent in that period.”

This themed anthology of song consists of just over an hour of mostly short pieces, recorded in impeccable sound and enjoying the welcome bonus of the provision in the booklet of all the texts of songs in four languages with English translations; this adds enormously to the listener’s pleasure in and appreciation of them (There is a minor misprint in the penultimate line of the text of the second song: a “que” is missing – but sung.) In addition to acknowledging the homogeneity, faultless intonation and beauty of tone of the singing, I must commend the King’s Singers’ linguistic facility – although not speaking Swedish, I will take the authenticity of their diction on trust.

The selection is felicitous, combining little choral gems by French, English, Swedish and Austro-German composers of note. Any hint of monotony is avoided by both the ordering of the numbers and their stylistic and textual variety, as may be illustrated by the way we move from the comforting, homely charm of Brahms’ Vineta to the agreeably weird harmonic adventurousness of Vaughan Williams’ Full Fathom Five, the first of three songs using lyrics lifted from The Tempest and A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Good as the whole recital album is, for me the highlights are those captivating RVW songs; the first two so effectively capture the otherworldliness of Shakespeare’s most enigmatic play in equally enigmatic music, while the third, Over hill, over dale,  is – well, suitably Puckish. The pure upper line secured by the addition of two sopranos for just those three Shakespeare songs adds another vocal colour and texture and of course, as the notes explain, enables the tessitura of the songs to be properly encompassed.

I doubt whether any listener will be familiar with every song here; I certainly was not and for many they will be revelatory. There are many surprises, such as how both Saint-Saëns and Debussy reached back to the 15C for inspiration, the former to Italy, while the latter sought consolation and refuge from then current miseries by setting patriotic, seasonal and courtly love texts by Charles, Duc d’Orléans to characteristically angular and poignant music. However, with regard to Saint-Saëns’ Saltarelle, I should point out that the English translation of Émile Deschamps’ poem replicates a mistake made by several distinguished conductors such as Karajan who assumed that the “tambourin” in the instrumentation of Bizet’s score for L’Arlésienne was a tambourine, when in fact it is a Provençal drum – though the skilful way the King’s Singers use their voices to mimic drumming in Debussy’s Quand j’ay ouy le tabourin (the “m” dropped in Old French) and Saltarelle suggests that they were well aware of that.

After the “scampering 6/8 rhythms” (notes) of Saltarelle, a sombre mood is reestablished with three songs by Elgar. While we know him to have been a man of dark moods, their bleak melancholy is still striking  – especially Owls, with its repeated, nihilistic refrain of “Nothing”, followed by Byron’s lament for lost love. The mood is somewhat lifted with a trio of Ravel songs, even if the first is a sarcastic little tale of fallen virtue, the second one of “love gone to the war” and the third, the tripping Ronde, warning of the supernatural dangers lurking in the Ormonde forest. The singers’ verbal dexterity in the tricksy, fast-paced French of the latter  is particularly admirable. Next come two songs from the Mendelssohns, sister Fanny and brother Felix: hers “a tranquil evening hymn” (as per Clive Paget’s helpful notes) and his an item which is probably the most familiar here: a setting of Psalm 121 to music sung by the three angels in Elijah. (For some reason, that German text is not provided.)

The three Swedish folk songs set by Hugo Alfvén are absolutely charming, the first two suffused with a lilting, melodic vivacity, the third another serene evening hymn in which the upper voices cleverly imitate brass instruments – a novel and entirely apt effect.

We return to Vaughan Williams for his setting of a favourite passage from Bunyan’s The Pilgrim’s Progress, very redolent of High Anglican psalmody, here an anthem but first on a reduced, intimate scale, then ending triumphantly in bold harmonised chords.

The final track, the hymn, Be still, my soul, to the melody Sibelius lifted from Finlandia, is a personal favourite and one of the most beautiful tunes ever written; the first stanza is delivered simply without affectation, allowing the lovely tune to hang weightless in the air; the second is ornamented with descant and drone, then the third and final verse defaults to the simpler mode and concludes serenely. The purity of the two countertenors’ contribution is especially moving.

Sometimes the idea of a “themed” compilation can seem stretched, overworked or even gimmicky; that is certainly not the case here: this release is both aesthetically and intellectually entirely successful and satisfying, performed by a vocal ensemble at the top of its game.

Ralph Moore

Buying this recording via a link below generates revenue for MWI, which helps the site remain free.

Contents
Reger: Nachtlied, Op. 138, No. 3
Debussy: Trois chansons de Charles d’Orléans
I. Dieu! Qui l’a fait bon regarder
II. Quant j’ai ouy le tabourin
III. Yver, vous n’estes qu’un villain
Schubert: Flucht, D825b
Brahms: Vineta, Op. 42 No. 2
Vaughan Williams: Three Shakespeare Songs
Grace Davidson (soprano), Victoria Meteyard (soprano)
I. Full fathom five
II. The cloud-capp’d towers
III. Over hill, over dale
Saint-Saëns: Saltarelle Op. 74
Elgar: Death on the Hills, Op. 72
Excerpt, Elgar: Four Part-songs Op. 53
No. 2, Owls
No. 3, Deep in my soul
Ravel: Trois chansons, M69
I. Nicolette
II. Trois beaux oiseaux du Paradis
III. Ronde
Mendelssohn, Fanny: Gartenlieder, Op. 3: No. 3, Abendlich schon rauscht der Wald
Mendelssohn, Felix: Hebe deine Augen auf zu den Bergen
Alfvén: Uti vår hage (Text: Folk-song from Gotland)
Alfvén: Och jungfrun hon går i ringen (Text: Swedish Dance)
Alfvén: Aftonen
Vaughan Williams: Valiant-for-Truth
Sibelius: Be still, my soul (Finlandia, Op. 26) [Arr. for vocal ensemble by Nick Ashby]