Sir Edward Elgar (1857-1934)
The Songs
Catherine Wyn-Rogers (mezzo-soprano); Neil Mackie (tenor); Christopher Maltman (baritone)
Malcolm Martineau (piano)
rec. 1999, Southlands College, London.
Texts included
SOMM Recordings SOMMCD0715 [65]
This album of Elgar songs was originally released in CD format as SOMMCD 220. In that version it was reviewed by two of my colleagues. This purpose of this review is to note the reissue of the recording, in digital-only form and with a new catalogue number (as shown above). The reissue has been prompted by the fact that January 2026 marks the 75th anniversary of the establishment of The Elgar Society.
For this reissue, SOMM has commissioned a new booklet essay from Julian Rushton. One thing I learned from his essay is that in addition to his 48 completed songs Elgar left another twenty which were, to varying degrees, unfinished. The fact that Elgar turned to solo song composition nearly seventy times during his career indicates a serious interest in the genre; as Rushton observes, the fact that he left so large a number incomplete suggests a level of self-criticism. He goes on to comment that this composer’s solo songs have attracted a lot of “harsh” criticism: “he is condemned for writing songs for money; his songs, unless orchestrated, are fit for the drawing-room (where songs were often performed); and he did not set great poetry”. Personally, I see no reason to criticise Elgar for trying to earn some money, especially early in his career – a chap has to eat and, in any case, his publishers were keen for him to write songs since these sold well. In addition, I think Elgar’s songs are as well suited to the recital room as to the drawing room. My issue with Elgar’s songs is the often-mediocre quality of the texts he set. I hasten to add that I would also make that criticism of all his choral/orchestral works prior to Gerontius.
On this disc SOMM has collected just under half of Elgar’s published output of songs (the last two items are melodies composed, it is thought by Jerrold Northrop Moore, much earlier in his career and which Elgar thought to use in the uncompleted opera The Spanish Lady, on which he worked on and off between 1929 and 1933). It’s a pretty representative selection from his output in the genre. The songs have been divided up between the three singers: Catherine Wyn-Rogers sings only six songs – I wish she’d had more; Neil Mackie has eight; Christopher Maltman offers nine. It seems to me that the items have been very well matched to the respective voices involved.
I’m not going to comment on each individual song but, rather, I’ll single out a selection of the ones sung by each singer in turn. Catherine Wyn-Rogers kicks off with one of Elgar’s best-known songs, ‘The Shepherd’s Song’. It’s a charming composition, full of innocent energy. Here, it is very well performed by Ms Wyn-Rogers and Malcolm Martineau. A little later, Ms Wyn-Rogers offers one of the two songs to words by A C Benson (who also furnished the text for the Coronation Ode). ‘Speak, Music’. Julian Rushton points out that this song has the most unusual time signature of 15/8, which he rightly describes as a “very rare and restless metre”. Here, the song is excellently communicated. Catherine Wyn-Rogers is also allocated ‘In Moonlight’. The melody will be familiar to everyone who knows the magnificent orchestral work In the South; it’s the ‘Canto popolare’ tune, which suits Shelley’s verse very well. That’s followed by ‘Pleading’, of which Catherine Wyn-Rogers gives a touching performance. Recalling the accusation that Elgar’s songs are fit for the drawing-room, I noticed that Julian Rushton includes an apposite quotation about this song from the distinguished Elgar commentator, Michael Kennedy, who called this song a “superior drawing-room ballad … indeed, very superior!”. With all due respect to Mr Kennedy, I’d argue that it’s the words which might put this item into the drawing-room category; Julian Rushton’s commentary on the song draws attention, rightly, I believe, to Elgar’s compositional skill. Ms Wyn-Rogers’ final contribution is ‘A Child Asleep’. I wasn’t aware until I read what Julian Rushton had to say about this song that Elgar was selective in setting only part of Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s poem. Had he set it in full it would have been clearer that the child in question is dead. In fact, I understand that Elgar dedicated this song to the baby son of the contralto Muriel Foster; I imagine the child was very much alive at the time.
Neil Mackie’s contributions display a bright, ringing tenor. Whilst I admire much of what he does, I had a nagging sense that there was something of an edge to his tone which I didn’t quite care for; others may hear the voice quite differently, of course. There’s no doubting his engagement with songs such as ‘Like to the Damask Rose’. Another of his songs is ‘The Poet’s Life’. What I find interesting about this song is that the poem by Ellen Burroughs consists of three stanzas; each of these is quite lengthy, yet Elgar convincingly sustains an extended melodic line through each verse. There’s more compositional skill on display in ‘In the dawn’. A C Benson’s poem consists of six stanzas and Elgar responds to the poet’s sentiments with a significant key change for verses 3 and 4, followed by another one for verse 5. He returns to the home key just after the start of the final verse. All this, it seems to me, is very perceptive. Mackie has two songs for which the texts are said to be by ‘Pietro d’Alba (from a folksong – Eastern Europe)’. In fact, the author of these texts was Elgar himself. Mackie does the songs well; I particularly admired his delivery of the second song, ‘The River’. This is an ambitious and often dramatic song which Mackie puts across with great conviction.
Among Christopher Maltman’s selections are three songs to poems by Gilbert Parker. Apparently, Elgar planned a set of six Parker songs; whether he did any significant work on the other three settings, I don’t know. ‘Twilight’ is a dark, sad setting. ‘Was it some golden star?’ is, I think, even better. Julian Rushton rightly points out the sophistication of Elgar’s music. I think this song stands out from the crowd; it’s most interesting and Maltman and Martineau do it very well indeed. Maltman also gives us ‘The Pipes of Pan’. Julian Rushton is right to refer to this as a “strange piece” and to describe it as “rather sinister”. The poem by Adrian Ross and Elgar’s musical response to it remind us strongly that there’s definitely a dark side to Pan. Dare I suggest that this song takes us a long way from the drawing room? Maltman is also allocated ‘A Song of Autumn’. Frankly, the poem is of no great distinction but Elgar takes these indifferent verses and transforms them with a fine musical setting. Immediately after it on the programme comes ‘The wind at dawn’. The poem is by Alice Roberts and Elgar set it to music just a few months before he married her. Was he trying to impress her? Certainly, the music is very illustrative and often turbulent. Maltman makes a fine job of this composition, impressing particularly in the passionate second half of the song.
This is an excellent, enlightening joint recital. All three singers make fine contributions and Malcolm Martineau offers all three of them imaginative support. These performances have certainly made me think again about Elgar’s songs.
The recorded sound achieved by engineer Peter Nicholls is very good, as is the documentation.
I see that when these recordings were made support was given by the Elgar Society. It’s very fitting, therefore, that SOMM should re-release this album in digital form to mark the sterling work which the Society has done to promote Elgar’s music over the last 75 years.
Previous reviews (original release): Em Marshall ~ Jonathan Woolf
Contents
The Shepherd’s Song Op 16, No 1 (1892)
Queen Mary’s Song (1887)
Is she not passing fair? (1886)
Rondel Op 16, No 3 (1894)
A Song of Autumn (1892)
The wind at dawn (1887)
Like to the Damask Rose (1892)
Through the long days Op 16, No 2 (1885)
The Poet’s Life (1892)
The Pipes of Pan (1900)
In the dawn Op 41, No 1 (1901)
Speak, Music Op 41, No 2 (1901)
In Moonlight (1904)
Pleading Op 48 (1908)
Oh, soft was the song Op 59, No 3 (1910)
Was it some golden star? Op 59, No 5 (1910)
Twilight Op 59, No 6 (1910)
The Torch Op 60, No 1 (1909-10)
The River Op 60, No 2 (1909-10)
A Child Asleep (1908-09)
Arabian Serenade (1914)
Still to be neat
Modest and Fair
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