Songs of Travel by Ralph Vaughan Williams:
- The Vagabond
- Let Beauty Awake
- The Roadside Fire
- Youth and Love
- In Dreams
- The Infinite Shining Heavens
- Whither Must I Wander
- Bright is the Ring of Words
- I Have Trod the Upward and the Downward Slope
Christian Nova: baritone
Frank Garvey: piano
Ralph Vaughan Williams is one of my favourite composers and his Songs of Travel is one of those evergreen works which you return to time and time again. The interpretation by Christian Nova and Frank Garvey was particularly enticing with the diverse imagery of the songs coming across very directly and ravishingly. For me the highlight of the whole cycle must be the fifth song titled ‘In Dreams’ where Nova sang with an incredible feeling for the text and whose penchant for the music was particularly immense. I was also very much taken with the song ‘Whither Must I Wander’, a beautiful work which demonstrates Vaughan William’s intrinsic love of travel and the vast open spaces of the beyond. Nova managed to convey the anguished feel of the music which is full of allusions to Vaughan Williams’ own youthful adventures and tendencies to explaore. I was also very much taken with Frank Garvey’s piano playing which although forceful in places was never intrusive and added character to songs such as ‘The Vagabond’ and ‘Let Beauty Awake’, the latter one being characteristically full of romantic inflexions and poetic capability. All in all, this was a hugely satisfying performance from both artists who brought a certain romantic nostalgia to proceedings.
Samuel Barber: Hermit Songs
- "At St Patrick’s Purgatory" (translated by Seán Ó Faoláin)
- "Church Bell at Night" (translated by Howard Mumford Jones)
- "St Ita’s Vision" (translated by Chester Kallman)
- "The Heavenly Banquet" (translated by Seán Ó Faoláin)
- "The Crucifixion" (translated by Howard Mumford Jones)
- "Sea Snatch" (translated by Kenneth Jackson)
- "Promiscuity" (translated by Kenneth Jackson)
- "The Monk and his Cat" (translated by W.H. Auden)
- "The Praises of God" (translated by W.H. Auden)
- "The Desire for Hermitage" (translated by Seán Ó Faoláin)
The second work on the programme was the aptly titled Hermit Songs by the American composer Samuel Barber. These are a collection of songs written by Irish monks and hermits dating from before the eighth century BC and translated by several renowned Irish poets amongst whom one may find WH Auden and Kenneth Jackson. Nova and Garvey attacked the songs with their renowbed alacrity and the partnership was very focused and full of extremely intriguing foibles. The Auden songs were given particular character especially ‘The Monk and His Cat’ which focuses intrinsically on the relationship between man and his animal friend. The music is occasionally gloomy and depicts the vast spaces of the Irish landscape in their intensity, something which Barber held a special affinity for. ‘The Desire for Hermitage’ is another song which showed off Nova and Garvey at their absolutely brilliant best with the former really getting under the skin of the songs. ‘Church Bell at Knight’ was also full of mystery and romantic inflexions showing off the quite impressive range of Nova’s voice. In my mind I was comparing the baritone voice with the original soprano version which was premiered in 1953 with Leontyne Price and the composer himself conducting the orchestra. Although the piano is a slightly restricted instrument for these colourful songs, Garvey was very much involved in the poetic tones pictures of the work as a whole. The Jackson translations, particularly ‘Sea Snatch’s also revealed a certain sense of inner waste and beauty which was undoubtedly reflected in Nova’s quite brilliant singing. This was certainly a performance to be reckoned with and ended the concert on a very high note.
