Ralph Vaughan Williams: Serenade to Music - exploring the sixteen singers chosen for the first performance; Isobel Baillie, Elise Suddaby, Eva Turner, Stiles-Allen, Muriel Brunskill, Astra Desmond, Margaret Balfour, Mary Jarrod, Walter Widdop, Parry Jones, Frank Titterson, Heddle Nash, Roy Henderson, Robert Easton, Harold Williams, Norman Allin, Keith Falkner; Albion Records
Reviewed 2 April 2024
A remastering of the iconic 1938 recording along with a solo track from each of the sixteen soloists (plus one extra) providing a wondrous snapshot of British singing in the 1930s
Ralph Vaughan Williams' Serenade to Music has become rightly become iconic and on this disc from Albion Records the original 1938 recording is explored from a different angle. We hear that original recording with Isobel Baillie, Elise Suddaby, Eva Turner, Stiles-Allen, Muriel Brunskill, Astra Desmond, Margaret Balfour, Mary Jarrod, Walter Widdop, Parry Jones, Frank Titterson, Heddle Nash, Roy Henderson, Robert Easton, Harold Williams, and Norman Allin conducted by Sir Henry Wood with the BBC Symphony Orchestra, but we also hear from each of the singers individually. RVW's piece was predicated on writing sixteen solo lines, each one suitable for its allocated singer, so here we can hear the individuals. There is one extra track, Keith Falkner who was unavailable for the original recording.
All the singers had a long association with Sir Henry Wood and the premiere of Serenade to Music took place on 5 October 1938 at the Queen's Hall, and the programme included not only RVW's piece but Rachmaninoff as the soloist in his Piano Concerto No. 2. Ten days later, the singers reassembled at Abbey Road Studios to record the work. It would not be the last time that they performed the work. Isobel Baillie in her autobiography records a post-war performance with the original singers, with Baillie joking about the strain on the stage as all were significantly heavier than they had been in 1938!
The selection of solo numbers is, to an extent, idiosyncratic. The selection was made from the collection sof Stephen Connock and the late Donald Mitchell which means that for a singer like (Lillian) Stiles-Allen there was only one possible choice. The selection is also limited by the idiosyncratic choice of repertoire for British singers of this period. Baillie, again, in her autobiography talks about them not being the first choice for record companies and when the economic going got tough in the later 1930s, the British singers were dropped so there is a significant gap in Baillie's recorded output, whilst Walter Widdop's operatic recording career virtually stopped after the later 1930s.
We have a selection of apposite operatic recordings, Eva Turner in 'Vissi d'arte' from Puccini's Tosca, Stiles-Allen in 'Santuzza's song' from Mascagni's Cavalleria Rusticana, Frank Titterton and Heddle Nash in the duet, 'Ah, Mimi, tu piu non torni' from Puccini's La Boheme, Robert Easton and Heddle Nash in the duet 'Heavenly Vision' from Gounod's Faust, and Harold Williams in the Prologue from Leoncavallo's Pagliacci, as well as Margaret Balfour in the Angel's Farewell from Elgar's The Dream of Gerontius conducted by the composer.
The remainder are song repertoire that veers between Victorian charm and the more contemporary, Isobel Baillie in the Bach-Gounod Ave Maria, Elsie Suddaby in Somervell's Shepherd's Cradle Song, Muriel Brunskill in Bantock's Serenade, Astra Desmond in the traditional Mull Fisher's Love Song, Mary Jarred in Parry's England, Walter Widdop in Woodforde-Finden's A Request, Parry Jones in Warlock's There is a lady sweet and kind, Heddle Nash in Linden Lea, Norman Allin in Silent Noon, and Keith Falkner in Butterworth's Is my team ploughing.
Some tracks are real highlights, demonstrating just why that particular singer was notable. The opening track might only be Gounod's take on Bach but Isobel Baillie is never louder than lovely and the purity of her upper register (notable for the lack of vibrato) demonstrate why she got the the final note in Serenade to Music. Eva Turner's 'Vissi d'arte' also demonstrates her laser-like clarity, and also highlights one of the problems with RVW's piece. It was written for singers from a particular period, with a particular type of vocal production, well before the post-war, post-Callas equating of bigness of sound with vibrato, and many of the singers have that laser like clarity. It is also worth bearing in mind that all the singers on this disc, whatever their chosen repertoire, made a living by singing oratorio, whatever size and type the voice, the regular Messiahs, Elijahs and such were the bread and butter. It is this, I think, that contributes to their distinctive sound.
Another rarity is Margaret Balfour, who in the Angel's Farewell recorded in 1927, demonstrates a true contralto. If we might regret the missed opportunity for hearing Walter Widdop in something dramatic, his account of Woodeforde-Finden's A Request demonstrates the way he can focus his voice down and sing with poise and superb diction (despite having Siegfried in his repertoire). And the same might be said of Parry Jones in Warlock's There is a lady sweet and kind. The RVW songs are gems, Heddle Nash's Linden Lea is masterful complete with the sort of diction that he was known for, whilst Norman Allin's Silent Noon combines ruggedness with an ability to conjure the song aptly. There are two Butterworth songs, Roy Henderson is touching if rather period in Loveliest of Trees, and Keith Falkner's rather wonderful Is my team ploughing with Gerald Moore at the piano.
Frank Titterton and Roy Henderson's duet from La Boheme is notable partly for being recorded in the original language rather than English, and has a vividness to it despite a certain stiffness of English delivery. Robert Easton and Heddle Nash's duet from Faust is in English, conducted by Sir Thomas Beecham, and is most notable for Easton's vivid, tight-vibrato-laden voice that makes his contribution to Serenade to Music so noticeable. Harold William's account of the Prologue from Pagliacci uses the British National Opera Company's orchestra, conducted by Eugene Goosens. In English and vividly period, but terrific all the same.
And Serenade to Music itself? It has been wonderfully remastered and the performance remains pure, unrepeatable magic, capturing a moment in time, that never fails to bring a tingle to the back of the neck.
Ralph Vaughan Williams: Serenade to Music - exploring the sixteen singers chosen for the first performance
Isobel Baillie, Elise Suddaby, Eva Turner, Stiles-Allen, Muriel Brunskill, Astra Desmond, Margaret Balfour, Mary Jarrod, Walter Widdop, Parry Jones, Frank Titterson, Heddle Nash, Roy Henderson, Robert Easton, Harold Williams, Norman Allin, Keith Falkner
Albion Records ALBCD059 1CD [74.34]
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