I Have Lived And Loved Vaughan Williams and Friends

RVW Songs of Travel; Songs from the Operas; Peggy Glanville-Hicks Come Sleep; 'How Soon Will All My Lovely Days Be Over’ from Sappho; John Raynor Down by the River; Percy Grainger Bold William Taylor; Weaving Song; Died for Love; Dedication II; Fair Young Mary; A Reiver’s Neck-Verse; Under a Bridge; Hubby and Wifey; Up-Country Song;

Kathryn Rudge mezzo-soprano, Alessandro Fisher tenor, Penelope Thwaites piano.

Albion Records ALBCD066
https://albionrecords.org/

Whilst the album includes rarely heard repertoire and several first recordings, I make no apology for beginning with Vaughan Williams's popular Songs of Travel. Many of these songs have been sung by women since the cycle's 1904 appearance, and when Vaughan Williams orchestrated some, the 1910 premiere was given by Ada Crossley under Henry Wood. Dame Janet Baker, amongst others, has recorded individual songs, but the present release marks the first complete recording by a woman. Kathryn Rudge does them justice.

The album's title comes from the final song, discovered only after the composer's 1958 death: "I have trod the upward and the downward slope; I have endured and done in days before; I have longed for all, and bid farewell to hope; and I have lived and loved, and closed the door."

Alessandro Fisher's rich, magnificent tenor brings welcome contrast in three operatic songs. The recital ventures into less familiar territory with two songs each from Vaughan Williams's pupil Peggy Glanville-Hicks and his friend John Raynor, concluding with nine by Percy Grainger. Penelope Thwaites, a Grainger specialist, worked closely with the two singers on these fresh realisations. The final track, Grainger's Up-Country Song (originally Colonial Song), featuring Kathryn and Alessandro in a wordless duet, proves the finest—its carefully crafted ending carries real emotional weight.

Soprano Kathryn Rudge delivers a scholarly performance with superb diction, accompanied sensitively by Thwaites. There's something endearing about this duo's ability to capture each song's personality. Fisher makes an equally impressive impact, his voice's tone and timbre drawing one irresistibly into his performances.

Throughout Penelope Thwaites’s accompaniments are excellent with delightful thoughtfulness.

There's much to admire on this Albion release.