Composer: Frank Bridge, Gareth Farr, Roger Quilter, Maurice Ravel, Ralph Vaughan Williams
Performer: Julien Van Mellaerts, James Baillieu, Sofia Castillo, Raphael Wallfisch
Format: FLAC (tracks)
Label: Champs Hill
Catalogue: CHRCD164
Release: 2021
Size: 1.08 GB
Recovery: +3%
Scan: cover
01. Quilter: Go, lovely Rose, Op. 24 No. 3 (Edmund Wailer)
Bridge: Three Songs for voice, viola and piano (H76)
02. I. Far, Far From Each Other
03. II. Where is it That Our Soul Doth Go?
04. III. Music, When Soft Voices Die
05. Quilter: Now sleeps the crimson petal, Op. 3 No. 2 (Tennyson)
Farr: Ornithological Anecdotes
06. I. Dotterel
07. II. Takahē
08. III. Huia
09. IV. Kiwi
10. V. Tūī
Ravel: Trois chansons madécasses
11. I. Nahandove
12. II. Aoua!
13. III. Il est doux
Ravel: Don Quichotte à Dulcinée
14. I. Chanson romanesque
15. II. Chanson épique
16. III. Chanson à boire
Vaughan Williams: Songs of Travel
17. I. The Vagabond
18. II. Let Beauty Awake
19. III. The Roadside Fire
20. IV. Youth and Love
21. V. In Dreams
22. VI. The Infinite Shining Heavens
23. VII. Whither Must I Wander
24. VIII. Bright Is the Ring of Words
25. IX. I Have Trod the Upward and the Downward Slope
For his debut song disc, baritone Julien Van Mellaerts honours his heritage with a selection of New Zealand, British, and French song, recorded with pianist James Baillieu. “I wanted to share where I feel connected to and explore the idea of home and identity through song. Having grown up knowing I was from many places, I feel a strong connection to the protagonist in Vaughan Williams / R. L. Stevenson’s Songs of Travel. I am lucky to call so many beautiful places home, and ultimately, that’s how we settled on the title, Songs of Travel and Home.” — Julien Van Mellaerts.
This recording features Gareth Farr’s song cycle Ornithological Anecdotes, commissioned by Van Mellaerts, Baillieu and Chamber Music New Zealand. Ornithological Anecdotes sets works by New Zealand’s poet laureate Bill Manhire, and is a window into the imagined lives of New Zealand’s vibrant native birds. Another highlight is Frank Bridge’s Three songs for medium voice, viola and piano with fellow New Zealander Bryony Gibson-Cornish, framed by two more of Van Mellaerts’s favourite English songs: Roger Quilter’s Go lovely rose and Now sleeps the crimson petal. Ravel’s exquisite Chansons Made´casses and Don Quichotte a` Dulcine´e complete the recording.