Composer: Ralph Vaughan Williams
Performer: Mark Padmore, Schubert Ensemble
Format: FLAC (tracks)
Label: Chandos
Catalogue: CHAN10465
Release: 2008
Size: 212 MB
Recovery: +3%
Scan: yes
On Wenlock Edge
01. No. 1. On Wenlock Edge
02. No. 2. From far, from eve and morning
03. No. 3. Is my team ploughing?
04. No. 4. Oh, when I was in love with you
05. No. 5. Bredon Hill
06. No. 6. Clun
Piano Quintet in C minor for Violin, Viola, Cello, Double Bass, and Piano
07. I. Allegro con fuoco
08. II. Andante
09. III. Fantasia quasi variazioni: Moderato
Romance & Pastorale for violin & piano
10. Romance
11. Pastorale
On Wenlock Edge is a song cycle for tenor, piano and string quartet, published in 1909, setting six poems from A.E. Housman’s A Shropshire Lad. Although there have been a number of recordings of this song cycle recently, this disc features the remarkable voice of Mark Padmore and uniquely adds the early Piano Quintet in C minor, recently released for performance by the composer’s widow and published in 2002, and also the Romance and Pastorale, two similarly early, brief lyric pieces for violin and piano published in 1923. The Quintet was written for piano, violin, viola, cello and double-bass – as was Schubert’s ‘Trout’ Quintet. It is a wonderful early work, full of passion and melodic invention.
This recording marks the Schubert Ensemble’s debut on Chandos and also its 25th anniversary. The Ensemble has always been at the forefront of British chamber music performance and is now firmly established as one of the world’s leading exponents of music for piano and strings.