At least outside Britain, Edward Elgar is sometimes stereotyped as a composer of ponderous orchestral and choral scores, as well as of the patriotic Pomp and Circumstance. His songs, not an often exposed part of his output, reveal him as an often fine melodist. The Op. 59 set of orchestral songs that opens the album is consistently strong, and you can sample "The Wind at Dawn," which started life as a song for voice and piano, for an idea of the whole. There is a patriotic march tune, Follow the Colours, and a whole CD ...
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At least outside Britain, Edward Elgar is sometimes stereotyped as a composer of ponderous orchestral and choral scores, as well as of the patriotic Pomp and Circumstance. His songs, not an often exposed part of his output, reveal him as an often fine melodist. The Op. 59 set of orchestral songs that opens the album is consistently strong, and you can sample "The Wind at Dawn," which started life as a song for voice and piano, for an idea of the whole. There is a patriotic march tune, Follow the Colours, and a whole CD devoted to Elgar's early songs for voice and piano. These are rather unfairly downgraded by Somm as a "bonus CD"; they are not exactly mature works, but they should be of great interest to anyone intrigued by Elgar's unusual musical training, which included a stint as a band director at an insane asylum. A few other singers have approached this material with success: baritone Roderick Williams pairs some of the songs with the tone poem Falstaff. But here, mezzo-soprano Kathryn Rudge and...
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