The Complete Songs Of Virgil Thomson for voice and piano
Liner Notes   Cat. No. 80775     Release Date: 2016-09-01

The Florestan Recital Project: Sarah Pelletier, soprano; Lynne McMurtry, contralto; William Hite, tenor; Aaron Engebreth, baritone; Alison d’Amato, pianist; Linda Osborn, pianist; John McDonald, percussionist

These discs offer the most complete recorded collection of works for voice and piano of Virgil Thomson (1896-1989), one of the most important American composers of the twentieth century. Thomson wrote songs throughout his career and they offer a unique window into his changing musical concerns and his compositional evolution. Since this recording includes works previously unpublished and unrecorded, several of which are substantial in themselves and important to his development as a composer, it makes possible a more complete understanding of his work.

Thomson wrote that the great song composers-Schubert, Schumann, Brahms, Wolf, Mahler, Faure, Debussy, Duparc, Ravel, and Poulenc-accomplished their miracles through their ability to make the music "not only of equal quality with the verse but also its mate. It gets inside a poem and stays there, intertwined unforgettably, never to be thought of henceforth as not a part of the whole idea."

He contrasted these works with the songs of Purcell, which he thought, although very beautiful and expertly done, nonetheless did not fuse the music and text-the music was merely "decorative." Thomson's songs run the gamut of his classification. If one sets out to set words to music in a way that deliberately avoids interpreting or illustrating them, one probably sets up a situation where the music and words are separable. So the early Stein settings, the Shakespeare Songs, and the Old English Songs may (or may not) be very beautifully and elegantly decorative, but it is difficult not to think of the music of Mostly About Love or Praises and Prayers, or the Blake Songs as anything other than an inseparable part of the whole. There the music gets right inside of the words, and right inside of us.

Disc 1 Vernal Equinox (1920, unpublished), Ah, Sunflower! (1920, unpublished), Susie Asado (1926), Preciosilla (1927), Five Songs from William Blake (1951), Portrait of F.B. (Frances Blood) (1929), La Valse Grégorienne (1927), Film: Deux soeurs qui ne sont pas soeurs (1930), The Tiger (1926), Le Berceau de Gertrude Stein ou Le Mystère de la rue de Fleurus (1928), Les Soirées bagnolaises (1928, unpublished), La Belle en dormant (1931), Trois Poèmes de la Duchesse de Rohan (1928, #1 unpublished), Air de Phèdre (1930), Commentaire sur Saint Jérome (1928, unpublished), Le Singe et le Léopard (1930)

Disc 2 1. At the Spring (1955), Dirge (1939), Shakespeare Songs (1957), Consider, Lord (1955), The Bell Doth Toll (1955),Remember Adam’s Fall (1955), John Peel (1955), Look, How the Floor of Heaven (1955), If Thou a Reason Dost Desire to Know (1955-58), Praises and Prayers (1963), Three Sentences of Solomon (1924, unpublished), Five Phrases from the Song of Solomon (1926), Oraison funèbre de Henriette-Marie de France, Reine de la Grande-Bretagne (1930/34, unpublished), Mass for Solo Voice (1960)

Disc 3 My Shepherd Will Supply My Need (1937/59), Two By Marianne Moore (1963), Go to Sleep, Gabriel Liebowitz (1939, unpublished), The Courtship of the Yongly-Bongly-Bo (1973), Chamber Music (1931, unpublished), A Lullaby for Margaret Wheeler (1987, unpublished), From Sneden’s Landing Variations (1972), What Is It? (1979), Go to Sleep, Pare McTaggett Lorentz: A Lullaby (1935, unpublished), The Cat (1980), Tres Estampas de Niñez (1957), Go to Sleep, Alexander Smallens, Jr. (1937, unpublished), Mostly About Love (1959), Collected Poems (1959)

Florestan Recitsl Project

The Complete Songs Of Virgil Thomson for voice and piano

WAV $29.99
3xCD $47.97

Track Listing

Vernal Equinox
Buy
Ah, Sunfower!
Buy
Susie Asado
Buy
Preciosilla
Buy
Five Songs from William Blake: I. The Divine Image
Buy
Five Songs from William Blake: II. The Tiger
Buy
Five Songs from William Blake: III. The Land of Dreams
Buy
Five Songs from William Blake: IV. The Little Black Boy
Buy
Five Songs from William Blake: V. And Did Those Feet
Buy
Portrait of F.B. (Frances Blood)
Buy
La Valse Grégorienne
Buy
Film - Deux soeurs qui ne sont pas soeurs
Buy
The Tiger
Buy
Le Berceau de Gertrude Stein ou Le Mystère de la rue de Fleurus
Buy
Les Soirées bagnolaises
Buy
La Belle en dormant: I. Pour chercher sur la carte des mers
Buy
La Belle en dormant: II. La première de toutes
Buy
La Belle en dormant: III. Mon amour est bon à  dire
Buy
La Belle en dormant: IV. Partis les vaisseaux
Buy
Trois Poèmes de la Duchesse de Rohan: I. à€ Son Altesse La Princesse Antoinette Murat
Buy
Trois Poèmes de la Duchesse de Rohan: II. La Seine
Buy
Trois Poèmes de la Duchesse de Rohan: III. Jour de chaleur aux bains de mer
Buy
Air de Phèdre
Buy
Commentaire sur Saint Jérome
Buy
Le Singe et le Léopard
Buy
At the Spring
Buy
Dirge
Buy
Shakespeare Songs: I. Was This Fair Face the Cause?
Buy
Shakespeare Songs: II. Take, O, Take Those Lips Away
Buy
Shakespeare Songs: III. Tell Me Where Is Fancy Bred
Buy
Shakespeare Songs: IV. Pardon, Goddess of the Night
Buy
Shakespeare Songs: V. Sigh No More, Ladies
Buy
Consider, Lord
Buy
The Bell Doth Toll
Buy
Remember Adam's Fall
Buy
John Peel
Buy
Look, How the Floor of Heaven
Buy
If Thou a Reason Dost Desire to Know
Buy
Praises and Prayers: I. From the Canticle of the Sun
Buy
Praises and Prayers: II. My Master Hath a Garden
Buy
Praises and Prayers: III. Sung by the Shepherds
Buy
Praises and Prayers: IV. Before Sleeping
Buy
Praises and Prayers: V. Jerusalem, My Happy Home
Buy
Three Sentences of Solomon: I. Thou that Dwellest in the Gardens
Buy
Three Sentences of Solomon: II. Return, O Shulamite!
Buy
Three Sentences of Solomon: III. I Am My Beloved's
Buy
Five Phrases from the Song of Solomon: I. Thou That Dwellest in the Gardens
Buy
Five Phrases from the Song of Solomon: II. Return, O Shulamite!
Buy
Five Phrases from the Song of Solomon: III. O, My Dove
Buy
Five Phrases from the Song of Solomon: IV. I Am My Beloved's
Buy
Five Phrases from the Song of Solomon: V. By Night
Buy
Oraison funèbre de Henriette-Marie de France, Reine de la Grande-Bretagne
Buy
Mass for Solo Voice: I. Kyrie Eleison
Buy
Mass for Solo Voice: II. Gloria In Excelsis
Buy
Mass for Solo Voice: III. Sanctus
Buy
Mass for Solo Voice: IV. Benedictus Qui Venit
Buy
Mass for Solo Voice: V. Agnus Dei
Buy
My Shepherd Will Supply My Need
Buy
Two By Marianne Moore: I. English Usage or "Strike till the iron is hot"
Buy
Two By Marianne Moore: II. My Crow Pluto or "Even when the bird is walking we know that it has wings"
Buy
Go to Sleep, Gabriel Liebowitz
Buy
The Courtship of the Yongly-Bongly-Bo
Buy
Chamber Music
Buy
A Lullaby for Margaret Wheeler
Buy
From Sneden's Landing Variations
Buy
What Is It?
Buy
Go to Sleep, Pare McTaggett Lorentz - A Lullaby
Buy
The Cat
Buy
Tres Estampas de Niñez: I. Todas las Horas
Buy
Tres Estampas de Niñez: II. Son Amigos de Todos
Buy
Tres Estampas de Niñez: III. Nadie lo Oye como Ellos
Buy
Go to Sleep, Alexander Smallens, Jr.
Buy
Mostly About Love: I. Love Song
Buy
Mostly About Love: II. Down at the Docks
Buy
Mostly About Love: III. Let's Take a Walk
Buy