During the 1960s, Louis Halsey, together with the Elizabethan Singers and The Louis Halsey Singers, made a number of recordings of British choral music for Decca. Three LPs devoted to the music of Parry, Elgar, Stanford and Delius and of folk song settings by a range of British composers, are here collected on this 2CD set. All of this material released on CD for the first time. Though his magnificent choral piece, ‘Jerusalem’, eclipses much of his other work, Hubert Parry’s beautiful ‘Songs of Farewell’, written during the last three years of his life must be counted among the masterpieces of English choral music. Diana McVeagh describes the Elgar choral songs as ‘elaborate, expansive and gorgeous as sheer sound’ and so they are in these wonderful performances. All but one of Delius’s partsongs were recorded for the original LP and the disc of folk songs arranged by Tippett, Williamson, Grainger, Vaughan Williams, Holst and other front-rank British composers is charming and amusing. Original LP notes (including a very persuasive one by Louis Halsey himself) are reprinted in the booklet.
CD 1
HUBERT PARRY
Songs of Farewell
CHARLES VILLIERS STANFORD
Heraclitus
Sweet love for me
My love’s an arbutus
Veneta
Chillingham
Shall we go dance
EDWARD ELGAR
As Torrents in Summer
My love dwelt in a Northern land
Go song of mine
O Wild West Wind
The Shower
Love’s Tempest
Owls
The Fountain
There is sweet music
Deep in my soul
CD 2
FREDERICK DELIUS
Midsummer Song
On Craig Dhu
To be sung of a summer night on the water
The splendour falls on castle walls
The Louis Halsey Singers
TRADTIONAL
Captain Bover
A fair maid
Matthew, Mark, Luke and John
I sowed the seeds of love
Wassail Song
Bushes and Briars
O Waly, Waly
Dance to your Daddy
Bobby Shaftoe
Adam Buckham O!
I love my Love
The Sailor and Young Nancy
Our Captain calls all hands
Bonny at Morn
Soul Cake
Down among the dead men
Brigg Fair
Early One Morning
Derwentwater’s Farewell
Elizabethan Singers
Owen Brannigan, bass
Wilfrid Parry, piano
Louis Halsey
Recording Producer: James Walker (Parry, Stanford); Michael Bremner (Delius, Elgar, Traditional)
Recording Engineer: Simon Eadon (Parry, Stanford); Stanley Goodall (Delius, Elgar)
Recording Location: Decca Studios, West Hampstead, London, UK, November 1965 (Traditional); Kingsway Hall, London, UK, November 1968 (Delius, Elgar); St. George The Martyr, London, UK, November 1977 (Parry, Stanford)
‘admirable performances and recording. Louis Halsey’s choir, with its almost boy-like sopranos, is just right for these motets, while the recording sets them resonantly, as if in a cathedral. The choir sings its magnificently singable lines with evident appreciation of their moving beauty, obviously inspired by Halsey, whose heart is in the music (Parry, Stanford) Gramophone
‘Louis Halsey is obviously much in sympathy with both composers and gets most responsive singing from his choir, with excellent diction’ (Elgar, Delius) Gramophone
‘Halsey has helped to set a new standard in such choral singing, one of the splendid bonuses of the King’s tradition, from which Halsey stems. Recording first-rate as one would expect from Argo’ (Folk songs) Gramophone