Credits:

Gerald Peregrine, Anthony Ingram

Description:

Twentieth-century British composers fused European traditions with English folk music. While respecting their conservative side, they constantly explored various methods to create a "new English music" in search of their own unique style. The songs on this album all have vivid colors that evoke the rich nature and national consciousness of England and Ireland. For example, in Vaughan Williams' "Six Exercises on English Folk Songs," which opens the album, the cello sings a beautiful melody that almost brings tears to one's eyes, while Bax's "Folk Songs" has a dark atmosphere reminiscent of the heavy British sky. The "Caprices and Dirges," a work from the last years of Diliath's life, is a dictation of melodies sung by the bedridden composer and dictated by his scribe, Fenby. It is a masterpiece that combines an unfulfilled sadness and an obsession with life. Naxos Japan