Bliss: A Knot of Riddles & other songs

CDA67188/9

Recording details: February 1998
Henry Wood Hall, London, United Kingdom
Produced by Andrew Keener
Engineered by Antony Howell & Julian Millard
Release date: February 2000
DISCID: A80E781E 580E3B18
Total duration: 119 minutes 27 seconds

'This double album is a revelatory document and a source of ever unpredictable delight ... These songs beg to be performed more often.' (BBC Music Magazine)

'Kathleen Raine's poems drew the best from Bliss: simple eloquence, bold, shining gestures and memorable images including a fine nocturne: they are masterly, and would alone make investigating this pair of discs worthwhile. Geraldine McGreevy sings them simply, purely and very movingly.' (Gramophone)

'A minor revelation ... [the songs] display the best features of the 20th-century song as an art form: the poetry is well-chosen, the music is quick-witted, and the accompaniments are as fascinating as the vocal line ... No sooner had the disc finished than I punched the start button again.' (Gramophone)

'This set marks yet another achievement by Hyperion in its splendid series of song releases.' (International Record Review)

Sir Arthur Bliss (1891-1975)

A Knot of Riddles & other songs

The Nash Ensemble, Martyn Brabbins (conductor)

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		A knot of riddles
CD1	1	Fish in river My abode's not silent, but I am not loud-mouthed [3'04] Henry Herford (baritone), The Nash Ensemble, Martyn Brabbins (conductor)
	2	Swallows This wind wafts little creatures [1'16] Henry Herford (baritone), The Nash Ensemble, Martyn Brabbins (conductor)
	3	An oyster The deep sea suckled me, the waves sounded over me [1'44] Henry Herford (baritone), The Nash Ensemble, Martyn Brabbins (conductor)
	4	A weather cock My breast is puffed up and my neck extended [2'12] Henry Herford (baritone), The Nash Ensemble, Martyn Brabbins (conductor)
	5	A bookworm 'Hommage modeste à Maurice Ravel' A moth devoured words [1'51] Henry Herford (baritone), The Nash Ensemble, Martyn Brabbins (conductor)
	6	A cross of wood I am supple of body and sport with the wind [2'58] Henry Herford (baritone), The Nash Ensemble, Martyn Brabbins (conductor)
	7	Sun and moon I saw a strange creature [2'59] Henry Herford (baritone), The Nash Ensemble, Martyn Brabbins (conductor)
		Three Romantic songs
	8	The hare In the black furrow of a field [1'35] Toby Spence (tenor), Kathron Sturrock (piano)
	9	Lovelocks I watched the Lady Caroline [2'06] Toby Spence (tenor), Kathron Sturrock (piano)
	10	The buckle I had a silver buckle [1'12] Toby Spence (tenor), Kathron Sturrock (piano)
	11	A Christmas carol Come, browse, my goats, Christ's manger hay [1'55] Geraldine McGreevy (soprano), Leo Phillips (violin), John Lenehan (piano)
	12	Sea love Tide be runnin' the great world over [1'49] Geraldine McGreevy (soprano), Leo Phillips (violin)
	13	Vocalise [1'55] Geraldine McGreevy (soprano), Leo Phillips (violin)
	14	The mad woman of Punnet's Town A swell within her billowed skirts [0'58] Geraldine McGreevy (soprano), Leo Phillips (violin), John Lenehan (piano)
		Seven American poems
	15	Gone, gone again is summer [2'01] Henry Herford (baritone), Kathron Sturrock (piano)
	16	Siege This I do being mad [1'08] Henry Herford (baritone), Kathron Sturrock (piano)
	17	Feast I drank from ev'ry vine [1'42] Henry Herford (baritone), Kathron Sturrock (piano)
	18	Little elegy Without you no rose can grow [1'43] Henry Herford (baritone), Kathron Sturrock (piano)
	19	Rain comes down [2'03] Henry Herford (baritone), Kathron Sturrock (piano)
	20	Fair Annet's song One thing comes [1'14] Henry Herford (baritone), Kathron Sturrock (piano)
	21	Being young and green [0'55] Henry Herford (baritone), Kathron Sturrock (piano)
		Two American poems
	22	Humoresque Heaven bles the babe! they said [1'58] Geraldine McGreevy (soprano), Kathron Sturrock (piano)
	23	The return from town As I sat down by Saddle Stream [1'07] Geraldine McGreevy (soprano), Kathron Sturrock (piano)
		Three Songs
	24	Thunderstorms My mind has thunderstorms [2'03] Toby Spence (tenor), Kathron Sturrock (piano)
	25	This night [3'22] Toby Spence (tenor), Kathron Sturrock (piano)
	26	Leisure What is this life if, full of care [1'17] Toby Spence (tenor), Kathron Sturrock (piano)
		Two Love songs
	27	Fair is my love [4'24] Henry Herford (baritone), Kathron Sturrock (piano)
	28	In praise of his Daphnis Tune on my pipe the praise of my Love [4'08] Henry Herford (baritone), Kathron Sturrock (piano)
	29	The tramps Can you recall, dear comrade, when we tramped God's land together [2'08] Henry Herford (baritone), Kathron Sturrock (piano)
	30	When I was one-and-twenty [1'17] Henry Herford (baritone), Kathron Sturrock (piano)
		Two Nursery rhymes
CD2	1	The ragwort The thistles on the sandy flats [1'31] Geraldine McGreevy (soprano), John Lenehan (piano), Michael Collins (clarinet)
	2	The dandelion [1'21] Geraldine McGreevy (soprano), Michael Collins (clarinet)
	3	Elegiac sonnet A fountain plays no more [8'14] Toby Spence (tenor), The Nash Ensemble, Martyn Brabbins (conductor)
		Angels of the mind
	4	Worry about money Wearing worry about money like a hair shirt [2'45] Geraldine McGreevy (soprano), Kathron Sturrock (piano)
	5	Lenten flowers Primrose, anemone, bluebell, moss [1'58] Geraldine McGreevy (soprano), Kathron Sturrock (piano)
	6	Harvest Day is the hero's shield [1'19] Geraldine McGreevy (soprano), Kathron Sturrock (piano)
	7	Seed From star to star, from sun and spring and leaf [2'43] Geraldine McGreevy (soprano), Kathron Sturrock (piano)
	8	In the beck There is a fish, that quivers in the pool [2'39] Geraldine McGreevy (soprano), Kathron Sturrock (piano)
	9	Storm God in me is the fury on the bare heath [1'17] Geraldine McGreevy (soprano), Kathron Sturrock (piano)
	10	Nocturne Night comes, an angel stands [3'43] Geraldine McGreevy (soprano), Kathron Sturrock (piano)
	11	The tempest Heigh my hearts! [6'52] Toby Spence (tenor), Henry Herford (baritone), The Nash Ensemble, Martyn Brabbins (conductor)
		The ballads of the four seasons
	12	Season 1: Spring The lovely Lo-foh of the land of Chin [1'57] Geraldine McGreevy (soprano), Kathron Sturrock (piano)
	13	Season 2: Summer On the Mirror Lake three hundred lie around [1'39] Geraldine McGreevy (soprano), Kathron Sturrock (piano)
	14	Season 3: Autumn The moon is above the city of Chang-an [2'20] Geraldine McGreevy (soprano), Kathron Sturrock (piano)
	15	Season 4: Winter The courier will depart on the morrow for the front [1'38] Geraldine McGreevy (soprano), Kathron Sturrock (piano)
	16	The fallow deer at the lonely house One without looks to-night [2'52] Toby Spence (tenor), Kathron Sturrock (piano)
	17	Rich or poor With thy true love I have more wealth [1'55] Henry Herford (baritone), Kathron Sturrock (piano)
	18	A child's prayer For Morn, my dome of blue [1'37] Geraldine McGreevy (soprano), Kathron Sturrock (piano)
	19	Three Jolly gentlemen [1'04] Geraldine McGreevy (soprano), Kathron Sturrock (piano)
	20	The hammers Noise of hammers once I heard [1'34] Toby Spence (tenor), Kathron Sturrock (piano)
	21	Simples Of cool sweet dew and radiance mild [3'17] Toby Spence (tenor), Kathron Sturrock (piano)
	22	'Tis time, I think, by Wenlock town [2'21] Toby Spence (tenor), Kathron Sturrock (piano)
	23	At the window Vine, vine and eglatine [1'14] Toby Spence (tenor), Kathron Sturrock (piano)
	24	Auvergnat There was a man was half a clown [1'33] Toby Spence (tenor), Kathron Sturrock (piano)

This 2-CD set presents the most comprehensive recording yet of the songs of Sir Arthur Bliss—which turns out to be a surprisingly varied output dating from all periods of his life. There are many first recordings here, and in fact many of the songs are virtually unknown. The poets range from the eighth-century Li-Po and early English to Housman, Hardy, Walter de la Mare and Kathleen Raine (the cycle Angels of the Mind), with a strong showing of the American writers Edna St Vincent Millay and Elinor Wylie. (Bliss was half-American himself.)

The Nash Ensemble provides the varied instrumental backings for the many songs which are not accompanied by piano alone.

The set comes with generous notes by Giles Easterbook and complete texts.

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