[Cover graphic]

Compact Disc CDA67337

£13.99

Born into the well-known 'Gibbs toothpaste' family, Armstrong Gibbs (he hated the Cecil with which his name is often prefixed) -- born 1889, died 1960 -- is a member of that wide category of English composers who, without pretensions to 'significance' or greatness, left much attractive and worthwhile music without which we would be much the poorer. Moderately prolific, his 'op' numbers extend to over a hundred. Much of his music, therefore, still awaits investigation and reassessment. He wrote over 150 songs, many of them to words by his friend Walter de la Mare, of which there are a dozen in this collection of 36, including the much-loved 'Silver' and 'Five Eyes'.

The programme is shared between soprano Geraldine McGreevy and baritone Stephen Varcoe whose love for these songs is apparent in their affectionate performances with Roger Vignoles.

Recorded on 14 15 16 March 2002
Recording Engineer
JULIAN MILLARD
Recording Producer
MARK BROWN
Front Design
TERRY SHANNON
Front Picture Research
RICHARD HOWARD
Booklet Editor
TIM PARRY
Executive Producers
EDWARD PERRY
SIMON PERRY
© Hyperion Records Ltd, London, MMIII

Duration: 79’19
DDD
Front illustration: Full Moon behind Cirrus Cloud from the Roundhay Park Castle Battlements (1872) by John Atkinson Grimshaw (1836-1893)

Contents:

  1. The Bells (Walter de la Mare) Op 14 No 2 SV [3'07]
  2. To one who passed whistling through the night (‘Margery Agrell’) GMG [1'57]
  3. Summer Night (‘Margery Agrell’) GMG [1'27]
  4. The fields are full (Edward Shanks) SV [1'59]
  5. Take heed, young heart (Walter de la Mare) GMG [2'03]
  6. When I was one-and-twenty (A E Housman) SV [1'42]
  7. The Birch Tree (Georgina Mase) GMG [0'50]
  8. Lullaby (Walter de la Mare) GMG [3'10]
  9. The Sleeping Beauty (Walter de la Mare) GMG [3'00]
  10. The Ballad of Semmerwater (Sir William Watson) SV [4'21]
  11. Tom o’ Bedlam (anonymous) SV [1'33]
  12. The Mad Prince (Walter de la Mare) GMG [1'59]
  13. Hypochondriacus (Charles Lamb) SV [1'14]
  14. Neglected Moon! (Clifford Bax) GMG [1'59]
  15. The Rejected Lover (Clifford Bax) SV [1'16]
  16. Arrogant Poppies (Clifford Bax) GMG [1'30]
  17. Sailing Homeward (Arthur Waley) SV [1'50]
  18. The Tiger-Lily (Dorothy Pleydell-Bouverie) GMG [3'08]
  19. The splendour falls (Alfred, Lord Tennyson) SV [3'11]
  20. Titania (Sir Mordaunt Currie) SV [3'50]
  21. Danger (Sir Mordaunt Currie) SV [1'38]
  22. Nightfall (Harry Dawson) GMG [2'56]
  23. Silver (Walter de la Mare) Op 30 No 2 GMG [3'00]
  24. Mistletoe (Walter de la Mare) GMG [2'14]
  25. The Oxen (Thomas Hardy) SV [2'51]
  26. In the Highlands (Robert Louis Stevenson) Op 9 GMG [3'06]
  27. By a Bierside (John Masefield) SV [1'51]
  28. Araby (Walter de la Mare) Op 20 No 2 GMG [2'13]
  29. Ann’s Cradle Song (Walter de la Mare), Op 20 No 1 GMG [2'37]
  30. Five Eyes (Walter de la Mare) Op 15 No 2, also Op 9 No 3 GMG [1'10]
  31. The Wanderer (Walter de la Mare) SV [1'52]
  32. The Flooded Stream (Margaret Cropper) GMG [1'45]

    FOUR SONGS FOR A MAD SEA CAPTAIN (Bernard Martin) Op 111

  33. Hidden Treasure SV [1'04]
  34. Abel Wright SV [0'52]
  35. Toll the Bell SV [1'46]
  36. The Golden Ray SV [1'27]
Sleeve Notes

EDITOR'S CHOICE (GRAMOPHONE)

'Most of these songs I had not heard before, nor, I suspect, have most listeners. Hyperion must be thanked for making them available' (International Record Review)

'Songs which gain in stature through being presented in sequence and superbly done' (Gramophone)

'lyrical, imaginative … Geraldine McGreevy’s soprano voice is sweet and pure' (Classic FM Magazine)

'two superb voices alive to Gibbs’s many moods, while Roger Vignoles accompaniments are a model of sensitivity and understanding' (BBC Music Magazine)

'Geraldine McGreevy and Stephen Varcoe are persuasive advocates … Roger Vignoles is the ideal accompanist, adding to the atmosphere of each song' (The Guardian)

'Stephen Varcoe sings with typical sensitivity … Roger Vignoles offers shapely, perfectly-scaled accompaniments' (Yorkshire Post)

'ces mélodies sont exquises sans être précieuses. La sensibilité est fine, l’expression nuancée mais sans artifice' (Monde de La Musique, France)

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