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Track(s) taken from CDH55067

O waly, waly

First line:
The water is wide, I cannot get o'er
composer
Anonymous - traditional
traditional Scottish
arranger
Benjamin Britten (1913-1976)
The British Isles: Vol 3 No 6
author of text
Anonymous - traditional
Somerset folk song

Anthony Rolfe Johnson (tenor), Graham Johnson (piano)
Recording details: July 1985
St Barnabas's Church, North Finchley, London, United Kingdom
Produced by Martin Compton
Engineered by Antony Howell
Release date: February 1990
Total duration: 3 minutes 37 seconds
 

Other recordings available for download

James Gilchrist (tenor), Alison Nicholls (harp)
Lorna Anderson (soprano), Malcolm Martineau (piano)

Reviews

‘Wonderful performances of two of Britten's finest song cycles, consistently beautiful in vocal quality, and almost miraculous in their integration of clear expressive diction. Deserves a place in every collection’ (BBC Music Magazine)

‘English vocal intelligence at its best, accompanied with utmost orchestral colouring by Graham Johnson’ (The Independent on Sunday)

‘Strongly recommended’ (Fanfare, USA)
Britten began arranging folksongs for his wartime recitals with Pears. The first volume was published in 1943 and all of the seven settings in it are dedicated to friends he and Pears had made in America. Down by the salley gardens is dedicated to Clytie Hine Mundy, Pears’s singing teacher in the United States. It is an Irish folksong, with words by W B Yeats. Britten’s setting is simple and understated, with the subtlest of harmonic touches conveying the folly of youth with touching pathos.

from notes by John Evans © 1986

Other albums featuring this work

Britten: Complete Folk Song Arrangements
Lorna Anderson (soprano), Regina Nathan (soprano), Jamie MacDougall (tenor)
CDA66941/22CDs Download only
Romantic Residues
James Gilchrist (tenor), Alison Nicholls (harp)
CDA67725

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