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Track(s) taken from CDA67374

She moved thro' the fair

First line:
My young love said to me, “My mother won’t mind
composer
Anonymous - traditional
Old ballad from County Donegal
author of text
Padraic Colum (1881-1972)

Sir Thomas Allen (baritone), Malcolm Martineau (piano)
Recording details: January 2002
Champs Hill, West Sussex, United Kingdom
Produced by Mark Brown
Engineered by Julian Millard
Release date: June 2003
Total duration: 2 minutes 4 seconds

Cover artwork: At the Piano. Robert Beyschlag (1838-1903)
Anthony Mitchell Paintings, Nottingham / Fine Art Photographic Library, London
 

Other recordings available for download

Alison Pearce (soprano), Susan Drake (harp)
Dame Ann Murray (mezzo-soprano)

Reviews

‘Other singers over recent decades have given the songs an airing from time to time, but Thomas Allen is the very man to do it’ (Gramophone)

‘With piano-playing by that most sensitive of accompanists, Malcolm Martineau, Sir Thomas Allen brings high art to these songs … with an affectionate regard to mood and feeling, and with a touching lyrical sincerity’ (The Daily Telegraph)

‘A fitting tribute to this repertory that one of the finest operatic voices of our day has chosen to record it’ (Classic FM Magazine)

‘I must confess that, what with the beauty of Thomas Allen’s voice and the lovely accompaniment of Malcolm Martineau at the piano, a tear welled in my eye more than once. Another distinguished release from Hyperion’ (Liverpool Daily Post)

‘Hyperion here brings us Sir Thomas Allen caressing 29 well-loved parlour songs with his warm, expressive baritone … Malcolm Martineau provides his usual sympathetic and well-etched pianistic support’ (Birmingham Post)

‘Wwhat quality of nostalgia, and what depth of conviction … superb performances … Martineau’s carefully moulded accompaniments enhance a glorious enterprise’ (Yorkshire Post)
Of poems by Padraic Colum to traditional airs, ‘She moved thro’ the fair’ is surely the most popular. It, too, owes much of its familiarity to John McCormack, who recorded it in June 1941. More recently it was sung by Sinead O’Connor as a poignant build-up to the hero’s assassination in the 1996 film Michael Collins.

from notes by Andrew Lamb © 2003

Other albums featuring this work

My Lagan love - other songs of Ireland
Alison Pearce (soprano), Susan Drake (harp)
CDH88023Download only
The last rose of summer
Dame Ann Murray (mezzo-soprano), Graham Johnson (piano)
CDH55210Download only

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