Ian Venables has been called 'one of the finest song composers of his generation'. This album presents the first recordings of two of his substantial song cycles, and in the mellifluous hands of baritone Roderick Williams they are revelatory. Williams is joined by the Carducci String Quartet and pianist Graham J Lloyd in The Song of the Severn, a celebration of Venables’ home county of Worcestershire, while the piano-accompanied The pine boughs past music is a poignant tribute to the poetic talents of Ivor Gurney.