Linda Finnie - Songs of the British Isles (Quilter, Britten, Parry, Holst et al.)

Songs of the British Isles

in tribute to Kathleen Ferrier

Anthony Egge & Linda Finnie 

Linda Finnie brings sensitivity and care to these British songs. We're grateful for such a quiet harbor where we can escape the jangled noise of the modern world. The quality of her voice easily sustains a full concert of these lovely melodies, aided by the sensitive accompaniment of Mr. Legge. There is an abiding, evergreen attractiveness to what is presented here.

 After many relistenings, I've come to realize I've UNDER-PRAISED this concert. When vocalist and composer(s) are ideally matched, it's a mysterious rightness that critics can't explain or "justify" in technical terms. There is serendipidty . There's simply a rightness about it that defies explanation. In vaudville in the Old Days, it was taken for granted that the all-time beloved comedians, independent of their comic material, were loved because they also convinced everybody they were decent people in real life. Vague as it is, it hints at the mysterious and indefinable background conditions preceding the "fit" between everything the singer brings to the concert and the victorious connection. We don't know why it occurs. (Compared to the expectations and tastes people bring to concert evenings, opera performances are judged by far more objective criteria.) It's impossible to specify in advance what the particular vocalist must bring to a concert to lift it above the ordinary. Linda Finnie surpasses all expectations in bringing to this particular genre this wonderful blend of the mysterious amd ineffable. The result is so unexpected, spot on and appropriate, I never tire of it.

The is not the occasion to rank "our" singer viz. other singers. It's an instance of celebrating the rare amalgam of occasion + the singer finding herself having all the right cards to play, vocal and emotional --- an extremely rare combination.

Roger Quilter (1877-1953)

from Seven Elizabethan Lyrics, Op. 12

1 No. 1: Weep No You No More 2:35

2 No. 7: Fair House of Joy 2:47

from Three Songs, Op. 3

3 No. 1: Love's Philosophy 2:32

4 No. 2: Now Sleeps the Crimson Petal 2:27

Hugh S. Robertson (1874-1952)

5 The Fidgety Bairn 3:02

6 Highland Cradle Song: 'Oh Hush thee, my Babie' 2:32

Herbert Hughes (1882-1937)

7 The Stuttering Lovers 2:02

8 I Will Walk With my Love 1:45

9 The Lover's Curse 3:22

10 Kitty, My Love, Will You Marry Me? 1:35

Gustav Holst (1874-1934)

from Nine Hymns from the Rig Veda, Op. 24

11 Set I, No. 1: Ushas (Dawn) 3:30

12 Set II, No. 5: Varuna (The Waters) 2:25

William Gillies Whittaker (1876-1944)

13 Blow the Wind Southerly 4:18

Charles Hubert H. Parry (1848-1919)

14 Love is a Bable 2:05

Mary Plumstead (1914-1980)

15 Close Thine Eyes 2:14

Frank Bridge (1879-1941)

16 Go Not, Happy Day 1:41

Charles Villiers Stanford (1852-1924)

from A Sheaf of Songs from Leinster, Op. 140

17 No. 3: A Soft Day 2:49

18 No. 5: The Bold Unbiddable Child 1:06

from An Irish Idyll in Six Miniatures

19 No. 2: The Fairy Lough 4:18

Benjamin Britten (1913-1976)

20 O Waly, Waly 4:08

21 The Salley Gardens 2:20

Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872-1958)

22 Silent Noon 4:43

from Four Last Songs

23 No. 2: Hands, Eyes and Heart 1:28

24 No. 4: Tired 2:17

Lady John Scott (1810-1900)

25 Think on Me 4:01

68:45

Linda Finnie mezzo-soprano

Anthony Legge piano

Recorded in:

Snape Maltings Concert Hall, Suffolk

14-16 February 1989