It was probably Peter Pears, Britten's partner in music and life, who drew the composer's attention to the rich heritage of English folksong and it's attractions, as a way to introduce texture, variety and a lighter tone to their song recitals together during the 1940s. According to the tenor, Britten 'wanted to recreate these melodies with their texts for concert performance, to make them art-songs... he therefore takes the tune as if he had written it himself and thinks himself back as to how he would turn it into a song.' Thus the piano parts are no mere accompaniments but highly wrought, deftly illustrative comments on the texts and stories of love and country life. In cases such as The Foggy, Foggy Dew and O Waly, Waly, Britten's arrangements have become better known than any 'original' version; they have assumed the identity of the song in the popular imagination, and the distinctive voice of Pears singing them imprinted itself on the imaginations of countless music-lovers in the second half of the last century. However, the songs retain their place in the concert repertoire of many young singers, often as more than encore material, and they admit a rich variety of interpretative approaches. The tenor Mark Milhofer has previously taken part in Brilliant Classics surveys of the complete song output of Alban Berg (95549) and Francesco Tosti (Vol.1 - 95201), with the Berg attracting particularly enthusiastic praise: 'Totally absorbing... convincingly performed from the first note to the last. Each performer brings sincerity and enthusiasm to this varied repertoire. The recording is ideal' (MusicWeb International).

Tracklist:

I Wonder As I Wander
The Salley Gardens
Little Sir William
The Bonny Earl O' Moray
O Can Ye Sew Cushions?
The Trees They Grow So High
The Ash Grove
Oliver Cromwell
The Crocodile
Greensleeves
The Holly And The Ivy
La Noël Passée
Voici Le Printemps
Fileuse
Le Roi S'en Va-T'en Chasse
La Belle Est Au Jardin D'amour
Il Est Quelqu'un Sur Terre
Eho! Eho!
Quand J'etais Chez Mon Père
He Plough Boy
There's None To Soothe
Sweet Polly Oliver
The Miller Of Dee
The Foggy, Foggy Dew
The Stream In The Valley
O Waly, Waly
Come You Not From Newcastle?
Pray Goody
He Deaf Woman's Courtship
At The Mid Hour Of Night
Rich And Rare
Dear Harp Of My Country!
The Last Rose Of Summer
O The Sight Entrancing
Avenging And Bright
Sail On, Sail On
How Sweet The Answer
The Minstrel Boy
Oft In The Stilly Night
Soldier, Won't You Marry Me?
The Brisk Young Widow
Sally In Our Alley
The Lincolnshire Poacher
Early One Morning
Ca' The Yowes
Tom Bowling
Dink's Song

UPC: 5028421960098
Label: Brilliant Classics
Release Date: 2.12.21
Format: CD

Britten / Milhofer / Scolastra - Complete Folk Songs (CD)