After appearing on a quartet of very different BIS releases, ranging from early baroque arias to orchestral songs by Alban Berg and Mahler's 'Resurrection Symphony', the British soprano Ruby Hughes has devised a song recital, together with her regular Lieder partner Joseph Middleton. The process began in 2018 when the two gave the world premiÃ¨re of Helen Grime's Bright Travellers, a set of five poems charting the interior and exterior worlds of pregnancy and motherhood. Ruby Hughes soon set about planning a programme which would converge with Grime's music and the themes of new life and of love in all it's aspects. The recital is bookended by two song cycles by Gustav Mahler which explore love, grief, loss and reconciliation through quite different lenses. In the opening cycle we experience Mahler as solitary wayfarer and hear of unrequited love. In Kindertotenlieder, the second cycle, the poet Friedrich RÃ¼ckert pours out his pain as a grieving father in songs about the beauty and innocence of children. Completing the programme is Charles Ives - described by Ruby Hughes as Mahler's 'musical kindred spirit' - with a selection of love songs, prayers and lullabies.

Tracklist:

Lieder Eines Fahrenden Gesellen (Version For Voice & Piano): No. 1, Wenn Mein Schatz Hochzeit Macht
Lieder Eines Fahrenden Gesellen (Version For Voice & Piano): No. 2, Ging Heut' Morgen Über's Feld
Lieder Eines Fahrenden Gesellen (Version For Voice & Piano): No. 3, Ich Hab' Ein Glühend Messer
Lieder Eines Fahrenden Gesellen (Version For Voice & Piano): No. 4, Die Zwei Blauen Augen
114 Songs (Excerpts): No. 15, The Housatonic At Stockbridge
114 Songs (Excerpts): No. 57, Mists
Bright Travellers: No. 1, Soundings
Bright Travellers: No. 2, Brew
Bright Travellers: No. 3, Visitations
Bright Travellers: No. 4, Milk Fever
Bright Travellers: No. 5, Council Offices
114 Songs (Excerpts): No. 42, Serenity
114 Songs (Excerpts): No. 74, The Children's Hour
114 Songs (Excerpts): No. 108, Songs My Mother Taught Me
Kindertotenlieder (Arr. For Voice & Piano): No. 1, Nun Will Die Sonn' So Hell Aufgehn
Kindertotenlieder (Arr. For Voice & Piano): No. 2, Nun Seh' Ich Wohl, Warum So Dunkle Flammen
Kindertotenlieder (Arr. For Voice & Piano): No. 3, Wenn Dein Mütterlein
Kindertotenlieder (Arr. For Voice & Piano): No. 4, Oft Denk' Ich, Sie Sind Nur Ausgegangen
Kindertotenlieder (Arr. For Voice & Piano): No. 5, In Diesem Wetter
Suo Gân (Arr. H. Watkins For Voice & Piano)

UPC: 7318599924687
Label: Bis
Release Date: 8.6.21
Format: CD

Grime / Hughes / Middleton - Songs For New Life & Love (Hybr) (CD)