VA - Folksongs of the British Isles (2023) [Official Digital Download 24/96]

SOMM Recordings is pleased to announce a musical journey around the four nations of the United Kingdom with Folk Songs of the British Isles. Celebrating the "living, breathing heritage of British and Irish folksong down the ages", the 27-track recital features soprano Janis Kelly, mezzos Yvonne Howard and Maria Jagusz, tenors Nicky Spence and Wynne Evans, baritone Mark Llewelyn Evans, jazz doyenne Elaine Delmar and actor- singer Kevin Whately. Fiona Kelly (flute), Jean Kelly (harp) and pianists Michael Pollock and John Wilson provide instrumental contributions with singer Caroline McCausland accompanying herself on guitar. Much-loved songs include She Moved Through the Fair, The Last Rose of Summer, The Foggy, Foggy Dew and Down by the Salley Gardens. Local colour is provided by songs such as Blaydon Races, Skye Boat Song, Sosban Fach and The Oak and the Ash while the entirely new Song for Gwyn (words by Christopher Morley, music by John Wilson) tributes Gwyn Williams, former Principal Viola with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, which he joined in 1965 and where he played for conductors Hugo Rignold, Louis Frémaux and Sir Simon Rattle. Royalties will be donated to the Gwyn Williams Bursary Fund which supports young violists at the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire and endows three viola chairs in the CBSO Youth Orchestra. SOMM's long commitment to British vocal music includes the acclaimed three-volume One Hundred Years of British Song by James Gilchrist and Nathan Williamson (SOMMCD 0621, 0636, 0646), two discs of Parry's English Lyrics (SOMMCD 257, 270), volumes by Eric Coates (SOMMCD 0192), Ethel Smyth (SOMMCD 0611) and a British song recital by Kathleen Ferrier (ARIADNE 5010). Recent releases include a first volume of songs by Stephen Dodgson (The Peasant Poet, SOMMCD 0659) and Robert Matthew-Walker's A Bad Night in Los Angeles (SOMMCD 0662), hailed by MusicWeb International as "individual and accessible but with a sophistication and craft that repays attentive listening".

TRACKLIST

1. Caroline McCausland - She Moved Through the Fair
2. Fiona Kelly - The Lark in the Clear Air
3. Caroline McCausland - By the Short Cut to the Rosses
4. Fiona Kelly - Si Bheag Si Mor
5. Fiona Kelly - Give Me Your Hand
6. Caroline McCausland - The Last Rose of Summer
7. Nicky Spence - Down by the Salley Gardens
8. Nicky Spence - Can Ye Sew Cushions
9. Nicky Spence - My Love is Like a Red, Red Rose
10. Janis Kelly - Skye Boat Song
11. John Wilson - Ye Banks and Braes
12. Janis Kelly - The Rowan Tree
13. Kevin Whately - Dance te Thi Daddy
14. Kevin Whately - Blaydon Races
15. Yvonne Howard - Blow the Wind Southerly
16. Yvonne Howard - Sweet Polly Oliver
17. Yvonne Howard - Oliver Cromwell
18. Elaine Delmar - English Folk Song
19. Mark Llewelyn Evans - Can yr Arad Goch
20. Mark Llewelyn Evans - Myfanwy
21. Wynne Evans - The Foyy, Foggy Dew
22. Wynne Evans - Bugail Aberdyfi
23. Mark Llewelyn Evans - My Little Welsh Home
24. Wynne Evans - Sospan Fach
25. Maria Jagusz - Drink to Me Only
26. Maria Jagusz - The Oak and the Ash
27. Maria Jagusz - Song for Gwyn



Thanks to the Original customer.