Discography

The Song of Love

Kitty Whately - mezzo-soprano
Roderick Williams - baritone
William Vann - piano

Visit the Albion Records site for more information and to purchase.

The Song of Love – songs and duets by Ralph Vaughan Williams performed by mezzo-soprano Kitty Whately, baritone Roderick Williams and pianist William Vann, includes fifteen world-première recordings and one first modern recording, including six unpublished works. Songs include arrangements of older or traditional songs in both French and German, including the Huguenot Battle Psalm and a troubadour song from the end of the 12th century. There are Three Songs from Shakespeare (not to be confused with the part-songs entitled Three Shakespeare Songs), settings of two poems by the Irish poet Seumas O’Sullivan, and two duets from 1903.

On 2 December 1904 Vaughan Williams promoted his own works at an amazing concert in what is now the Wigmore Hall. Amongst other first performances, The House of Life (a setting of six sonnets by Dante Gabriel Rossetti, including the ever-popular Silent Noon) was premièred by a contralto, Edith Clegg, with Hamilton Harty at the piano. There are many recordings: but all are by tenors and baritones. On this album Kitty Whately has made the first ‘female’ recording of the complete cycle – beginning to redress the balance.

The German and French songs are idiomatically sung by Williams (who enjoys the rollicking Buonaparty), while Whately’s limpid mezzo delights in The Willow Song and the settings from Measure for Measure, Love’s Labour’s Lost and Henry VIII. – Sunday Times “disc of the week”

Robin Holloway: The Lovers’ Well

Clare Lloyd-Griffiths (soprano)
Kate Symonds-Joy (mezzo-soprano)
James Robinson (tenor)
Simon Wallfisch (baritone)
Edward Rushton & William Vann (piano)

Visit Delphian Records for more information and to purchase.

Words have lain at the heart of Robin Holloway’s music throughout half a century of prolific composing. Released on the day of his seventy-fifth birthday, this album brings together six stellar performers associated with Gonville & Caius College, Cambridge – where Holloway is a Fellow – in celebration of the lyrical and dramatic qualities of his abundant output, as well as its profound symbolism.

The Lovers’ Well draws on a cycle of poems by Geoffrey Hill whose themes – a Spanish castle, amorous longing, carnal guilt, a wound that will not heal – make it a dark brother to Souvenirs de Monsalvat, a ‘waltz-synthesis on themes from Wagner’s Parsifal’ for piano four hands. Violence is barely contained by the formal games of A Medley of Nursery Rhymes and Conundrums, while radiant beauty imbues two works bringing together all four voices: a mini-cantata on couplets by John Ruskin and a partsong to words by Shelley.

In Remembrance

Chapel Choir of the Royal Hospital Chelsea
Chelsea Pensioners' Choir
William Vann - director
Katy Hill & Leah Jackson - soprano
Gareth John - baritone
James Orford & Hugh Rowlands - organ

Visit SOMM Recordings for more information and to purchase.

In the centenary anniversary year of the end of the First World War and on the eve of the 80th anniversary of the beginning of the Second World War, SOMM Recordings pays tribute to those who fought and fell in battle with In Remembrance. A moving compendium of music spanning 130 years, it features the Chapel Choir of the Royal Hospital Chelsea, the Choir of Chelsea Pensioners, Staff and Volunteers, sopranos Katy Hill and Leah Jackson, baritone Gareth John and organists James Orford and Hugh Rowlands under the direction of William Vann. Founded in 1682 by King Charles II, the Royal Hospital is home to the world-famous Chelsea Pensioners – retired veterans of the British army – whose contributions on three tracks adds its own special poignancy to In Remembrance. Moving choral works commemorating courage and offering comfort by Hubert Parry (his anthemic Jerusalem), Gustav Holst (the stirring I Vow to Thee, My Country) and Edward Elgar (his serene partsong They are at rest) are heard alongside equally affecting pieces by their contemporaries and successors, Charles Villiers Stanford, John Ireland, Douglas Guest and Charles Harris.

Directed by William Vann, the Choir of the Royal Hospital Chelsea, with its clear, ringing tone, provides beautifully nuanced performances, especially of the a cappella items, Stanford’s numinous introit ‘Justorum animae’, Parry’s six-part ‘There is an old belief’, and Elgar’s elegiac ‘They are at rest’. – Gramophone

Quickening

Anna Huntley - mezzo-soprano
Johnny Herford - baritone
Rosalind Ventris - viola
William Vann - piano

Visit Navona Records for more information and to purchase.

British composer Robert Hugill’s release QUICKENING is an enthralling and intimate showcase of contemporary art song. Across the album, Hugill demonstrates an exceptional sensitivity to text and melody, both of which shine through his clear and lyrical musical language. The four sets of songs on the album are consummate modern lieder, and one can easily imagine hearing them at a private vocal recital alongside the Romantic song cycles of the nineteenth century.

Hugill’s songs employ a classic approach to vocal writing, and are defined by smooth melodies and supportive accompaniments that establish the setting for the text and vocalist. To this end, Hugill works with fascinating texts on this album, many of which lead to interesting and unusual musical structures. An excellent example of this is the song, “To His Love”, from the set Four Songs to Texts by Ivor Gurney. Here, instead of fitting the poetry to a traditional song form, Hugill composes something more closely representative of the text’s narrative, resulting in the sudden quieting of the piano so the song’s last lines are sung in as intimate a setting as possible.

The album’s titular work, Quickening, stands out both for its defined form and its instrumentation of mezzo-soprano, viola, and piano. The songs in Quickening flow continuously from one to another, and, with the addition of the accompanying viola, Hugill is able to exploit a variety of textures that are inaccessible in his songs for voice and piano. There is also an attractive lightness to Hugill’s writing for mezzo-soprano, which makes the sound world of the song cycle more inviting.

A Vaughan Williams Christmas

Chapel Choir of the Royal Hospital Chelsea
William Vann - director
Hugh Rowlands - organ

Visit the Albion Records site for more information and to purchase.

Vaughan Williams was (with Cecil Sharp) one of the foremost collectors of folk songs from 1903, and collected many traditional carols as well. This collection is of carols as he arranged them, thus presenting his view of Christmas in the first half of the 20th century. He also wrote four completely new carols for the Oxford Book of Carols (tracks 12 to 15). The recording concludes with the first complete recording of ‘Nine Carols for Male Voices’, commissioned by the British Council in 1941 for performance by and for British troops serving in Iceland. Nearly half of the recording is accounted for by world première recordings. The recording was made in February 2018 in St Jude-on-the-Hill, Hampstead. William Vann directs the Chapel Choir of the Royal Hospital Chelsea. Hugh Rowlands accompanies 13 of the 24 tracks on the church’s Willis organ.

A dark-toned, introspective harmonisation of ‘Coventry Carol’ and a jaunty ‘I Saw Three Ships’ stand out particularly. Clear-toned, welcoming performances. BBC Music Magazine

Earth & Sky: Vaughan Williams Choral Premieres

Chapel Choir of the Royal Hospital Chelsea
William Vann - director
Hugh Rowlands - organ

Visit the Albion Records site for more information and to purchase.

Albion Records is pleased to present fourteen choral works written by Ralph Vaughan Williams and a further eight arrangements made by him between 1896 and 1954 ? very nearly the length of his working career. 21 of the 22 tracks are world première recordings (we were pipped to ‘O Praise the Lord of Heaven’ by a June 2018 release!)

This varied collection includes salon music, folk song settings, hymns and anthems, patriotic songs and finally Gaelic songs in English translation. Vaughan Williams never repeated himself, and the variety on display here is quite astonishing.

The recording was made in February 2018 in St Jude-on-the-Hill, Hampstead. William Vann directs the Chapel Choir of the Royal Hospital Chelsea, and plays the piano for four tracks. Hugh Rowlands accompanies a further 9 tracks on the church’s Willis organ.

Albion Records serves up another treat for all Vaughan Williams fans: over an hour’s worth of choral fare encompassing an agreeable variety of genres in conspicuously accomplished premiere recordings…these are winningly communicative, admirably disciplined readings…A job well done! – Gramophone

Carols from Chelsea

Chapel Choir of the Royal Hospital Chelsea
William Vann - director
James Orford - organ
Featuring Chelsea Pensioner George Hatton and Daniel Smith - side-drum

Visit SOMM Recordings for more information and to purchase.

SOMM celebrates Christmas with Carols from Chelsea, a delicious offering from the Chapel Choir of the Royal Hospital Chelsea under their Director, William Vann. This recording showcases some of the Choir’s most cherished carol repertoire, alongside solo organ music performed by the Royal Hospital’s Organ Scholar, James Orford, and a very special performance with Chelsea Pensioner George Hatton. George is known for his occasional singing in the Chelsea Pensioners’ Club in the evening, and during December he has been known to join forces with the choir for a song or two. It was one of those moments that gave them the idea to record something with him on this album and the last track, White Christmas, could hardly have ended the disc more joyously!

Under the meticulous direction of William Vann, their reading of Howells’s A Spotless Rose is, well, spotless, while John Rutter’s Dormi, Jesu is saved from schmaltz and sung with the sweet, gentle grace it deserves. – The Guardian

Purer than Pearl

Mary Bevan - soprano
Jennifer Johnston - mezzo-soprano
Nicky Spence - tenor
Johnny Herford - baritone
Thomas Gould - violin
William Vann - piano

Visit the Albion Records site for more information and to purchase.

Songs and Duets by Ralph Vaughan Williams accompanied by piano and/or violin. Including Eight Songs from The Poisoned Kiss, newly arranged for this recording by Adrian Williams. There are many early songs, including six world première recordings.

Vocal and instrumental contributions alike leave nothing to be desired – and a special word of praise for William Vann’s deft pianism…exemplary production values bolster the appeal of [this Albion release] which can be cordially recommended to all RVW acolytes. – Gramophone

Songs of home

Njabulo Madlala - baritone
William Vann - piano

Visit Champs Hill Records for more information and to purchase.

South African baritone and 2010 Kathleen Ferrier Award-winner Njabulo Madlala makes his debut on Champs Hill Records.

Songs of Home is a reflection of a journey from the townships of South Africa to the world of classical music and song. It is inspired by the South African songbook and songs his Grandmother used to sing.

Njabulo describes it as “life’s journey without boundaries” drawing on “songs I heard and took to bed with me every night, songs I heard from Miriam Makeba, Sibongile Khumalo and Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau.”

A unique and engaging recital. – BBC Music Magazine