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“This is one of the finest produced song albums that’s come my way. All three singers, recognised artists in their vocal prime, perform their allotted songs with commitment and character. They are given first rate accompaniment by pianist William Vann and, in the Two English Folk Songs for voice and violin, appropriately ‘rustic’ playing by Thomas Gould – a highlight of this album.” BBC Music Magazine
This is the second in a series of four albums recording all 80 of the folk songs in English that Ralph Vaughan Williams arranged for voice and piano or violin. 57 of the 80 songs have not previously been recorded in these arrangements.
This second album has 19 tracks including 15 world premières. It includes Folk Songs collected from the Southern Appalachian Mountains by Maud Karpeles and Cecil Sharp in 1916-1918, arranged by Vaughan Williams with piano accompaniment in about 1938. Additionally, there are two English Folk Songs for Voice and Violin. A miscellany of English folk songs includes ‘I Will Give my Love an Apple’ and concludes with a ‘Farmyard Song’ which is difficult to perform without collapsing in laughter. Once again, though Vaughan Williams is well known as a collector of folk songs, his own collection by no means predominates.