Roger Quilter - Volume 2
Quilter gained notability as a songwriter with the publication of two of his early songs, Now sleeps the crimson petal and Love's philosophy in which his music has a unique quality of intimate inter-relationship with the words. His prestige in this field took root partially through performances of his songs. And the readiness on the part of the public to embrace this type of song as distinct from the conventional ballad. He was discerning in his choice of poets. Those who fired his artistic sense were Shakespeare, Herrick, Tennyson and Shelley.
The song-cycle To Julia, written in 1905, reflects his fragrant romanticism at its peak, in this, his masterwork. Here he matches emotional colouring of Herrick's lines with rich harmonies and a variety of lingering meditative phrases to great effect. The theme of the opening bars, representing Julia, permeates the cycle. The first song, The bracelet, with its mixed rhythms and melismas, and the ensuing The maiden blush (Quilter at his most seductive) with its soft flowing harmonies are instantly appealing. With its quaver chordal movement and chromatic overtones. To daisies has become one of his most popular songs. The irresistible impetus, the climax based on the opening 'Julia' theme. Julia's hair (Adagio misterloso) is an atmospheric song of much beauty, while the joyous Cherry ripe, all skips and bounds, brings the cycle to a triumphant close.
The Shakespeare settings are indicative of the plasticity of Quilter's conceptions and our admiration for them grows with repeated hearings. Of the 1905 songs Come away, death with its countermelodies, is the finest. The Op.30 songs contain charms nevertheless. In the third song, How should I your true love know? there is an undercurrent of poignancy in the words, "hats bearing cockle-shells" as this was the type of hat worn by pilgrims to the shrine of St. James of Compostela. The facetiousness of If was a lover and his lass with its catchy rhythms, and the carefree, Hey. ho, the wind and the rain in which nothing matters very much in life, as opposed to the elegiac Fear no more the heat of the sun, makes for variety in the Op. 23. set. The last of the Shakespeare song, Orpheus with his lute and When icicles hang by the vail were written in 1938.
Although musical interest fluctuates in the Seven Elizabethan Lyrics this doesn't detract from this excellent group which include the lovely miniature. Damask roses. The haunting, dirge-like. Weep you no more, so Elizabethan in effect, is one of his great songs. Arpeggios and crochet chords elevate the ardent zeal of the words of My life's delight admirably. The capricious Faithless shepherdess with its changes of time signature and legato passages running through each verse would make a fine encore song. Another little gem, though not priceless, is the gracious song of eighteen bars measure, Brown is my love. This is followed by the most elaborate song of the set, By a fountain side, in which the movement to the major after some eighteen bars seems magical. With Fair house of joy, majestic in the final phrases for voice, and much internal movement for the piano, Quilter again produces an ace card.
However varied in compositional quality, Quilter's songs are a fine example of the revolutionary Meisterhaft, appearing on the scene at just the right moment.
Philip Roddon. C 1995
JEFFREY BENTON, baritone, with RONA LOWE, piano.
And GRAHAM KIRKLAND, piano
To Julia, Opus 8 (Herrick)
1 Prelude 2 The Bracelet 3 The maiden blush 4 To daisies 5 The night piece
6 Julia's hair 7 Cherry ripe
Two Shakespeare Songs, Opus 32
8 Orpheus with his lute 9 When icicles hang by the wall
Three Shakespeare Songs, Opus 6
10 Come away, death 11 Oh mistress mine 12 Blow, blow, thou winter wind
Four Shakespeare Songs, Opus 30
13 Who is Sylvia? 14 When daffodils begin to peer 15 How should I your true love know
16 Sigh no more, ladies
Five Shakespeare Songs, Opus 23
17 Fear no more the heat of the sun 18 Under the greenwood tree 19 It was a lover and his lass
20 Take, o take those lips away 21 Hey, ho, the wind and the rain
Seven Elizabethan Lyrics
22 Weep you no more 23 My life's delight 24 Damask roses 25 The faithless shepherdess
26 Brown is my love 27 By a fountainside 28 Fair house of joy