TheMyriadSong
Far reaches of the mind (with full programme)
Unknowable, intangible, impossible worlds Exploring worlds that can only be visited in the mind: idyllic landscapes and fantasy worlds of enchantment, magic and terror; miniature societies of fairies, insects and animals; long-lost lands of childhood and better times, visited only in memories; parallel universes conjured up by grief and frustrated desires; encounters with the world […]
Horn, Voice and Piano – sound and song (with full programme and programme notes)
Two contrasting works for horn, voice and piano – Arnold Cooke’s beautiful Nocturnes and Schubert’s well-loved Auf dem Strom – inspire a rich and varied programme of landscapes and soundscapes. Sounds travel through forests and over mountains – a repeating horn call, the wise and witty winds, a mysterious, faint melody – bringing ever-unanswered questions […]
Schubert So lasst mich scheinen (live, 2009)
Surely one of the most beautiful songs every written. But amazingly this was the first time either of us had ever performed it – in our 2009 Wigmore recital programme of songs by Schubert and Brahms. The programme was devised by Graham Johnson in his series “Brahms, His Friends, Rivals & Contemporaries” We’re sure you’ll […]
Brahms Meerfahrt (live, 2009)
More Brahms from our Wigmore Hall 2009 recital. This time, the text is by Heine (another of the featured poets in the programme). You can read the poem at the Lied and Art Song texts page. We both were struck by the stark drama in this piece and we loved the imagery of the Geisterinsel […]
Deception and Reality
A programme of English, French, German and Spanish song, examining the many faces of deceit: how we deceive others playfully, benignly or dangerously, with white lies, secrecy, artifice and betrayal; how we deceive ourselves consolingly or neurotically, with wishful thinking or blindness to reality; how our minds deceive us with illusions, inviting bliss, enlightenment or, […]
Brahms Die Liebende schreibt (live, 2009)
We performed this in a recital at the Wigmore Hall in 2009 in a programme of Schubert and Brahms. In the programme was also Schubert’s setting of the same text, by Goethe (one of the featured poets in the programme). There are quite a few well-known settings of this song – our favourite is probably […]
Philips Verses in Solitude (live, 2000)
We premièred Julian Philips’ Verses in Solitude at the Bromsgrove Concerts’ Mixing Music series in 2000. It’s an extended piece for soprano, baritone and piano – hence why the voice is over on the left and not in the centre. Andrew Foster-Williams was the baritone. . . It narrates the correspondence between Emily Dickinson and […]
Moments in Time
A multi-lingual journey through time, with two alternative programmes – From Sunset to Sunrise and The Lover’s Night […]
English Song Year by Year
A strictly chronological voyage through English Song, exploring contrasts and similarities between musical styles and subject matter. Famous songs alternate with lesser-known gems, favoured poets come and go and recurring themes reflect the shifting zeitgeist. […]
More ideas for themes – based on the texts
The piano as protagonist … Archetypes… Sand, boulder, mountain, planet… Prescience, nostalgia and topicality… Poetry purloined… Mundanity and majesty…