Britten / Williams / Burnside Songs & Proverbs & Tit For Tat & Folk-Songs CD

Britten wrote his Songs and Proverbs of William Blake, Op. 74 for the German baritone Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau in 1965. The singer admired the 'concentration and enigmatic smile' of the settings, and Britten constructed, through alternation of proverbs with songs, and an intense contemplation on the human and the eternal, one of his greatest song cycles. By contrast Tit for Tat sees Britten revisiting youthful, light-spirited settings of the poet Walter de la Mare. The folksong arrangements are amongst his most famous, and beloved. The baritone Roderick Williams encompasses a wide repertoire, from baroque to contemporary music, in the opera house, on the concert platform and in recital. His recital appearances have taken him to London's Wigmore Hall and many European festivals. He has an extensive discography and his recordings of English song with Iain Burnside have received particular acclaim.

1. I. Proverb I: The Pride of the Peacock 2. II. London 3. III. Proverb II: Prisons Are Built 4. IV. the Chimney-Sweeper 5. V. Proverb III: The Bird a Nest 6. VI. a Poison Tree 7. VII. Proverb IV: Think in the Morning 8. VIII. the Tyger 9. IX. Proverb V: The Tygers of Wrath 10. X. the Fly 11. XI. Proverb VI: The Hours of Folly 12. XII. Ah! Sun-Flower! 13. XIII. Proverb VII: To See a World 14. XIV. Every Night and Every Morn 15. No. 1. a Song of Enchantment 16. No. 2. Autumn 17. No. 3. Silver 18. No. 4. Vigil 19. No. 5. Tit for Tat 20. No. 1. the Plough Boy 21. No. 5. the Foggy, Foggy Dew 22. Tom Bowling and Other Song Arrangements: No. 1. Tom Bowling 23. Folk Song Arrangements, Vol. 3, British Isles: No. 6. O Waly, Waly 24. No. 7. Oliver Cromwell 25. No. 6. the Ash Grove 26. No. 1. the Salley Gardens 27. Folk Song Arrangements, Vol. 3, British Isles: No. 2. There's None to Soothe 28. Folk Song Arrangements, Vol. 1, British Isles: No. 2. Little Sir William 29. Folk Song Arrangements, Vol. 5, British Isles: No. 5. Ca' the Yowes