Ireland / Stone / Kynoch John Ireland Songbook 2 CD

This is the second release in a four-album series that will comprise the first complete recording of the songs of John Ireland (1879-1962) for voice and piano, performed by baritone Mark Stone and pianist Sholto Kynoch. Featuring his settings of William Blake, James Vila Blake, Dante Gabriel Rossetti, Ernest Dowson and Arthur Symons, it includes his well-known cycles "Songs of a Wayfarer" and "Marigold" as well as some of his less often performed unison songs. The breadth of style in both music and text across this programme is extraordinary, showing a composer whose talents allowed him to produce both beautiful songs of childlike simplicity and compositions of incredible harmonic complexity.