Robin Milford: Piano Music and Songs

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Catalogue No: TOCC0009
EAN/UPC: 5060113440099
Release Date: 2008-04-28
Composer: Robin Milford
Artists: Phillida Bannister, Raphael Terroni

The music of Robin Milford (1903-59) taps into that distinctly English vein of pastoral melancholy. Lying on a continuum between the work of his friends Gerald Finzi and Ralph Vaughan Williams, Milford’s voice is nonetheless unique: lyrical, gentle, unemphatic – quietly individual. The dark lyricism of the songs on this CD, reflecting the composer’s troubled life, offers a striking contrast with the buoyant, folksong-inspired dances for solo piano – Milford at his happiest.

Phillida Bannister, contralto
Raphael Terroni, piano

Listen To This Recording:

    My Lady’s Pleasure, for piano

  1. Pastorale
  2. Gavotte
  3. Jig
  4. Four Hardy Songs (Hardy)

  5. No. 2, ‘The Colour’
  6. No. 4, ‘Tolerance’
  7. Cradle Song (Blake)
  8. Daybreak (Donne)
  9. Reputation Square, for piano

  10. Matthew’s and Welch’s
  11. Reputation Square
  12. George’s, and the New Wells Hornpipe
  13. Trim the French
  14. Jack in his Trousers
  15. Jupiter in the Clouds
  16. Four Songs (Bridges), Nos 1, 2 and 4

  17. No. 1, ‘So Sweet Love Seemed’
  18. No. 2, ‘Elegy’
  19. No. 4, ‘Love on my Heart’
  20. Four Seasonable Songs, Nos. 2 and 4

  21. No. 2, ‘Summer. Pleasure It Is’ (Cornish)
  22. No. 4, ‘Winter. This Endris Night’ (Anon)
  23. Prelude, Air and Finale (on a well-known mordent), for piano

  24. Prelude
  25. Air
  26. Finale
  27. Swan Songs

  28. No. 1, ‘Song of St Mary the Virgin (The Magnificat)’
  29. No. 2, ‘The Song of Simeon (The Nunc Dimittis)’
  30. No. 3, ‘Idleness’ (Young)
  31. No. 4, ‘Christmas Day’ (Young)
  32. No. 5, ‘In Cornwall’ (Ridler)
  33. No. 6, ‘Expectans Expectavi’ (Ridler)
  34. No. 7, ‘The Holy Tide’ (Tennyson)
  35. No. 8, ‘The Glance’ (Herbert)
  36. No. 9, ‘Sleep’ (Williams)
  37. Jenifer’s Jingle, for piano

  38. Days and Moments
  39. II. Autumn: No. 4, ‘An Epitaph’ (Walter de la Mare)

4 reviews for Robin Milford: Piano Music and Songs

  1. :

    ‘[Milford’s] music has been undeservedly neglected, so this CD is a welcome display of his beautifully crafted, solidly made and yet light and flexible piano music, played with real sparkle by Raphael Terroni.’

    —Stephen Prichard, The Observer

  2. :

    ‘this is a most handsomely performed, recorded and presented collection representing the lyric pastel-shaded English pastoralism with which Milford’s scores are imbued’

    —Rob Barnett, MusicWeb International.

  3. :

    Editor’s Choice

    ‘… the strongest of Milford’s song settings […] possess a frequently captivating melodic charm and directness of expression to which many will rightly respond, especially when contralto Phillida Bannister sings with such infectious commitment and tangible projection. Terroni, too, accompanies with watchful sensitivity, and there can be no complaints about either Michael Ponder’s truthful production or Peter Hunter’s assiduously detailed notes. This generously filled anthology deserves every success.’

    —Andrew Achenbach, Gramophone

  4. :

    ‘Milford [songs] them had a wonderful way with words. […]

    His piano music also has vitality and wit’

    &mdashPatric Standford, Music & Vision

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