Robin Milford: Piano Music and Songs
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
- Pastorale
- Gavotte
- Jig
- No. 2, ‘The Colour’
- No. 4, ‘Tolerance’
- Cradle Song (Blake)
- Daybreak (Donne)
- Matthew’s and Welch’s
- Reputation Square
- George’s, and the New Wells Hornpipe
- Trim the French
- Jack in his Trousers
- Jupiter in the Clouds
- No. 1, ‘So Sweet Love Seemed’
- No. 2, ‘Elegy’
- No. 4, ‘Love on my Heart’
- No. 2, ‘Summer. Pleasure It Is’ (Cornish)
- No. 4, ‘Winter. This Endris Night’ (Anon)
- Prelude
- Air
- Finale
- No. 1, ‘Song of St Mary the Virgin (The Magnificat)’
- No. 2, ‘The Song of Simeon (The Nunc Dimittis)’
- No. 3, ‘Idleness’ (Young)
- No. 4, ‘Christmas Day’ (Young)
- No. 5, ‘In Cornwall’ (Ridler)
- No. 6, ‘Expectans Expectavi’ (Ridler)
- No. 7, ‘The Holy Tide’ (Tennyson)
- No. 8, ‘The Glance’ (Herbert)
- No. 9, ‘Sleep’ (Williams)
- Days and Moments
- II. Autumn: No. 4, ‘An Epitaph’ (Walter de la Mare)
Four Hardy Songs (Hardy)
Reputation Square, for piano
Four Songs (Bridges), Nos 1, 2 and 4
Four Seasonable Songs, Nos. 2 and 4
Prelude, Air and Finale (on a well-known mordent), for piano
Swan Songs
Jenifer’s Jingle, for piano
2 reviews for Robin Milford: Piano Music and Songs
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Stephen Prichard :
“[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
Rob Barnett :
“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