Located in the UK
Located in the USA
Located in Europe
- Nico Muhly
Four Traditional Songs (2011)
- St. Rose Music Publishing (World)
Commissioned by Carnegie Hall and Wigmore Hall. The world premiere was given by Iestyn Davies and Kevin Murphy in Weill Recital Hall, Carnegie Hall, New York City on December 15, 2011, and at Wigmore Hall, London on May 7, 2012.
Programme Note
Comprises the individual titles:
A Brisk Young Lad
Searching for Lambs
The Cruel Mother
The Bitter Withy
COMPOSER’S NOTE
I selected these four songs after spending many hours obsessing over Alfred Deller’s Vanguard recording of British folksongs. One in particular struck me as heartbreakingly poignant: his unaccompanied rendition of the Bitter Withy. I tried to imagine what a highly stylized but understated accompaniment might sound like, and that forms the fourth song in this collection. The Cruel Mother, about a woman who kills her children and is then visited by their ghosts, is a particularly gruesome murder ballad, and works over a large vocal range. Searching for Lambs has a wonderfully irregular footprint, which required very little interference from me, and A Brisk Young Lad is one of the most unforgivingly sad ballads in the catalogue. This collection is dedicated to Iestyn Davies.
PERFORMANCE NOTE
A brief note: as the songs are all, loosely, narratives, the performers should take enormous liberties with tempo and dynamics. The indicated dynamics in the piano part are just suggestions and should be subject to vigorous and joyful replacement.
– Nico Muhly 2011