I’m a bit of a latecomer to Quilter, and indeed, English Art Song in general. But last year, when Allan’s was closing down, I saw a book of Quilter art songs on special, and thought I’d take a look inside. After all, one shouldn’t shun a whole genre without trying it. Then I opened the book, and made a marvellous discovery – Art Song in English is basically really gorgeous poems set to music!
(yes, OK, I’m slow, but it hadn’t occurred to me. I’ve only ever sung art-song in other languages, and hadn’t really registered that the lyrics were written by Real Poets, as opposed to lyricists…)
Anyway, having made this delicious connection, the first thing I did was to take the book along to my singing teacher and basically say “Where do I start?” And she sang me this.
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A3CDDaMAoQk&version=3&hl=en_US&rel=0]