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Shaw was born in 1875, composed through two world wars, co-edited the Songs of Praise hymn book and The Oxford Book of Carols, and died in 1958. During his lifetime, he was sufficiently well known and respected for Benjamin Britten to commission him to write for the first Aldeburgh festival in 1948. Nowadays though, if he’s remembered at all it’s as the man responsible for the ever-popular hymns Morning Has Broken and Hills of the North, Rejoice.
So, is such posthumous obscurity understandable, or a travesty? Well, probably both. Shaw was writing within a British musical climate that was absolutely dominated first by Vaughan Williams, and then by Britten. You had to have a pretty loud musical voice to be heard over the top of them, and Shaw, with an output consisting of easy-on-the-ear anthems, hymns and songs, did not. In fact, his only large-scale work, a 1926 “ballad-opera” entitled Mr Pepys, sunk without trace.
Still, there's more to life than operas and symphonies. The 36 songs on this disc are captivating for their directness of expression, strong melodies and evocative texts, and beguiling for the fact that all this musical plain-speaking sits atop a more ambiguous and transient harmonic palate. Indeed, transience is a recurrent theme, the spectres of loss and death ever-present whether through German guns or malevolent sprites. Andrew Kennedy picks up on this touchingly in Over the Sea, his rise of a fifth at the end of each stanza hauntingly dying away as if carried off across the waves by the piano. This link between piano and voice permeates the entire recording: there's an abundance of sensitive, sympathetic readings in which singer and pianist dovetail into one, whether the song in question is simply an enjoyable little vignette, or whether there have been deeper levels to draw out.
It's highly unlikely that Shaw will ever achieve notoriety beyond that of an interesting A.N. Other of 20th century English music. But even so, it would be wonderful to think that this massively enjoyable disc might at least land a few of his songs into more established positions within the solo repertory. They do deserve that much.
--Charlotte Gardner
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What was he like as a composer? Well, if the 36 songs on this disc are anything to go by, a very fine one. What is immediately striking about these works is their melodic freshness and directness of approach. The tunes are instantly accessible and the accompaniment is unfussy without ever lacking in interest. His chosen texts are diverse in scope and the settings embrace a wide range of moods, from melancholy to ebullient high spirits, with everything in between. A third of the songs recorded here are to texts by Shakespeare, Kipling and Rossetti. Among the remainder are a host of "unknowns" (often gleaned from The Times), including minor war poets, some of whose verse is really quite slight, and one wonders whether Shaw really did himself a service in setting it. Yet, on occasion, it is the "unknowns" who bring out the best in him. For example, the first song, "Venizel", to a text by a Capt. W.A. Short (d.1917), was considered by John Ireland to be Shaw's best song up to that time. Of the Shakespeare settings, there is a wonderfully atmospheric "Full Fathom Five", with some marvellous invention in the accompaniment, and a "Come Away, Death" which stands up pretty well to the more celebrated settings by Finzi and Quilter.
I acquired this CD initially out of curiosity, having heard of Martin Shaw the musician, but nothing of his music. I have no hesitation, now, in recommending it to all lovers of English song, in which tradition it sits very comfortably. The performers - Sophie Bevan (sop.), Andrew Kennedy (ten.), Roderick Williams (bar.), and Iain Burnside (piano) are first class, and do Shaw's music full justice.
Shaw's songs are surprising and telling in their breadth and variety : one of the chief pleasures in this collection is its sheer diversity, from pastoral to lines penned in both world wars. As a setter of words by Shakespeare or Rossetti or Kipling to the eponymous Airmen by Margaret Armour, what is impressive every time is his rare ability to carry the verse and colour the text without ever masking it or using it for musical effects alone; the music serves and supports the words directly and imaginatively, sometimes with a hard edge, sometimes with a softer focus, always in a completely appropriate and engaging style. Iain Burnside singles out the music's 'singability' and it is this direct and immediately engaging quality which is another strength; Shaw was clearly a gifted melodist too.
The CD provides a generous programme of 30 songs lasting nearly 80 minutes in beautifully judged performances by soprano,Sophie Bevan, tenor, Andrew Kennedy, baritone, Roderick Williams, and pianist,Iain Burnside. The disc comes with a booklet of photographs, complete texts and excellent notes by George Odam, whose energy and belief in the special qualities of Shaw's music, has been the inspiration and driving force in bringing these songs to life again.
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