Mary Wiegold's Songbook

I bought this CD some years ago on its original release and I was quite surprised to find that nobody has reviewed it as yet. From the Amazon listings, it appears to have been reissued in 2001 but the contents remain the same.

As Robert Maycock writes in his 1991 introduction to the album, "The Songbook is an idea, not a publication"; none of the works contained here were the results of commissions, rather they are donations to the project by composers inspired by its concept. As with Diabelli's original idea to commission a set of variations on a theme from prominent Austrian composers of his era, the Songbook (as far as the selection here is concerned) provides as a fascinating snapshot of the work of British composers in the late 1980s and early 1990s; the Songbook is far less prescriptive (or commercially minded) than Diabelli's idea and composers are free to submit any vocal work, providing it meets the criteria of using an accompaniment of clarinets and the three lower strings - they are free to utilise the complete complement of such instruments or any combination of them; the piano is not allowed due to the restrictions its size would put on touring with the Songbook.

Beautifully realised by soprano Mary Wiegold, this is a wonderfully diverse and engaging collection. It ranges from the lyrical whimsy of Judith Weir's setting of an anonymous Spanish ballad of the 15th or 16th century to the slyly winking comedy of John Woolrich's `The Turkish Mouse' (the lyrics based on a traditional Turkish text), taking in the religious devotion of Philip Wilby's George Herbert setting, the melancholy unrequited love of Ernest Dowson's `Even Now' with music by David Bedford and the haunting, almost otherworldly tragedy of Birtwistle's response to Paul Celan's 'White and Light'. Other poets set to music include Michelangelo, Brecht and Wendy Cope as well as further traditional lyrics and anonymous verses. All texts are included; Weir is the only composer to set her non-English text in the original language and an English language translation is provided for her ballad (though not the Spanish poem itself).

This is a disc that has brought me a great deal of pleasure over the last couple of decades and is one that I return to regularly - either to dip into and programme my favourites or to listen to as a whole, relishing the diversity on offer; sensibly, there are several instrumental tracks that punctuate the selection and provide contrast - here they are pieces by John Dowland (arranged for the Composers' Ensemble by Dominic Muldowney) but, as Robert Maycock points out, in a live performance the selection could be as varied as the artists choose.

I had hoped - given that the Songbook apparently already "contained" around fifty songs by the time this album was recorded - that a second (and even a third) volume might be issued by NMC but sadly this didn't come to pass; perhaps if enough people buy this recording, the label might be persuaded to return to the project. In the meantime, however, this is a highly recommendable disc of vocal music by contemporary British composers, marvellously performed and in excellent sound.