Milford: Piano Music and Songs
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Robin Milford: Piano Music and Songs

Catalogue Number: TOCC0009
EAN: 5060113440099
Release Date: 28 April 2008
Duration: 78:18

Editor’s choice – Gramophone

My Lady’s Pleasure
Four Hardy Songs
Cradle Song
Daybreak
Reputation Square
Four Songs
Four Seasonable Songs
Prelude, Air and Finale
Swan Songs
Jenifer’s Jingle
Days and Moments

Phillida Bannister, contralto
Raphael Terroni, piano

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.

Booklet texts (PDF)

Track Listing, MP3 Downloads and Streaming Samples

Track No. Track Title / Details Duration Sample Add to Cart
DOWNLOAD COMPLETE ALBUM 78:18
1-3 My Lady’s Pleasure, for piano (1925)

Robin Milford, composer
Raphael Terroni, piano
(first recording)		 6:16
1 Pastorale 2:35 play
2 Gavotte 1:50 play
3 Jig 1:51 play
4-5 Four Hardy Songs (Hardy) (1925)

Robin Milford, composer
Phillida Bannister, contralto
Raphael Terroni, piano
(first recording)		 4:35
4 No. 2, ‘The Colour’ 2:10 play
5 No. 4, ‘Tolerance’ 2:25 play
6 Cradle Song (Blake) (1925)

Robin Milford, composer
Phillida Bannister, contralto
Raphael Terroni, piano
(first recording)		 3:11 play
7 Daybreak (Donne) (1925)

Robin Milford, composer
Phillida Bannister, contralto
Raphael Terroni, piano
(first recording)		 1:52 play
8-13 Reputation Square, for piano (1925)

Robin Milford, composer
Raphael Terroni, piano
(first recording)		 13:35
8 Matthew’s and Welch’s 2:11 play
9 Reputation Square 2:17 play
10 George’s, and the New Wells Hornpipe 1:36 play
11 Trim the French 2:37 play
12 Jack in his Trousers 1:38 play
13 Jupiter in the Clouds 3:16 play
14-16 Four Songs (Bridges), Nos. 1, 2 and 4 (1925)

Robin Milford, composer
Phillida Bannister, contralto
Raphael Terroni, piano
(first recording)		 8:56
14 No. 1, ‘So Sweet Love Seemed’ 2:36 play
15 No. 2, ‘Elegy’ 3:56 play
16 No. 4, ‘Love on my Heart’ 2:24 play
17-18 Four Seasonable Songs, Nos. 2 and 4 (1925)

Robin Milford, composer
Phillida Bannister, contralto
Raphael Terroni, piano
(first recording)		 2:52
17 No. 2, ‘Summer. Pleasure It Is’ (Cornish) 0:49 play
18 No. 4, ‘Winter. This Endris Night’ (Anon) 2:03 play
19-21 Prelude, Air and Finale (on a well-known mordent), for piano (1925)

Robin Milford, composer
Raphael Terroni, piano
(first recording)		 10:42
19 Prelude 3:13 play
20 Air 3:28 play
21 Finale 4:01 play
22-30 Swan Songs (1925)

Robin Milford, composer
Phillida Bannister, contralto
Raphael Terroni, piano
(first recording)		 21:30
22 No. 1, ‘Song of St Mary the Virgin (The Magnificat)’ 4:08 play
23 No. 2, ‘The Song of Simeon (The Nunc Dimittis)’ 1:28 play
24 No. 3, ‘Idleness’ (Young) 1:40 play
25 No. 4, ‘Christmas Day’ (Young) 2:23 play
26 No. 5, ‘In Cornwall’ (Ridler) 2:32 play
27 No. 6, ‘Expectans Expectavi’ (Ridler) 1:43 play
28 No. 7, ‘The Holy Tide’ (Tennyson) 2:40 play
29 No. 8, ‘The Glance’ (Herbert) 2:25 play
30 No. 9, ‘Sleep’ (Williams) 2:31 play
31 Jenifer’s Jingle, for piano (1925)

Robin Milford, composer
Raphael Terroni, piano
(first recording)		 3:05 play
32 Days and Moments (1925)

Robin Milford, composer
Phillida Bannister, contralto
Raphael Terroni, piano
(first recording)		 1:44
32 II. Autumn: No. 4, ‘An Epitaph’ (Walter de la Mare) 1:44 play

Artists

Robin Milford

Robin Milford, composer

Phillida Bannister

Phillida Bannister, contralto

Raphael Terroni

Raphael Terroni, piano

Reviews

Robin Milford came from a quintessentially English stable. Taught by Vaughan Williams, Holst and Henry Ley, and a friend of Gerald Finzi, he could have shared their prominence, but in a sense he came too late. His 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. Phillida Bannister has a tougher job with the songs, which often reflect Milford’s darker, suicidal nature.

Stephen Pritchard The Observer

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

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