Serenade for tenor, horn and strings. Nocturne / Dies Natalis
Mark Padmore, Britten Sinfonia, Jacqueline Shave
1h18
Digital
HMU807552
Apple Music
Celebrated tenor Mark Padmore joins with Britten Sinfonia in some of the most beautiful English music for voice and orchestra. The centrepiece is Benjamin Britten’s magical evocation of twilight and nightfall, the Serenade (with Stephen Bell, horn). In Gerald Finzi’s song-cycle Dies Natalis, the ecstatic mood reflects a child’s wide-eyed wonder at the world. Britten’s poignant Nocturne completes the programme.
BENJAMIN BRITTEN [1913-1976] Serenade for tenor, horn & strings, Op.31 · I. Prologue (1'28) · II. Pastoral (3'35) · III. Nocturne (3'47) · IV. Elegy (4'26) · V. Dirge (3'34) · VI. Hymn (2'09) · VII. Sonnet (4'20) · VIII. Epilogue (1'28) Nocturne for tenor, seven obbligato instruments & strings, Op.60 · On a poet's lips I slept (3'27) · Below the thunders of the upper deep (3'52) · Encinctured with a twine of leaves (2'18) · Midnight's bell goes ting, ting, ting (2'39) · But that night when on my bed I lay (3'27) · She sleeps on soft, last breaths (4'44) · What is more gentle than a wind in summer? (3'39) · When most I wink, then do mine eyes best see (4'31) GERALD FINZI [1901-1956] Dies Natalis, Op.8 · I. Intrada (5'13) · II. Rhapsody: Recitativo stromentato (6'56) · III. The Rapture: Danza (4'07) · IV. Wonder: Arioso (4'10) · V. The Salutation: Aria (4'33)
