Brahms:
Unbewegte laue Luft L - Georg Friedrich Daumer From:
8 Lieder and songs Op. 57 (1871)

Saint-Saens:
La Coccinelle L - Victor Hugo (1868)

Wolf:
No. 2 Der Knabe und das Immlein L - Eduard Mörike (1888)

Schonberg:
Brettl-Lieder, (Cabaret Songs) Eight Songs No. 5 Mahnung

Stenhammer:
o. 1 Flickan kom ifran sin älsklungs möte

Clarke:
The Seal Man L. John Masefield (1922)

Prokofiev:
No. 3 Trust me L. Boris Bashkirov From Five Poems, Op. 23 (1915)

Wood:
No. 9 Horizon L. Robert Graves From Wild Cyclamen, Op. 49 (2005-2006)

Heggie:
Snake (Eve-Song) L. Philipp Littell (1996)

Weil:
Complainte de la Seine L. Maurice Magre (1934)

Britten:
No. 4 Fish in the unruffled lakes, From Six Auden Settings L. W H Auden

“It is with immense pleasure and pride that I introduce this album in collaboration with my great friend and musical partner, Ella O’Neill. Since our respective studies at the Royal College of Music in London, we have been extremely fortunate to have enjoyed successes at the Das Lied Competition at the Heidelberger Frühling Festspiele and the Wigmore Hall/Bollinger International Song Competition. We have been planning this programme for a number of years, and it was a privilege to record these songs at the Hans Rosbaud Studio in Baden-Baden. There is an idea that the darkest, most lustful and impulsive versions of ourselves stem from our innocence having been corrupted. This idea forms the basis of this programme through its sub-themes of inexperience, naivety and corruption: sources of fascination to me and the composers whose works feature. We were interested in piecing together a journey from childhood through to adulthood and exploring these romantic, sexual and emotional awakenings. The programme begins from the perspective of youth and all its bright-eyed optimism. From the impressionable, enamoured boy (depicted in Der Knabe und das Immlein and La coccinelle) to the reckless abandon of a girl seduced (vividly explored in Flickan kom ifran sin älsklings möte and The Seal Man). These complexities of growing up and the realisation of what it means to love and, conversely, to lust, drive this journey towards its darker themes……... What I enjoy most about many of these songs are the various perspectives from the different characters portrayed, which are immense fun to interpret and dissect. The pianist plays a role of equal importance in colouring these texts, and in exploring this musical dialogue between voice and piano, the dramatic tension is revealed. (Laurence Kilsby)