A series of programmes arranged and introduced by Elizabeth Poston
2 — ' Saudades ' and ' The Curlew '
Pierre Bernac (baritone)
Geoffrey Gilbert (flute)
Leon Goossens (cor anglais)
Aeolian String Quartet:
Alfred Cave (violin). Leonard Dight (violin), Watson Forbes (viola), John Moore (cello)
Conducted by Constant Lambert
' Saudades ' and ' The Curlew ' belong to the same period of Peter Warlock 's life, and share a relationship of mood —' that haunting sense of sadness and regret for days gone by ' which lie quotes as Cranmer Byng 's definition of the Portuguese word saudades. for which there is no equivalent in English. The three settings comprising ' Saudades ' were composed in 1917. when Warlock was twenty-three, and and are strongly influenced by his friend. Van Dieren, to whom the first is dedicated.
Warlock spent the year 1917-18 in Ireland where he lived for several months on the Aran Islands. off the coast of Galway. studying the Irish language and reading. In Dublin he took part in the city's artistic life and made the acquaintance of W. B. Yeats , four of whose poems he linked together two years later as ' The Curlew,' with an impressionism that bears witness to his reaction to the Irish landscape. — ELIZABETHPOSTON
Other programmes in the series: June 17, 22, and 26