LOUISE MAURICE (Soprano)
Accompanied by the COMPOSER
Snowflakes
Day is Dying Lovers
For a Dream's Sake
Fantasy
DR. HANS RICHTER, who conducted a great many more works than he ever gave an opinion of, is reported to have once said that a certain work of each of three British composers would stand the test of time. He cited Parry's 'Blest Pair of Sirens', Stanford's Serenade for Orchestra, and Cowen's Scandinavian Symphony. But time has passed, so has Richter, and even the dictum has been forgotten. Sir Frederic Cowen's songs, however, are another matter. He has written some 300 of them, and though by no means all of them are sung today, a chosen few are to be found with consistent frequency in concert programmes all over the kingdom. When the ballad, which is now said to have waned, was at the height of its popularity, none had a greater following with every type and grade of singer than did Cowen, and with reason, for his range of expression and emotion combined with grace, fantasy, and consummate musicianship were not equalled in those days by any other writer of songs of the ballad order.