A Song Cycle by Liza Lehmann
Dorothy Bennett (Soprano), Ethel Fenton (Contralto), Sydney Coltham (Tenor), Percy Underwood (Baritone)
National Orchestra of Wales
(Cerddorfa Genedlaethol Cymru)
Conducted by Warwick Braithwaite

Probably, the most popular of the Song Cycles in which Madame Liza Lehmann found her happiest mode of expression, this is based on FitzGerald's translation of the Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam. It is laid out for four solo Voices, which combine four times in the course of it to sing quartets. They open it with a fine number on the lines beginning, 'Wake, for the Sun who scattered into flight the Stars....' They also bring the Cycle to an end with a quartet, 'Alas, that Spring should vanish with the Rose,' and their two other concerted numbers are 'Come, fill the cup,' near the beginning, and 'They say the Lion and the Lizard keep the courts,' which comes towards the end.
There is one Duet in which soprano and tenor join with fine effect, 'A Book of Verses underneath the bough,' and all the voices have fine solos. The Tenor's best innings are, 'Before the phantom of false morning died,' and 'Ah, Moon of my Delight.' The bass has also two important numbers, 'Whether at Naishapur or Babylon,' and 'Myself when young.' The contralto's most effective solo piece is: The worldly hope men set their hearts upon,' and for the soprano, the best-known number is: 'I sent my soul through the Invisible.' But through the cycle all the voices in turn have shorter solos as well, and the effect is not so much one of separate set numbers as of a complete work in which the spirit of the poem is very expressively illustrated.