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A Country House Weekend – April 30, 1995 | Walter Hall, Toronto
20th century English songs from the period between the two World Wars

date: April 30, 1995

Subtitled “An English idyll, in four days and a prologue”, this concert (first presented on May 12, 1985) depicted the relationships of a group of characters over one weekend in a country house. Most of the personalities were taken from Aldous Huxley’s novel Crome Yellow (1921), with a few from P.G.Wodehouse’s Blandings Castle (1935). (Huxley’s work is a thinly disguised description of life at Lady Ottoline Morrell’s Garsington Manor.) The songs and piano-duets, mostly by Ireland, Gurney, Warlock and Britten, followed a time line from Friday afternoon through to Monday morning. Extracts from the novels provided the dialogue delivered by the five performers.

Song Artist Composer Poet
Fanfare (Façade) Ralls, Stephen / Ubukata, Bruce, piano Walton, Sir William, arr. Lambert, Constant n/a
The Journey Neff, Daniel, baritone; Ralls, Stephen, piano Ireland, John Blake, Ernest
Gavotte Robbin, Catherine, mezzo; Ralls, Stephen, piano Howells, Herbert Newbolt, Sir Henry
Love’s Philosophy Domoney, Kathryn, soprano; Ralls, Stephen, piano Delius, Frederick Shelley, Percy Bysshe
An Aside (Five 16th Century Poems) Neff, Daniel, baritone; Ralls, Stephen, piano Ireland, John anon.
Sleep Domoney, Kathryn, soprano; Ubukata, Bruce, piano Gurney, Ivor Fletcher, John
Nine of the clock Domoney, Kathryn, soprano; Ubukata, Bruce, piano Gurney, Ivor Doyle, John
It was a lover and his lass, Op.18/5 (Let us garlands bring) Robbin, Catherine, mezzo; Ubukata, Bruce, piano Finzi, Gerald Shakespeare, William
The Trellis Neff, Daniel, baritone; Ubukata, Bruce, piano Ireland, John Huxley, Aldous
Tordion (Capriol Suite) Ralls, Stephen / Ubukata, Bruce, piano Warlock, Peter n/a
The Contented Lover Domoney, Kathryn, soprano; Ubukata, Bruce, piano Warlock, Peter Mabbe, James
Sleep Robbin, Catherine, mezzo; Ubukata, Bruce, piano Warlock, Peter Fletcher, John
A Thanksgiving (Five 16th Century Poems) Neff, Daniel, baritone; Ubukata, Bruce, piano Ireland, John Cornysh, William ?
Earth’s Call (A Sylvan Rhapsody) Robbin, Catherine, mezzo; Ralls, Stephen, piano Ireland, John Munro, Harold
Old Sir Faulk (Façade) Domoney, Kathryn, soprano; Ralls, Stephen / Ubukata, Bruce, piano Walton, Sir William, arr. Lambert, Constant Sitwell, Dame Edith
INTERMISSION
Polka (Façade) Ralls, Stephen / Ubukata, Bruce, piano Walton, Sir William, arr. Lambert, Constant n/a
Tell me the truth about love (Cabaret Songs) Neff, Daniel, baritone; Ubukata, Bruce, piano Britten, Benjamin Auden, Wystan Hugh
Underneath the abject willow (Two Ballads) Domoney, Kathryn, soprano; Robbin, Catherine, mezzo; Ralls, Stephen, piano Britten, Benjamin Auden, Wystan Hugh
Beethoven’s Binge (Two Cod-Pieces) Ralls, Stephen / Ubukata, Bruce, piano Warlock, Peter n/a
The Old Codger (Two Cod-Pieces) Ralls, Stephen / Ubukata, Bruce, piano Warlock, Peter n/a
So Perverse Neff, Daniel, baritone; Ralls, Stephen, piano Bridge, Frank Bridges, Robert
Nocturne, Op.11/4 (On This Island) Domoney, Kathryn, soprano; Ralls, Stephen, piano Britten, Benjamin Auden, Wystan Hugh
The Sweet Season (Five 16th Century Poems) Neff, Daniel, baritone; Ralls, Stephen, piano Ireland, John Edwardes, Richard
Love went a-riding Robbin, Catherine, mezzo; Ralls, Stephen, piano Bridge, Frank Coleridge, Mary
Thank you so much, Mrs Lowsborough-Goodby – ENCORE Domoney, Kathryn, soprano; Robbin, Catherine, mezzo; Neff, Daniel, baritone; Ralls, Stephen / Ubukata, Bruce, piano Porter, Cole Porter, Cole