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A Country House Weekend – May 1, 2005 | Walter Hall, Toronto
20th century English songs from the period between the two World Wars

date: May 1, 2005

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 McGillivray, Peter, baritone; Ralls, Stephen, piano Ireland, John Blake, Ernest
Gavotte Burgess, Norine, mezzo; Ralls, Stephen, piano Howells, Herbert Newbolt, Sir Henry
Love’s Philosophy Huhtanen, Carla, soprano; Ralls, Stephen, piano Delius, Frederick Shelley, Percy Bysshe
An Aside (Five 16th Century Poems) McGillivray, Peter, baritone; Ralls, Stephen, piano Ireland, John anon.
Sleep Huhtanen, Carla, soprano; Ubukata, Bruce, piano Gurney, Ivor Fletcher, John
Nine of the clock Huhtanen, Carla, soprano; Ubukata, Bruce, piano Gurney, Ivor Doyle, John
It was a lover and his lass, Op.18/5 (Let us garlands bring) Burgess, Norine, mezzo; Ubukata, Bruce, piano Finzi, Gerald Shakespeare, William
The Trellis McGillivray, Peter, baritone; Ubukata, Bruce, piano Ireland, John Huxley, Aldous
Tordion (Capriol Suite) Ralls, Stephen / Ubukata, Bruce, piano Warlock, Peter n/a
The Contented Lover Huhtanen, Carla, soprano; Ubukata, Bruce, piano Warlock, Peter Mabbe, James
Sleep Burgess, Norine, mezzo; Ubukata, Bruce, piano Warlock, Peter Fletcher, John
A Thanksgiving (Five 16th Century Poems) McGillivray, Peter, baritone; Ubukata, Bruce, piano Ireland, John Cornysh, William ?
Earth’s Call (A Sylvan Rhapsody) Burgess, Norine, mezzo; Ralls, Stephen, piano Ireland, John Munro, Harold
Old Sir Faulk (Façade) Huhtanen, Carla, 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) McGillivray, Peter, baritone; Ubukata, Bruce, piano Britten, Benjamin Auden, Wystan Hugh
Underneath the abject willow (Two Ballads) Huhtanen, Carla, soprano; Burgess, Norine, 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 McGillivray, Peter, baritone; Ralls, Stephen, piano Bridge, Frank Bridges, Robert
Nocturne, Op.11/4 (On This Island) Huhtanen, Carla, soprano; Ralls, Stephen, piano Britten, Benjamin Auden, Wystan Hugh
The Sweet Season (Five 16th Century Poems) McGillivray, Peter, baritone; Ralls, Stephen, piano Ireland, John Edwardes, Richard
Love went a-riding Burgess, Norine, mezzo; Ralls, Stephen, piano Bridge, Frank Coleridge, Mary
Thank you so much, Mrs Lowsborough-Goodby   – ENCORE Huhtanen, Carla, soprano; Burgess, Norine, mezzo; McGillivray, Peter, baritone; Ralls, Stephen / Ubukata, Bruce, piano Porter, Cole Porter, Cole