Recording Review #49: Stirring Stanford

Partsongs, Pastorals and Folksongs (Music by Charles Villiers Stanford). Harry Christophers, conductor; The Sixteen. Coro COR16207. 

In case my Recording Review #15 didn't make it clear, I'm a big fan of Anglo-Irish composer Charles Villiers Stanford (1852-1924). True, I'm a British music nut and therefore something of an outlier. But I do believe Stanford's stock has been historically undervalued for two reasons: 1. Pleasant as they are (especially the Irish Rhapsodies), Stanford's big instrumental works don't exactly knock the listener's socks off with great daring or originality. And his operas have for long been unknown. As these genres usually receive maximum attention from historians of the Romantic era, CVS has suffered considerable prestige disadvantage; and 2. Even the choral works that show him at his best often do so in an understated manner. Occasionally you get fiery intensity (For Lo, I raise up), or something otherwise rousing ("The Little Admiral" from Songs of the Fleet), but more often Stanford shines in painting softer scenes and emotions. His Stabat Mater, for example, is gently stirring rather than hysterical. It's unsurprising that more dramatic choral works like Verdi's Requiem and Bruckner's Te Deum have received more press.

If your musical palette is for bold flavors, you may not consider the small choral selections on this recording to be much beyond nice. But if you're in a position to be impressed by Stanford's sensitive text setting, and can develop a taste for the pastel colors in which he paints, you'll probably find it all to be as delightful as I do. Where he excels is in fitting delicate musical atmospheres to evocative scenes that are usually of a religious, folkish, natural, and/or historical tint. Again though, this is not necessarily a readily acquired taste. Even Stanford's biographer, Paul Rodmell, is dismissive of the Op. 127 partsongs included here, inexplicably calling them "uninspired" (Rodmell, Charles Villiers Stanford, Routledge, 2002/2017, pg. 268). I, on the other hand, consider them to be immersive in the best sense. Mary Coleridge's moody poetry is a great fit for his gifts. No. 4 ("The Haven") particularly "hits the spot," but all of the others in the set are worthy, too.

Which leads me to point out a fantastic feature of this recording: we get entire sets of songs instead of just selections. Excepting the Op. 79 folk song arrangements, many numbers across the other groups are recorded here for the first time. (Well, the bonus track of Emer’s Farewell to Cucullain is a one-off and not part of a set.) Listening to these pieces as parts of wholes enhances them. Their different characters complement and feed off of one another. I especially felt this with the Six Elizabethan Pastorals (Set I), Op. 49. Just two of its numbers, "Damon's passion" and "Phoebe," receive their premiere recordings here. But they add markedly to the listening experience.

Harry Christophers and The Sixteen perform with spirit and precision. The Stanford Society's support of this venture is most welcome. What's not to like?

Verdict: Warmly Recommended