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Songs on Songs
Launch Concert

June 10th, 2015

Amelia Berry soprano
Catherine Norton piano
with
Elisabeth Harris mezzo
Declan Cudd tenor
Jamie Henare baritone
and special guests
Richard Greager tenor
Roger Wilson bass
Terence Dennis piano

​Songbook's launch concert programme tackled the subject of song itself, as seen through the music and poetry of five centuries, with music from Josquin des Prez to David Farquhar. We heard Telemann in praise of new ideas, Mahler in sharply satirical mode on the subject of singing competitions, and William Bolcom on late nights in piano bars. We wished a happy centenary to Rachmaninov's Vocalise, and we took the chance to feature the music of two young composers whose promising careers were cut short by World War 1 in 1915: the German Rudi Stephan and the Englishman William Denis Browne.