In the centenary anniversary year of Hubert Parry’s death, the eagerly-awaited second volume in Somm’s complete survey of his English Lyrics highlights a deeply-felt connection to the richly evocative language of the Elizabethan and Jacobean eras. There is breadth, too, ranging eloquently into the romantic realms of 18th- and 19th-century texts and the nascent modernity of the 20th century. Tenor James Gilchrist, baritone Roderick Williams and pianist Andrew West are re-united here, with soprano Sarah Fox contributing to the three-volume series for the first time. Plaudits for Volume 1 included The Classical Reviewer hailing it “an auspicious start to this series,” while Gramophone approvingly declared “Roll on Vol.2!” Drawing on texts spanning five centuries, this second volume reveals Parry’s wide reading of English poetry and includes Book 9 of the English Lyrics – featuring seven songs by Mary Coleridge (great-grand-niece of Romantic poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge) – in its entirety. Among the treasures it contains are ‘The Maiden’, a fantasy-accented hymn to Spring, the meditative love song ‘Whether I live’ and the sensuously melodious ‘Armida’s Garden’ – described by Parry expert Jeremy Dibble in his booklet notes as “arguably the masterpiece of the collection”.
