# Works for ensemble and voice



## Richannes Wrahms (Jan 6, 2014)

This thread is dedicated to that fantastic combination of colours that results from a mix of timbres and the power of the human voice.

Examples:

*Schönberg*'s String Quartet No. 2
*Schönberg*'s Herzgewächse
*Schönberg*'s Pierrot lunaire
*Ravel*'s 3 Poèmes de Stéphane Mallarmé
*Ravel*'s Chansons madécasses
*Villa-Lobos*'s Bachianas Brasileiras No. 5
*Boulez*: Le Marteau sans Maître
*Birtwistle's* Nenia: The Death of Orpheus
*Ginastera*'s String Quartet No. 3
*Crumb*'s Night of the Four Moons
*Ligeti's *Síppal, dobbal, nádihegedűvel
*Benjamin*'s Upon Silence
*Murail*'s "La Vallée Close, sur des sonnets de Pétrarque"


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## Kreisler jr (Apr 21, 2021)

Zemlinsky: Maiblumen blühten überall (may's flowers were in bloom everywhere) soprano + string sextet

Respighi: Il tramonto (sunset) soprano + string quartet


Of course, there are lots of baroque solo cantatas that would technically qualify.


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## juliante (Jun 7, 2013)

The Album 'If' by the countertenor Iestyn Davies and the voil consort Fretwork has a unique and beguiling atmosphere. Mainly Nyman but also some Purcell. I recommend it highly.


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## Art Rock (Nov 28, 2009)

My personal favourite would be Warlock's The Curlew on texts by Yeats, for singer, flute, cor anglais and string quartet.


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## Mandryka (Feb 22, 2013)

From the booklet



> It is important to observe how, in this composition, the voice extends itself to the corresponding
> instruments. In fact, the instruments
> embrace the sound of the words and
> direct it elsewhere. Likewise, the singing voice is sometimes treated as an
> ...







https://cdn.naxosmusiclibrary.com/sharedfiles/booklets/KAI/booklet-9120040735708.pdf


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## Nereffid (Feb 6, 2013)

juliante said:


> The Album 'If' by the countertenor Iestyn Davies and the voil consort Fretwork has a unique and beguiling atmosphere. Mainly Nyman but also some Purcell. I recommend it highly.


Seconded! Fretwork also have an excellent album with Clare Wilkinson that covers a wider range of composers, including Byrd, Wolf and Goehr.


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## allaroundmusicenthusiast (Jun 3, 2020)

Mandryka said:


> View attachment 156108
> 
> 
> From the booklet
> ...


I came across this work recently on Spotify. I liked it quite a lot.


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## allaroundmusicenthusiast (Jun 3, 2020)

Richannes Wrahms said:


> This thread is dedicated to that fantastic combination of colours that results from a mix of timbres and the power of the human voice.


I agree 100%, so I will be following this thread closely. In the meantime, here's a thread I started a while ago, very similar to this one Recommend song cycles with unusual instrumentation


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## Josquin13 (Nov 7, 2017)

In my view, the finest works in this genre have mostly come from the French composers of the Belle Epoque--Maurice Ravel, Albert Roussel, Gabriel Faure, Maurice Delage, Ernst Chausson, André Caplet, etc. With that in mind, there are two excellent CD albums that I would strongly recommend--although both partly present the same repertory--by mezzo sopranos Anne Sofie von Otter, and Dame Janet Baker:

1. "La Bonne Chanson - French Chamber Songs", Anne Sofie von Otter and pianist Bengt Forsberg, with various chamber musicians, performing the following works (in excellent digital sound): IMO, this is one of the finest CDs that Otter has recorded in her career:

--Ravel: Trois Poémes de Stéphane Mallarmé:




--Chausson: Chanson Perpetuelle: 



--Martin: Trois Chants de Noël: 












--Delage: Quatre Poémes Hindous:



--Saint-Saens: Un flûte invisible: 



--Poulenc: Rapsodie nègre: 



--Fauré: La Bonne Chanson (the chamber version of this song cycle): 




https://www.amazon.com/Bonne-Chanso...swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1623171993&sr=8-1

2. Dame Janet Baker, French Chamber Songs, with the Melos Ensemble, analogue recordings from 1966: This CD was given a rosette award by the old Penquin Guide and deservedly so:

Here's the whole album, with all the tracks in the order that they appear on the Eloquence reissue (of the original Decca LP):

--Baker, Ravel, Trois Poémes de Stéphane Mallarmé: 



--Baker, Ravel, Chansons madécasses:



--Baker, Chausson, Chanson Perpetuelle: 



--Baker, Delage, Quatre poémes hindous: 




https://www.prestomusic.com/classical/products/7986456--french-songs

3. The Nash Ensemble has also recorded in this repertory, with mezzo soprano Sarah Walker. I have especially liked their recording of Faure's La Bonne Chanson song cycle--which I originally owned on LP and it remains my favorite version, but also their Ravel chamber songs, too; along with their performance of Debussy's Les Chansons de Bilitis, with speaker Delphine Seyrig:

--Walker, Nash Ensemble, Faure La Bonne Chanson, Un Sainte en son Aureole:



--Walker, Nash Ensemble, Ravel Chansons madécasses: 1. Nahandove: 



--Seyrig, Nash Ensemble, Debussy Les Chanson de Bilitis: IV. Chanson: 




https://www.amazon.com/Faure-Chanson-Op-120-Walker-Ensemble/dp/B00PO5DA7G
https://www.amazon.com/Debussy-Rave...e+debussy+ravel&qid=1623176989&s=music&sr=1-1

4. Soprano Elly Ameling has also recorded both versions of Faure's song cycle, the one for soprano and piano with pianist Dalton Baldwin, and the chamber version with pianist Rudolf Jansen and the Sweelinck Quartet:





In addition, just yesterday I was listening to Ameling sing the music of Ravel on the following Erato CD, where she sings the Trois Poémes de Stéphane Mallarmé, with Quatour Viotti, among other Ravel songs: 



.

5. Another excellent soprano that has recorded extensively within this repertory is Sandrine Piau, who has recorded several worthwhile albums:

--Piau, Roussel: 2 Poémes de Ronsard flûte et voix - 1. Rossingnol: 




--Piau, Roussel: 2 Poémes de Ronsard - 2. Ciel, aer, et vens:




--Piau & tenor Hervé Lamy - Une Flûte Invisible.. : Musique française à l'aube du XX siécle, with Arthur Schoonderwoerd playing a period Erard piano: https://www.amazon.com/Une-flûte-in...invisible+alpha&qid=1623175225&s=music&sr=1-1 
--Piau, Chausson, Chanson Perpetuelle:




--Piau, André Caplet, Deux Sonnets for Voice and Harp, with Ensemble Musique Oblique: "Quand reverrai-je, hélas!...": 



--Piau, André Caplet, Septour "à cordes vocales et instrumentales", with Ensemble Musique Oblique: 




6. In addition, Johannes Brahms composed two beautiful chamber songs, Zwei Gesänge, Op. 91 for soprano, viola, and piano: Here they are performed by mezzo soprano Dame Janet Baker, violist Cecil Aronowitz, and pianist Andre Previn (in 1977): 




7. Finally, among contemporary composers, I've been impressed by the Danish composer, Poul Ruders' "Dreamland" for soprano, clarinet and string quartet. So far, it hasn't been issued on CD, but here's a link to a live performance by soprano Helena Juntunen at the Esbjerg International Chamber Music Festival in 2012: 



.

Of course, there are in addition many wonderful orchestral songs, too (are we including them in this thread?)-- by the likes of Duparc, Strauss, Mahler, Ravel, Chausson, Elgar, etc. This double CD discount set makes an excellent place to start: https://www.amazon.com/Great-Opera-Divas-Janet-Baker/dp/B000023ZQ9.


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## Josquin13 (Nov 7, 2017)

8. Oh, & how could I forget to mention Willam Byrd's Consort Songs in my above post, since they are great favorites of mine, especially Byrd's heartfelt lament or Elegy on the death of his teacher & mentor, Thomas Tallis, "Ye Sacred Muses":

Ye sacred Muses, race of Jove,
whom Music's lore delighteth,
Come down from crystal heav'ns above
to earth where sorrow dwelleth,
In mourning weeds, with tears in eyes:
Tallis is dead, and Music dies.

There are three excellent recordings of "Ye Sacred Muses" and other Byrd consort songs that I'd recommend, they are:

--Michael Chance, with Fretwork:




--The Hilliard Ensemble, with London Baroque:




--Gerard Lesne, with Ensemble Orlando Gibbons (though Lesne's English pronunciation of the texts isn't quite as distinctive & clear as the native born English singers above; nevertheless, his artistry is wonderful: Here's a link to the whole album:





9. As well as contemporary British composer, John Tavener's beautiful works in this genre, such as the following:

--Eternity's Sunrise, for soprano & baroque ensemble:




--Ikon of Light, for double choir and string trio: 
https://music.apple.com/gb/album/john-tavener-ikon-of-light-funeral-ikos-the-lamb/797540241




--The Bridegroom: 



--Darkness into Light: 



--Towards Silence, for four string quartets and large tibetan temple bowl: 



.


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## Mandryka (Feb 22, 2013)

(I think this is a much better performance than the one on the ECM CD)


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## SanAntone (May 10, 2020)

Two of my favorites are by *Othmar Schoeck*:

_Elegie_, op. 36






_Notturno_, op. 47


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## Josquin13 (Nov 7, 2017)

Art Rock,

Thanks for the introduction to Peter Warlock's The Curlew, which is a work that I didn't know. I can see why it's your "personal favorite", as it's fascinating music, with a text by W.B. Yeats, who's a favorite poet of mine. Here's the recording that I listened to on You Tube by tenor James Gilchrist with the Fitzwilliam Quartet, which I liked: 



. Do you have a favorite recording? I see that tenor Ian Partridge has also recorded it...?


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## cougarjuno (Jul 1, 2012)

The Shostakovich Suite of 7 Romances for soprano and piano trio has always been a favorite -- an absolutely sublime work


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## cougarjuno (Jul 1, 2012)

Schubert's Der Hirt auf dem Felsen


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## Art Rock (Nov 28, 2009)

Josquin13 said:


> Art Rock,
> 
> Thanks for the introduction to Peter Warlock's The Curlew, which is a work that I didn't know. I can see why it's your "personal favorite", as it's fascinating music, with a text by W.B. Yeats, who's a favorite poet of mine. Here's the recording that I listened to on You Tube by tenor James Gilchrist with the Fitzwilliam Quartet, which I liked:
> 
> ...


I have the Partridde (on EMI):










and Griffett on Pearl:










Between these two, I have a preference for Partridge, but there can be the usual bias of the version that introduced the work to me. I'll give your YouTube link a try later.


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## Art Rock (Nov 28, 2009)

By the way, from that same EMI disc, 

Vaughan Williams - On Wenlock Edge

for voice and piano quintet is another wonderful example of what the OP is looking for.


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