Leighton, Kenneth – Earth Sweet Earth – SACD Hybrid

Leighton, Kenneth – Earth Sweet Earth – SACD Hybrid
Kenneth Leighton: Earth, Sweet Earth…(laudes terrae) & Benjamin Britten: Winter Words
Linn Records Hybrid SACD Multi-Channel – Plays on all SACD and CD players

Alongside pianist Anna Tilbrook, tenor James Gilchrist excels in a programme that includes the first modern recording of Leighton’s Earth, Sweet Earth and Britten’s popular and touching song cycle Winter Words.
Leighton’s Earth, Sweet Earth was commissioned in memory of Peter Pears – tenor and life-long partner of Benjamin Britten.
This is the first modern recording of this work since the original recording by Neil Mackie for whom the work was written.
Earth, Sweet Earth requires astonishing virtuosity from both vocalist and pianist, the piano taking on an almost orchestral role in settings of text by Ruskin and Hopkins.
Britten wrote Winter Words for Peter Pears. Set to eight poems by Thomas Hardy, this is the composer’s most popular song set.
James Gilchrist emotively conveys one of Britten’s favourite themes: the conflict between innocence and experience.

Tracklist:
1. Earth, Sweet Earth (Laudes Terrae), Op. 94 – I. Prelude – There was no thought  11:27
2. Earth, Sweet Earth (Laudes Terrae), Op. 94 – II. Inversnaid  04:58
3. Earth, Sweet Earth (Laudes Terrae), Op. 94 – III. Contemplation – In the snow  05:08
4. Earth, Sweet Earth (Laudes Terrae), Op. 94 – IV. The Ashtree  02:12
5. Earth, Sweet Earth (Laudes Terrae), Op. 94 – V. Binsey Poplars  05:31
6. Earth, Sweet Earth (Laudes Terrae), Op. 94 – VI. Hurrahing in Harvest  03:25
7. Earth, Sweet Earth (Laudes Terrae), Op. 94 – VII. Ribblesdale  07:42
8. Winter Words, Op. 52 – I. At Day-close in November  01:33
9. Winter Words, Op. 52 – II. Midnight on the Great Western  05:18
10. Winter Words, Op. 52 – III. Wagtail and Baby  02:08
11. Winter Words, Op. 52 – IV. The Little Old Table  01:24
12. Winter Words, Op. 52 – V. The Choirmaster’s Burial  04:21
13. Winter Words, Op. 52 – VI. Proud Songsters ‘Thrushes, Finches and Nightingales’  01:04
14. Winter Words, Op. 52 – VII. At the Railway Station, Upway  03:34
15. Winter Words, Op. 52 – VIII. Before Life and After  03:47