Ralph Vaughan Williams : Young Singer, The-Bk 1-Baritone(Bass)

Collected (and set with a Piano accompaniment) by Ralph Vaughan Williams from the collection Folk Songs from the Eastern Counties.  For solo voice with Piano accompaniment.First sung to R. Vaughan Williams by James 'Duggie' Carter a King's Lynn fisherman  the song tells the story of the death of a young boy aboard a ship. According to comments from RVW himself 'The ballad was probably called forth by a particularly brutal case of ill treatment similiar to that narrated in it which occurred some twenty or thirty years ago'.Lyrics:One day a poor boy to me was bound apprentice Because of his beingfatherless;I took him out of St.James’ workhouse His mother being in deep distress.One day this poor boy unto me offended But nothing to him I did say Up to the mainmast shroud I sent him And there I kept him all that long day.All with my gasket I misused him So shamefully I can’t deny And by my barbarous cruel entreatment The very next day this poor boy died.You captains all throughout the nation Hear a voice and a warning take by me;Take special care of your apprenticeWhile you are on the raging sea.

The haunting melody of this traditional tune likely dates to the Middle Ages and was published by British composer Ralph Vaughan Williams in the 1906 English Hymnal. Freely adapted by Johnnie Vinson in this setting for young bands the minor melodyis stated first by low clarinets and horns. The next section introduces an original theme which is then combined with the first melody in the moving final section. Beautifully paced and scored largely in choral fashion this is a wonderfully freshand unique offering for holiday or winter concerts.

Through the years this well-known English folk song has been a favorite with composers including Ralph Vaughan Williams (English Folk Song Suite) and George Butterworth (The Bank of Green Willow). One of the best-known versions of Percy Grainger's 1921 setting for two pianos and this delightful arrangement for young bands is based in part on Grainger's version. Dur: 2:45

Even for Ralph Vaughan Williams the prospect of two world premieres within 24 hours must have been something of a rarity. Such was the case however on the first two days of June 1953 when his now classic arrangement of The Old Hundredth Psalm was sung at the Coronation of Elizabeth II in Westminster Abbey being preceded the evening before by the premiere of 'Silence and Music' fourth of ten partsongs of A Garland for the Queen commissioned from leading British composers by the Arts Council of Great Britain to honour the new monarch.Long unavailable except as separate items from individual publishers this historic collectionis now reissued complete by Stainer & Bell in its original single-volume format allowing conductors and singers to choose from a rich collection of choral music with which to mark the Queen's Diamond Jubilee and in 2013 the 60th anniversary of the Coronation itself.In addition to VW's contribution A Garland for the Queen includes important settings by Bax Berkeley Bliss Finzi Howells Ireland Rawsthorne Rubbra and Tippett. The collection moreover draws on the work of poets whose names likewise feature prominently in the annals of mid-century British literary talent: Clifford Bax Edmund Blunden Paul Dehn Christopher Fry Christopher Hassall James Kirkup Louis MacNeice Walter de la Mare Henry Reed and Ursula Wood.Intended as a counterpart to The Triumphs of Oriana of 1601 the celebrated madrigal volume published in praise of Elizabeth I by Thomas Morley A Garland for the Queen emulates its distinguished predecessor in its variety of moods and vocal combinations. There is material here to fit every aspect of celebration from the airy five-part ensemble of Bax's 'What is it like to be young and fair?' and the soprano solo with SATB of Rawsthorne's Canzonet to the lustrous contrasting of male and female timbres in Bliss's Aubade and the rapturous eight-part setting of