I've known about Albion Records ever since its inception back in 2007 and that, being the recording arm of the Ralph Vaughan Williams Society, their mandate is to release rarely performed works including many world premieres. This is Volume 45 of their acclaimed series of recordings, and I would assume that if I haven't stopped and paid attention until now is simply because my focus was somewhere else (you would be surprised at the astounding number of new classical music recordings still being released each and every month). What did captivate my attention this time around, is that being a Canadian, I was pleased to find out that Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872-1958) had made special arrangements of Newfoundland folk songs.

It's a well known fact that Vaughan Williams was a lifelong collector, arranger and curator of liturgical hymns and secular folk songs. The booklet notes point out that Maud Karpeles, a British folksong collector, spent some time in Newfoundland between 1929 and 1930, back when it was still a British colony, collecting regional folksongs from over 100 singers. On her return to England she asked Vaughan Williams if he could arrange them for piano and voice. He agreed to work out arrangements for fifteen of the songs, which were published in 1934. Now being songs from remote coastal outposts, with titles like "The Gypsy Laddie", "The Morning Dew", "The Bloody Gardener", etc... they are rather basic and simple in nature, but Vaughan Williams' polished rhythmic pulse and harmonic gradations in the piano part certainly move them up a notch or two. Mary Bevan (soprano), Nicky Spence (tenor), Roderick Williams (baritone) and William Vann (piano), all add a touch of British authenticity to the music's roots, and provide each song with the proper care and diction which allow the narrator's tale to come forth clearly. The booklet provides all the lyrics as well as comprehensive information as to the provenance of these songs, and the ongoing research the Ralph Vaughan Williams Society brings to the table.

I'm sure everyone would agree that Ralph Vaughan Williams wrote some of the most impressive symphonies of the 20th century. It's also nice to know that he put just as much diligence into a two-minute song as he did a forty minute symphonic work. Now I just wish I would have paid attention to Albion Records right from the start.