Six Poetic Songs-Donald Swann is best known as one half of the comic duo Flanders and Swann who dominated the West End and Broadway stages in the late 1950s and 1960s. Though less recognised he was also a leading exponent of the lyric song having reinterpreted the English art-song tradition exemplified by Parry Quilter Warlock and others in his own distinctive and exotic way. This second volume of his songs for Medium Voice and Piano features a range of styles and moods that fit with the diversity of the poems he has set and demonstrate his sensitivity to the setting of texts to music. These Practical Versions of Swann’s ever evolving songs are a wonderful insight into thecomposer’s ability and justify his place in the canon of English song.
