Surely one of the most beautiful songs every written. But amazingly this was the first time either of us had ever performed it – in our 2009 Wigmore recital programme of songs by Schubert and Brahms. The programme was devised by Graham Johnson in his series “Brahms, His Friends, Rivals & Contemporaries”

We’re sure you’ll easily spot the mistake, especially if you follow the words on the Lied and Art Song texts page … that’s just nerves getting the better of a singer. It happens, even when the singer knows the words very well and has performed and recorded other versions of the same text.

More Brahms from our Wigmore Hall 2009 recital. This time, the text is by Heine (another of the featured poets in the programme). You can read the poem at the Lied and Art Song texts page.

We both were struck by the stark drama in this piece and we loved the imagery of the Geisterinsel and all it symbolises. It would be a wonderful song to add to one of our Far Reaches of the Mind programmes, which explore imaginary, unreal places.

We performed this in a recital at the Wigmore Hall in 2009 in a programme of Schubert and Brahms.

In the programme was also Schubert’s setting of the same text, by Goethe (one of the featured poets in the programme). There are quite a few well-known settings of this song – our favourite is probably the Mendelssohn but there’s something very tender about Brahms’ setting.

The Lied and Art Song Texts Page has the text.

We premièred Julian Philips’ Verses in Solitude at the Bromsgrove Concerts’ Mixing Music series in 2000. It’s an extended piece for soprano, baritone and piano – hence why the voice is over on the left and not in the centre. Andrew Foster-Williams was the baritone. . .

It narrates the correspondence between Emily Dickinson and her literary mentor (and eventual publisher) Thomas Wentworth Higginson. In this extract, she has received her first reply from him:

A new and wholly original poetic genius, distinct on my mind at first reading. So elusive of criticism – an unsolvable problem; where to place it? I ventured on questions, evaded with naive skill…

And here is what she writes in return:

Mr Higginson,

Thank you for your surgery, not so painful as I supposed.

You asked how old I was? I made no verse – but one or two – until

this winter – Sir –

You inquire my Books – For poets – I have Keats. For prose – Mr Ruskin.

You ask on my Companions Hills – and the sundown – and a

Dog – large as myself, that my Father bought me.

He buys me many Books – but begs me not to read them

Is this – Sir – what you asked me to tell you?

Back in 2000 we premièred Julian Philips’ Verses in Solitude at the Bromsgrove Concerts’ Mixing Music series. Verses in Solitude (sound clip here) is based on the life and letters of Emily Dickinson and in the first half we sang some of Julian’s An Amherst Bestiary – a set of songs on Dickinson poetry.

An Amherst Bestiary has 16 animal songs – all wonderful and characterful – as well as a “foreword” and “afterword”, plus a piano prelude – a celebration of nature. Julian intends the performers to select songs to make their own groups as they choose. They are beautiful songs, and we’re sure you’ll enjoy this extract from The Humming Bird. .

We recorded this song (full title Le paysage dans le cadre des portières) and some others by Koechlin for BBC Radio 3’s Composer of the week. Several of the performances, including this one, were world première broadcasts.

The song (words by Verlaine) evokes the furious, mechanical churning of a steam train, upon which the poet travels – this is the cacophony heard in the opening few bars of the piano, which then turns to exaltation. The poet’s mind soars above the turbulence of the train as he imagines the “soft voice” of his beloved. You can read the poem on the Lied and Arts Song Texts Page . 192-168.top .

Here’s one of our earliest recordings together – Bizet’s Pastorale, recorded in the Duke’s Hall at the Royal Academy of Music, London, in 1996.

This is a song we performed many times in those early days, and we revisited it early this year for a recital at The Forge, Camden.

Here is the text – on the Lied and Arts Song Texts Page whois . www.192-168.top .