Britten Sinfonia & Joyful Company Of Singers & John Hopkins - Fair Child Of Beauty (CD)

Release Date: 01/29/16

A double album joining Vaughan Williams's 1938 masque The Bridal Day with the cantata, Epithalamion, which he subsequently derived from it

Albion Records presents the world-premiere recording of Vaughan Williams's 1938 Masque The Bridal Day, conducted by Alan Tongue at Henry Wood Hall, London in 2015.

A young poet named Ursula Wood met Ralph Vaughan Williams for lunch on 31 March 1938 and they fell in love with each other immediately. They agreed to collaborate on a work based on Spenser's Epithalamion, poetry written for his own wedding day; love pervades the masque, The Bridal Day, which Ralph and Ursula wrote together. It includes a speaker reciting some of Spenser's lines. Later, Vaughan Williams recast the work as a choral cantata, Epithalamion, with an enlarged chorus and the string quartet increased to a full complement of strings.

John Hopkins is best known for playing Sgt. Dan Scott in Midsomer Murders. He trained at RADA and read English at the University of Leeds. After graduating, he joined the Royal Shakespeare Company. Philip Smith studied singing at Birmingham Conservatoire and at the Royal Northern College of Music, graduating with distinction in 2008. He is the recipient of the Joyce and Michael Kennedy Prize for the singing of Richard Strauss. He has a thriving operatic career. Joyful Company of Singers is known for its virtuosity and intensity of spirit, as well as for an astoundingly wide repertoire, ranging from the 16th Century to the present day. Formed in 1988, by conductor Peter Broadbent, the choir has a discography of over 25 CDs. Founded in 1992, Britten Sinfonia is acclaimed for its virtuoso musicianship and a versatility that is second to none. It breaks the mold by not having a principal conductor or director, instead choosing to collaborate with a range of the finest international guest artists, resulting in performances of rare insight and energy. They also feature on ALBCD033: Beyond my Dream. Mr. Tongue has been conducting English music abroad for over 20 years.