Four Songs

Thomas Ades’s four Purcell arrangements, Four Songs, for medium voice and piano are ideal repertoire for recitals. The collection is comprised of two of Purcell’s Tempest songs ‘Come Unto these Yellow Sands’ and ‘Full Fathom Five’, alongside the much-loved ‘An Evening Hymn’ and ‘By Beauteous Softness’. The whole collection lasts around 12 minutes.

Ades described Purcell’s manner of setting English text as ‘magnificent’ remarking that ‘the way that emotion, the rhythm of the words, is rendered into music is incomparably natural and powerful.’ All of these qualities are evident in these realisations, which should prove an invaluable addition to the repertoire.