Christopher Bowen and Matthew Marshall connect Elizabethan London with the high country farm in New Zealand through songs for tenor and guitar; featuring music by Dowland, Lilburn, Britten, McNeff and world premieres by Anthony Ritchie, Christopher Blake and Louise Matthews.

Benjamin Britten Gloriana
Douglas Lilburn (NZ) Sings Harry
Malcom Williamson Three Shakespeare Songs
Stephen McNeff Eden Rock
Anthony Ritchie (NZ) Dunedin Songs — World Premiere
Louise Matthews (NZ) South Island Songs — World Premiere
Christopher Blake (NZ) Kōripo — World Premiere

New Zealand’s Douglas Lilburn and his English contemporary Benjamin Britten wrote songs about returning to the countryside to forget the experience of war. The Earl of Essex in Britten’s Gloriana (1953) escapes Queen Elizabeth’s displeasure for his failed campaign in Ireland and flees for English hedgerows. Harry in Lilburn’s Sings Harry (1954) escapes his failures in love and war to the high country station of his childhood.

Britten and Lilburn’s mid-century work inspired a generation of composers. This searching and beautiful collection of art song for tenor and guitar traces this legacy through the Three Shakespeare Songs (1964) of Australian Malcolm Williamson who was Master of the Queen’s Music and Irish/English composer Stephen McNeff’s Eden Rock (2016). From New Zealand the programme features two song cycle premieres inspired by Sings Harry: Dunedin Songs by Anthony Ritchie (1996) and South Island Songs by Louise Matthews (2022) as well as the premiere of a new solo guitar work Kōripo by Christopher Blake.

New Zealand tenor Christopher Bowen returns from Europe where he sings opera, oratorio and choral music. His varied career has seen him perform across the world including at La Scala, Carnegie Hall, The Proms at the Albert Hall in London and the coronation of King Charles III.

Matthew Marshall is one of NZ’s leading classical guitarists having given over 2000 performances on four continents, from Royal Festival Hall London to Iceland, Siberia and on to Easter Island! He has appeared as concerto soloist with the Berlin Chamber Orchestra, the Orlando Philharmonic, the Guanajuato Symphony Mexico, the NZSO and many others, and his solo album Fragments was a finalist in the Best Classical Artist category of the 2020 Aotearoa New Zealand Music Awards.