Rebecca Clarke (1886–1979) wrote vocal chamber music over the whole of her career, from Wandrers Nachtlied, her first completed composition, in 1903, through her overhaul of Lethe, in the winter of 1976–77. Taken together, her songs and duets constitute one of the greatest and most distinctive contributions to the vocal repertoire of the twentieth century.
Much of Clarke’s vocal music has been recorded, but the present album brings it all together under one roof, including a complete survey of the early songs (only Tears was previously recorded), and first recordings of Weep You No More, Sad Fountains, in its original solo version, and the epic Binnorie: A Ballad. It would take a sizable monograph even to begin to lay out the riches in these works, or to sketch their histories. Luckily, Clarke’s work speaks so powerfully for itself that only a few bits of background information may be necessary: