Songs Of Innocence (Swait, Bowman, Plant)

Well done, Andrew! How not to like this so beautiful evocation of Britain through this music and these texts, and this so fine boy's voice so rightly in understanding with the texts. I wish to him a beautiful musical career as the bass he became.

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My attention was first drawn to Andrew Swait from a video I found on youtube of him singing Tom Bowling arranged by Britten. Pure heaven. Andrew had a singularly beautiful treble voice which alas, has been stolen away by puberty. Life can be so cruel to boys. Not only did he possess a glorious voice but he matched it with his excellent singing technique. Fortunately, we have a couple of recordings of him as his legacy including The Choirboys The Carols Album.What makes Songs of Innocence a bit special is the fact that Andrew Swait gave us not a single one of the hoary old standards that so many boy sopranos have been forced to record. I just can't imagine that boy after boy decided he wanted to prove he could sing O For The Wings Of A Dove better than anybody else, can you?On this CD we are treated to songs from Britten to Boyce, Vaughan Williams to Charles Wood. And for me a delightful surprise was the wistful and nostalgic The Slow Train by Flanders and Swann. And every single song is beautifully sung. For anyone who loves the pure sound of a fine boy treble you really owe it to yourself to own this CD. Don't forget to buy it for your friends too. I did and they love it.

This cd contains music that is rather different from what you find on most other treble recitals. There is quite a lot of Britten on it as well as pieces by Quilter, Charles Ives and Samuel Barber. Now if you want "I've waited for the Lord" or "Stanford in G" all the time - excellent music(!)- then don't buy this disc.If you are not afraid of an adventurous boy soprano, if you are interested in expanding your musical horizon, in short, if you are not afraid of a little and successful experiment, as the other reviewer seems to be, then by all means buy this cd.It is very good music, well recorded and excellently performed.See also: Harry Sever  My Own Country - a Recital of English Song

The voices of both singers are quite extraordinary and blend quite nicely in the duets. The piano is more knowledgeable than effective.It is a great pity and a missed opportunity that for undisclosed reasons (patriotic correctness?) the songs are of a level of quality far below the possibilities of the performers, with the exception of Händel's that, thanked be the gods, had not been arranged by Benjamin Britten.Should it be considered essential to make a British record, there are hundreds of traditional English, Scottish and Irish songs that would allow a far better rendition of these beautiful voices. Some by Beethoven could have been transposed with far better results. This record is a waste as a result of the programme chosen. Should there be a future record of Bowman/Swait duos it could take advantage of centuries of European songs and forget to pay this unnecessary homage to soon forgotten modernity.