REBECCA CLARKE
THE COMPLETE SONGS
with Kitty Whately, mezzo-soprano
Anna Tilbrook, piano
FEATURING
Gweneth Ann Rand, soprano
Roderick Williams, baritone
Max Baillie, violin & viola
Members of the Seattle Chamber Music Society – James Ehnes, artistic director
Karen Gomyo & Erin Keefe, violins
Paul Neubauer, viola
Mark Kosower, cello
Signum Records
PRE-SAVE THE ALBUM
AVAILABLE NOVEMBER 7, 2025!
ABOUT THE ALBUM
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:
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Rebecca Clarke: The Complete Songs is made possible with support from:
The Stanford Society
The Wavendon Foundation
The Winship Foundation
As well as individual support from Fotine Assimos, Jeff & Jamie Barnett, Steven & Robin Kunkel, Sem & Katherine Phan, Lisa Seischab, Neil Sekhri & Christopher Sherrill, Gina Soter, Peter Sparling, and Kenneth Sweetman.
Rebecca Clarke: The Complete Songs was supported in part by Nicholas Phan's solo recording projects, which is a sponsored project of Fractured Atlas, a non-profit arts service organization.
Contributions for the charitable purposes of Nicholas Phan's solo recording projects must be made payable to “Fractured Atlas” only and are tax-deductible to the extent permitted by law.