John Charles Britton

Philippe Sly, John Charles Britton – Schubert Sessions: Lieder with Guitar (2016)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/192 kHz | Time – 59:27 minutes | 2,00 GB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Groupe Analekta, Inc

A shy, modest genius, Franz Peter Schubert never held an official musical position, unlike his contemporaries. Living frugally, surrounded by friends from the artistic and literary worlds, Schubert was the focal point of occasional informal artistic gatherings dubbed “Schubertiades”. These meetings were an occasion for him to show off his most recent compositions, foremost among them his lieder. Many of these – he wrote over 600 in all – may very well have taken shape at the guitar; Schubert learned to play the instrument early on in life, and he owned several instruments, which he would play before breakfast, occasionally honouring the impromptu visit of a friend with the performance of a freshly composed lied. Schubert’s financial situation meant he could not afford a piano, so the guitar was one way he could hear how his compositions sounded. Since at the time, the instrument enjoyed great popularity, many music publishers, including Schubert’s publisher Diabelli, offered transcriptions of his works for guitar. It is unsurprising, then, that the first edition of the lieder cycle Die Schöne Müllerin – from which Der Müller und der Bach on this recording is taken – was published with a guitar accompaniment. Uncontestably a master of the lied, Schubert may also be considered as one of the forefathers of the modern song. From the time of Ars nova (new art) – the 14th century musical style of which the poet and musician Guillaume de Machaut was among the principal proponents – lyric forms underwent numerous poetical and stylistic innovations that ultimately led to the first strophic songs for solo voice in the early 16th century. Gradually, lyric forms from the age of the troubadour – when the lute, cousin of the guitar, was a preferred means of expression – converged into the German lied.

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