Gareth Brynmor John – The Children’s Hour (2021) [Official Digital Download 24bit/96kHz]

The nineteenth-century poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow has rather fallen out of fashion these days, deemed inferior to his fellow American writers, Hawthorne, Whitman, Emerson and Melville. And yet, Longfellow is a memorable narrative poet, capable of creating persuasive characters and situations. Any parent will recognise the ‘patter of little feet’ that the protagonist of Longfellow’s 1860 poem, ‘The Children’s Hour’, hears one evening as he works, heralding, ‘The sound of a door that is opened,/ And voices soft and sweet.’ The poet-speaker seems happy to be interrupted by the ‘blue-eyed banditti’, vowing ‘I have you fast in my fortress,/ And will not let you depart’.

The ‘children’s hour’ is so cherished precisely because it is ephemeral, fragile, something that Longfellow, whose life was touched by family loss, had been forced by personal experience to understand and accept.

The Children’s Hour is also the title of a new recital disc of ‘Fairy Tales, Adventures, Nursery Rhymes and Lullabies’ recorded by baritone Gareth Brynmor John and pianist William Mann, and released this month on the Champs Hill label. Gareth is taking a break from putting the roof on his new kitchen extension when we ‘meet’ to talk about his new recording. This must be one of the more unusual ‘lockdown projects’, I remark, especially for a singer – what about all the dust! “Yes, it was probably a bit crazy,” says Gareth, “but during this last year there has been so much that one has had no control over, and it was frustrating making tentative plans only to have them repeatedly delayed or abandoned. I decided that this was something that I could make happen.”

Tracklist:
1. Gareth Brynmor John – The Children’s Hour, S. 227 (02:16)
2. Gareth Brynmor John – Tom der Reimer, Op. 135a (06:18)
3. Gareth Brynmor John – Erlkönig, D. 328 (04:11)
4. Gareth Brynmor John – Lieder-Album für die Jugend, Op. 79: XII. Der Sandmann (02:15)
5. Gareth Brynmor John – Henry King (02:58)
6. Gareth Brynmor John – Little Sir William (02:56)
7. Gareth Brynmor John – Des Knaben Wunderhorn: V. Das irdische Leben (03:00)
8. Gareth Brynmor John – Songs of the Sea, Op. 91: I. Drake’s Drum (02:53)
9. Gareth Brynmor John – Captain Stratton’s Fancy (02:00)
10. Gareth Brynmor John – Peacock Pie, Op. 33: X. Andy Battle (02:39)
11. Gareth Brynmor John – Three Songs of the War: III. Tom Sails Away, S. 378 (02:38)
12. Gareth Brynmor John – The Circus Band, S. 299 (02:17)
13. Gareth Brynmor John – Songs Before Sleep: I. The Mouse and the Bumblebee (01:21)
14. Gareth Brynmor John – Songs Before Sleep: II. Wee Willie Winkie (03:22)
15. Gareth Brynmor John – Songs Before Sleep: III. Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star (04:02)
16. Gareth Brynmor John – Songs Before Sleep: IV. Baby, Baby, Naughty Boy (01:42)
17. Gareth Brynmor John – Songs Before Sleep: V. As I Walked By Myself (02:37)
18. Gareth Brynmor John – Songs Before Sleep: VI. There Was An Old Woman (03:13)
19. Gareth Brynmor John – Peacock Pie, Op. 33: I. Tired Tim (02:15)
20. Gareth Brynmor John – Peacock Pie, Op. 33: V. Full Moon (03:00)
21. Gareth Brynmor John – 3 Songs, Op. 23: I. Les berceaux (02:38)
22. Gareth Brynmor John – 6 Songs, Op. 71: VI. Nachtlied (02:39)
23. Gareth Brynmor John – Cradle Song, S. 233 (01:48)