Blake and Music, 2018
Jason Whittaker (jwhittaker@lincoln.ac.uk) is head of the School of English and Journalism at the University of Lincoln. He is the author of several works on William Blake, including William Blake and the Myths of Britain (Palgrave, 1999), Radical Blake: Influence and Afterlife from 1827 (with Shirley Dent, Palgrave, 2002), and Blake 2.0: William Blake in Twentieth-Century Art, Music and Culture (with Steve Clark and Tristanne Connolly, Palgrave, 2012). His main research interests deal with the reception of Blake, and he is currently working on two projects related to the artist: Jerusalem: Blake, Parry and the Fight for Englishness and Divine Images: The Life and Works of William Blake.
Last year’s listing of settings of William Blake to music was relatively extensive. This was because of the addition of a considerable number of popular music settings that had been overlooked by Donald Fitch in his Blake Set to Music: A Bibliography of Musical Settings of the Poems and Prose of William Blake and the later “Blake Set to Music: Supplement 2001” in Blake 35.2 (fall 2001), and by Ashanka Kumari in “Adding to Blake Set to Music” in Blake 49.4 (spring 2016). This year’s list adds settings that I had missed from the one drawn up for 2017—the majority, both popular and classical, were published or recorded from 2010 onwards—and of course includes settings that were released in 2018. As before, it avoids songs that mention Blake only tangentially or provide short quotations, but it does incorporate those, such as Michael Price’s Tender Symmetry, that draw heavily on Blake’s art and poetry.
Wherever possible, the originating country of the artist(s) is listed, as well as the work’s instrumentation, duration, publisher, copyright date, genre, and format. Each entry also includes at least one link to a recording, usually Amazon, Apple, Spotify, or YouTube.
Bell, Larry — USA
From Vocal Music; for voices with orchestral accompaniment.01:05:00. Albany Records, © 2005. Classical. CD.
Contents: 13. Songs of Innocence: Introduction; 14. Songs of Innocence: The Lamb; 15. Songs of Innocence: Nurse’s Song; 16. Songs of Innocence: Infant Joy; 17. Songs of Innocence: Spring; 18. Songs of Experience: Introduction; 19. Songs of Experience: The Garden of Love; 20. Songs of Experience: The Sick Rose; 21. Songs of Experience: The Tyger; 22. Songs of Experience: The Voice of the Ancient Bard.
Links: AllMusic, Amazon, Apple, Spotify.
Clausen, René — USA
From Life and Breath: Choral Works by René Clausen; for voices.01:02:20. Chandos, © 2012. Choral. CD.
Contents: 3. The Tyger; 4. The Lamb.
Notes: The two settings of Blake were originally composed in 2009.
Links: Amazon, Apple, Spotify.
Colvin, Shawn — USA
From The Starlighter; for voice, guitar, strings.00:39:04. SLCRecordings, © 2018. Folk/country. CD.
Contents: 14. Cradle Song.For a review, see Whittaker, Zoamorphosis (9 June 2018).
Notes: The album is based on the children’s book Lullabies and Night Songs.
Links: AllMusic, Amazon.
Cowan, Jude — UK
From Lamb & Tyger; for voice, organ.00:36:08. Ah! Sunflower, © 2011. Folk/country. CD.
Contents: 1. The Lamb; 2. London; 3. The Sick Rose; 4. A Cradle Song; 5. The Garden of Love; 6. The Little Vagabond; 7. The Divine Image; 8. The Fly; 9. The Ecchoing Green; 10. Infant Sorrow; 11. The Human Abstract; 12. Ah! Sunflower; 13. The Little Black Boy; 14. The Blossom; 15. The Clod & the Pebble; 16. Holy Thursday; 17. The Shepherd; 18. The Tyger.
Links: Amazon, Apple, Spotify.
Cuartz, Yaq — USA
From Tyger! Tyger!; for voice, guitars, percussion.00:02:24. Jacob Curtis, © 2010. Rock/pop. Streaming.
Contents: 1. Tyger! Tyger!
Links: Amazon, Apple, Spotify.
Gazelle Twin — UK
From Pastoral; for voice, synthesizers, percussion.00:37:24. Anti-Ghost Moon Ray, © 2018. Electronic/dance. CD.
Contents: 11. Dance of the Peddlers.
Notes: “Dance of the Peddlers” draws upon “The Tyger” for its lyrics. Two other tracks on the album, “Little Lambs” and “Jerusalem,” almost certainly take their titles from Blake but do not use his poetry.
Links: AllMusic, Amazon, Apple, Spotify.
Glaza, Johanna — Lithuania/UK
From Albion; for voice, keyboards, percussion.00:15:36. Inspired All Kinds Records, © 2018. Avant-garde. Cassette, streaming.
Contents: 1. Albion.For a review, see Whittaker, Zoamorphosis (24 February 2019).
Notes: The title track sets part of Blake’s Jerusalem the Emanation of the Giant Albion to music.
Links: Apple, Spotify, YouTube.
Greif, Olivier — France
From Lettres de Westerbork—Chants de l’âme; for voice, piano.1:00:59. Disques Triton, © 1999. Classical. CD.
Contents: 4. Chants de l’âme: I. The Tyger.
Links: Amazon, Apple, Spotify.
Iqbal, Nabihah — UK
From Weighing of the Heart; for voice, keyboards, percussion.00:39:24. Ninja Tune, © 2017. Electronic/dance. CD.
Contents: 6. Zone 1 to 6000.
Notes: “Zone 1 to 6000” takes its inspiration from the poem “London” and echoes its structure, as in the lines “In every class, in every school / At every desk where time’s well spent.”
Links: AllMusic, Amazon, Apple, Spotify, YouTube.
Jóhannsson, Jóhann — Iceland
From Englabörn & Variations; for voices.01:34:43. Deutsche Grammaphon, © 2018. Classical. CD.
Contents: B5. Holy Thursday (Ég heyrði allt án þess að hlusta) (Theatre of Voices version).For a review, see Whittaker, Zoamorphosis (9 June 2018).
Links: AllMusic, Amazon, Apple, Spotify.
Martin, Phil — UK
From Before We Go to Paradise; for voice, guitars, percussion.00:34:13. Brentford Records, © 2012. Rock/pop. CD.
Contents: 6. Tyger, Tyger.
Links: Amazon, Apple, Spotify.
Miller, Andrew — USA
From The Lamb, for Divisi Mixed Voices a cappella; for voices.00:04:25. Pavane Publishing, © 2015. Choral. Score.
Contents: The Lamb.
Link: YouTube.
Miller, Andrew — USA
From The Tyger, for Divisi Mixed Voices a cappella; for voices.00:04:29. Pavane Publishing, © 2015. Choral. Score.
Contents: The Tyger.
Link: YouTube.
Mitchell, Brent — USA
From Brent Mitchell; for voice, guitar.00:47:48. Dog Trot, © 2005. Folk/country. CD.
Contents: 13. Tyger, Tyger.
Links: AllMusic, Apple, Spotify.
Mortifee, Ann — Canada
From Journey to Kairos; for voice and piano with orchestral accompaniment.00:45:51. Jabula Records, © 1980. Musical. Vinyl.
Contents: A4. Tyger! Tyger!
Links: AllMusic, Amazon, Apple, Spotify.
Myers, Tokio, and Jazmin Sawyers — UK
From Jerusalem (The Official Anthem of Commonwealth Games, Team England, 2018); for voices with orchestral accompaniment.00:02:34. Simco Limited, © 2018. Rock/pop. Streaming.
Contents: 1. Jerusalem.
Notes: A new arrangement of Parry’s hymn for the Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games.
Links: Amazon, Apple, Spotify, YouTube.
Ockham’s Razor — USA
From Wolves in the Walls; for voice, guitars, percussion.00:59:18. Ockham’s Razor, © 2010. Rock/pop. CD.
Contents: 9. Part Three, The Tiger: The Tyger.
Links: AllMusic, Amazon, Apple, Spotify.
Panufnik, Roxanna — UK
From Celestial Bird; for voices, piano.00:56:27. Signum Classics, © 2018. Classical. CD.
Contents: 8. A Cradle Song.
Links: AllMusic, Amazon, Apple, Spotify.
Parker, Bo, and Paul Parker — USA
From Cheshire Moon; for voice, guitars, percussion.00:49:54. New Weave Records, © 2004. Rock/pop. CD.
Contents: 2. Tyger Tyger.
Links: AllMusic, Amazon, Apple, Spotify.
Pearson, Guy — UK
From Glad Day; for voice and piano with orchestral accompaniment.00:55:37. Issimo, © 2010. Classical. CD.
Contents: 1. Glad Day (Introduction); 2. A Dream; 3. An Island in the Moon; 4. The Angel; 5. A Mundane Shell; 6. Newton; 7. Ah! Sun-flower; 8. Glad Day (reprise); 9. Nurse’s Song; 10. Infant Joy, Infant Sorrow; 11. The Tyger; 12. The Four Zoas; 13. Songs of Experience (Introduction); 14. Lux Nova [instrumental]; 15. Night; 16. London; 17. The Ecchoing Green; 18. Finale of the Flowers [“The Lily” and “Ah! Sun-Flower”].For a review, see Whittaker, Zoamorphosis (20 March 2011).
Links: Amazon, Apple, Spotify.
Price, Michael — UK
From Tender Symmetry; for voices, strings, electronics.00:46:27. Erased Tapes, © 2018. Classical. Vinyl.
Contents: 2. Speke [“The Garden of Love”]; 3. Willow Road [“Ah! Sun-Flower”]; 5. Fan Bay [“Holy Thursday”]; 6. Fountains [“The Lily”]; 7. Shade of Dreams [“A Cradle Song”].For a review, see Whittaker, Zoamorphosis (18 April 2019).
Notes: This album, recorded in various National Trust locations, does not offer direct settings of Blake’s poems to music, but rather draws on them as inspiration for ambient pieces.
Links: AllMusic, Amazon, Apple, Spotify.
Raman, Susheela — UK
From Ghost Gamelan; for voices, keyboards, percussion.00:40:30. Naïve, © 2018. Avant-garde. CD.
Contents: 8. Rose (featuring Samuel Mills, Gondrong Gunarto).For a review, see Whittaker, Zoamorphosis (18 April 2019).
Notes: The album includes an original setting of Blake’s “The Sick Rose.”
Links: AllMusic, Amazon, Apple, Spotify.
Rutter, John — UK
From Mass of the Children; for voices with orchestral accompaniment.01:06:37. Collegium Records, © 2003. Classical. CD.
Contents: 4. Agnus Dei [“The Lamb”].
Links: AllMusic, Amazon, Apple, Spotify.
Sora — Finland
From Fade to What; for voice, flute, double bass.00:40:25. Cymbidium Records, © 2007. Jazz/blues. CD.
Contents: 4. Tyger.
Links: Amazon, Apple, Spotify.
Stubbs, Harriet — UK
From Heaven & Hell: The Doors of Perception; for voice, piano.01:04:53. Suite 28 Records, © 2018. Classical. CD.
Contents: 1. Phrygian Gates (John Adams, featuring Marianne Faithfull).For a review, see Whittaker, Zoamorphosis (20 December 2018); see also the interview with Stubbs on the podcast William Blake: The Man and the Music.
Notes: This debut album by classical pianist Harriet Stubbs is a curated collection of performances of artists such as Dmitry Shostakovitch, Johann Sebastian Bach, and Johannes Brahms, arranged to reflect themes selected from The Marriage of Heaven and Hell. The opening track is an arrangement of Adams’s Phrygian Gates with excerpts from Blake’s Marriage read by Marianne Faithfull.
Links: AllMusic, Amazon, Apple, Spotify.
Warblade — USA
From Seize the Fire; for voice, guitars, percussion.00:42:00. Warblade, © 2010. Heavy metal. CD.
Contents: 2. The Tyger.
Links: Amazon, Apple, Spotify.
Williams, Chris — Australia
From A Golden String; for solo and mixed voices.00:05:45. Australian Music Centre, © 2012. Choral. Score.
Contents: 1. A Golden String.
Notes: Winner of the 2012 Blake Society Tithe Grant, this was also performed by Sansara at the unveiling of Blake’s new gravestone in 2018.
Link: Vimeo.