Windy Nights (Five Childhood Lyrics) - John Rutter, Cambridge Singers

‘Windy nights' (Five Childhood Lyrics)
From the album 'Fancies'

Composer John Rutter
Conductor John Rutter
Choir The Cambridge Singers

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LYRICS:
Whenever the moon and the stars are set,
Whenever the wind is high,
All night long in the dark and wet,
A man goes riding by.
Late in the night when the fires are out,
Why does he gallop and gallop about?

Whenever the trees are crying aloud,
And ships are tossed at sea,
By, on the highway, low and loud,
By at the gallop goes he.
By at the gallop he goes, and then
By he comes back at the gallop again.

(R.L. Stevenson, 1850–94)

Fancies
This album explores the secular works of John Rutter. Fancies is a cycle of six settings of Elizabethan poetry, described by the composer as ‘music for a summer’s evening.’ When Icicles Hang, another choral cycle with orchestra, is a winter piece, best known for its bitter-sweet setting of Shakespeare’s Blow, blow, thou winter wind. The Five Childhood Lyrics, for unaccompanied choir, take a group of simple rhymes and set them in a spirit of fun and fairytale. The Suite Antique for flute, harpsichord and strings, consists of six short movements ranging from a simple, classic ‘aria’ to an upbeat ‘jazz waltz’.

“… A must have for lovers of good choral music…” The Northern Echo

“…Rutter means good music, splendidly played and sung and excellent recordings …” Evening Star

John Rutter, English composer and conductor, is associated with choral music throughout the world. His recordings with the Cambridge Singers (the professional chamber choir he set up in 1983) have reached a wide global audience, many of them featuring his own music in definitive versions. Among John’s best-known choral works are Gloria, Requiem, Magnificat, Mass of the Children, and Visions, together with many church anthems, choral songs and Christmas carols.

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