Will Liverman & Jonathan King - Whither Must I Wander (2020) [Official Digital Download]

An exquisite recital of songs on the theme of travel, given insightful, powerful interpretations by the American baritone Will Liverman and pianist Jon King.

'Whither Must I Wander' takes its name from one of the 'Songs of Travel' by Ralph Vaughan Williams, a song cycle that is at the heart of this release. From the trudging 'Vagabond' to the more playful 'Roadside Fire' and the radiance of 'Youth and Love', Vaughan Williams explores every bittersweet nuance of journeying.

The album also features the exhilarating vigour of Frederick Keel's 'Three Salt-Water Ballads', and the magnificent 'King David' by Herbert Howells. We then travel from England across the Atlantic to hear American songs by Aaron Copland, with one of his 'Old American Songs', the serene 'At the River', and by contemporary composer Steve Mark Kohn, whose 'Ten Thousand Miles Away' uses traditional folk song to navigate the emotional strains of missing a loved-one far away.

Liverman and King end their recital with the Goethe-inspired 'Wanderer's Night Song' by Russian composer Nikolai Medtner, and with the beautiful 'Mondnacht' by Robert Schumann.

Will Liverman, an ambassador for diversity in the arts, grew up surrounded by gospel music in the Pentecostal Churches of Norfolk, Virginia. His musical education in piano and vocal studies enabled him to visit the Metropolitan Opera aged 15, a transformative moment that inspired Liverman to pursue singing as a career, with such success that he made his own Metropolitan Opera debut in recent years. Jon King is an American pianist and choral conductor, disciplines which he has studied to Doctorate level at the Universities of Michigan and Maryland. King has performed as a soloist, chamber musician and conductor in an array of venues, including London's Wigmore Hall and the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C.

Tracklist:
1. Songs of Travel, IRV 77: I. The Vagabond (03:08)
2. Songs of Travel, IRV 77: II. Let Beauty Awake (01:52)
3. Songs of Travel, IRV 77: III. Roadside Fire (02:13)
4. Songs of Travel, IRV 77: IV. Youth and Love (03:44)
5. Songs of Travel, IRV 77: V. In Dreams (02:37)
6. Songs of Travel, IRV 77: VI. The Infinite Shining Heavens (02:32)
7. Songs of Travel, IRV 77: VII. Whither Must I Wander (03:56)
8. Songs of Travel, IRV 77: VIII. Bright is the Ring of Words (01:53)
9. Songs of Travel, IRV 77: IX. I Have Trod the Upward and the Downward Slope (02:21)
10. Three Salt-Water Ballads: I. Port of Many Ships (02:09)
11. Three Salt-Water Ballads: II. Trade Winds (02:17)
12. Three Salt-Water Ballads: III. Mother Carey (01:43)
13. King David (04:55)
14. At the River (04:03)
15. Ten Thousand Miles Away (Arr. Steven Mark Kohn) (04:18)
16. Wanderer's Night Song (02:41)
17. Liederkreis, Op. 39, No. 5: Mondnacht (03:50)


Thanks to the Original customer!