SHALL I COMPARE THEE TO A SUMMER’S DAY

RELEASE DATE: OCTOBER 24, 2006
THE SECOND RELEASE OF JOSEPH SUMMER’S SERIES OF OXFORD SONGS, BEAUTIFULLY PERFORMED BY THE SHAKESPEARE CONCERT.
 

Begun in 2003 with concerts in Massachusetts and the U.S. Virgin Islands, the Shakespeare Concerts has presented recitals of music inspired by the immortal Bard – from original English text settings by many British composers, to settings in translations by Schubert, Brahms, Berlioz, Gounod, Thomas and Verdi, to purely instrumental pieces by Britten, Beethoven, Prokofiev and Korngold. The mainstay of this series has been the music of Joseph Summer, with premieres of two dozen of his sixty-odd Oxford Songs for one or more voices and various ensembles, as well as non-vocal pieces such as the ballet Dance of the Mechanics for string quintet. This disc, Shall I Compare Thee to a Summer’s Day, presents works premiered during the third and fourth seasons, including several in collaboration with Boston-based string quartet QX. The previous release in this series is What a Piece of Work is Man (TROY750).

REVIEW:

“This music is well worth hearing; its original and imaginative tonal language is given creative expression by these excellent musicians.” (American Record Guide)