Schubert - Schwanengesang

Schubert's final song cycle was never intended as such by the composer; two groups of songs, one to poems by Rellstab, one to poems by Heine, were posthumously collated by his publisher as a "Swan Song", with the final song, Die Taubenpost, added for good measure. Nevertheless, the cycle contains many of Schubert's finest works and in the hands of a fine singer and pianist it works well as a group, with an interesting historical context. Joshua Ellicott recently took four of the top prizes, including overall first prize, at the s-Hertogenbosch competition in the Netherlands. He has been described by the Times as singing "with assurance and beautiful tone" and is certainly a singer to look out for. He is joined by pianist Joseph Middleton, winner of the accompanists' prize at the last Wigmore Hall International Song Competition.