A W.B. Yeats Discography

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Music

Yeats-related selections from Last.fm -- Technorati search

  1. The Speakers (Brian Miller and Peter Musselman) include several settings on their 2005 CD Yeats is Greats. See their site for ordering information, as well as samples and a video for "A Man Young and Old"
  2. Innisfree, with music by Hamilton Camp, is on "Judy Collins -- Living" (Elektra EKS75014 1971). Song of Wandering Aengus is sung by Ms. Collins on "So Early in the Spring" (Elektra EKS7222 1977) as "The Golden Apples of the Sun".
  3. Elgar's music for Grania and Diarmid, which Yeats pronounced "wonderful in its heroic melancholy", comprised "Incidental Music" and "Funeral March", recorded on EMI All429, 2002, Angel 55001, 1995, and Elektra 98436, 1998; as well as a setting for "They are seven that pull the thread"
  4. "The Last of the Gleemen" by Robbie O'Connell on his The Love of the Land (Green Linnet GLCD1097 1989) is from the Yeats short story of the same name about Michael Moran, also known as Zosimus, a blind storyteller in Dublin.
  5. Joni Mitchell sings The Second Coming under the title "Slouching Towards Bethlehem" on her album Night Ride Home (Geffen GEFD24302).
  6. The Waterboys sing The Stolen Child on the album Fisherman's Blues (Chrysalis/Ensign 1589) and "Love and Death" on their album Dream Harder (Geffen GEFD24476).
  7. Down by the Salley Gardens is on many albums, including "Clannad in Concert" (Shannachie 79030 1987), At the End of the Day by the Furey Brothers and Davey Arthur (K-Tel 1310 1985), and Tommy Makem & Liam Clancy (Blackbird BLB1001 1976), Noirin ni Riain on Celtic Soul (Living Music 0031), and Alec Finn on Blue Shamrock (Atlantic WSMR82735), and others too numerous to mention.
  8. Charles Martin Loeffler's Five Irish Fantasies for tenor, viola d'amore and orchestra combines four Yeats poems with a Gaelic song. (New World Records 80332).
  9. Two Yeats Songs by Donnacha Dennehy premiered in 1993
  10. Three Yeats Songs by James Wilson premiered in 1970
  11. The Commoners recorded their setting of To A Child Dancing in the Wind on their album Poet Songs (Amphisbaena Music 2003)
  12. Before the World Was Made, a cycle of seven Yeats poems for orchestra and soprano by Edwin London, is available on streaming audio from the Database of Recorded American Music
  13. Paul Hayes set a number of poems to musical accompaniment in W. B. Yeats, Lady Gregory: their life and times
  14. The Curlew, a repeatedly recorded song cycle by Peter Warlock includes four Yeats poems: The Lover mourns for the Loss of Love, The Withering of the Boughs, He Reproves the Curlew and He hears the Cry of the Sedge.
  15. Byzantium: for Soprano and Orchestra by Michael Tippett (Schott & Co. ED12376)
  16. Full Moon in March: Opera in One Act by John Harbison
  17. The Old Men Admiring Themselves in the Water for voice and piano by Robert Beaser
  18. "Three songs" voice and piano (includes Yeats's No Second Troy and The Cat and the Moon by Seymour Shifrin
  19. "Upon Silence: a Setting of Yeats's Long-Legged Fly for mezzo-soprano and five violins by George Benjamin
  20. Lawrence Gilman (1878-1939), American music critic and writer, set to music three poems by Yeats
  21. Loreena McKennitt performs settings of The Stolen Child on Elemental (Quinlan Road QR101, 1985) and The Two Trees on The Mask and Mirror (Warner Brothers CD 9 45420-2, 1994). See her official site for sound files.
  22. Kiltartan Road records a portion of their Yeats-related "cabaret", In the Deep Heart's Core on a 2-CD set from Classic Digital: I Am of Ireland and Cast A Cold Eye.
  23. Another arrangement of Innisfree by Anúna is on their album Invocation, Atlantic 82855.
  24. A setting of The Host of the Air is on Davy Spillane's Shadow Hunter (Audio samples available). (Tara 4651 3023 2) . Another version, as O'Driscoll, is on The Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem in Person at Carnegie Hall (Columbia 08750.
  25. Before the World Was Made on Van Morrison's album Too Long in Exile (Polygram 3145 3145 19219 4) is adapted from A Woman Young and Old. His version of Crazy Jane On God is on The Philosopher's Stone, Polygram 314 531 789-2. There are other references to Yeats in his work.
  26. The Song of Wandering Aengus is set to a traditional tune on The Silver Apples of the Moon by Ceoltoiri. (Maggie's Music MM202.). Other versions have been recorded on Songlines by Karan Casey (Shanachie 78-007), Kaleidoscope (Hearts of Space 11035, 1993) by Bill Douglas, No Dirty Names by Dave Van Ronk (Verve/Folkways FTS 3009), and by Tommy Makem (From the Archives,Shanachie 52040). Brian Miller's setting is sung by Jolie Holland on her album Catalpa. (Listen to streaming audio of the album.)
  27. The Golden Apples of the Sun, based on "Wandering Aengus" by James Curran, is released online under a Creative Commons license for non-commercial use only and forbidding derivate works (i.e., no "mashups")
  28. Settings in Italian are on Angelo Branduardi Canta Yeats (1986), comprising: Fiddler of Dooney is also on Camminando Camminando (EMI 852702 9).
  29. Suzanne Ciani's setting of Sailing to Byzantium is on The Private Music of Suzanne Ciani (Private 82103) and several of her other albums. <
  30. Marie O'Neill's An Appointment with W.B. Yeats (Blue Stack Records 1988) contains settings of:
  31. Deborah L. White's setting of The Hosting of the Sidhe is on Empty Your Heart of Its Mortal Dream (Northern Wind Recordings 1996) by Distant Oaks.
  32. Never to have lived is best: song cycle for soprano and orchestra" by Seóirse Bodley (1965) was recorded by Radio Telefís Éireann.
  33. "Moods" to texts by Yeats and others by Eibhlis Farrell (1978) was recorded by Radio Telefís Éireann.
  34. "Five W.B. Yeats Songs" for voice and piano by Philip Martin is included on Echoes Under the Stones (1994 Altarus AIR-CD-9009) and The Music of Philip Martin (1989).
  35. "A Terrible Beauty is Born" to texts by Yeats and others by Brian Boydell (1966) was recorded by Radio Telefís Éireann Dublin.
  36. "A Woman's Beauty" for flute, percussion, speaker, and dancer by Jane O'Leary (1991) was recorded by BBC Northern Ireland.
  37. "Purgatory" a chamber opera adapted by Hugh Maxton from the play and set by John Buckley (1991) was recorded by Radio Telefís Éireann Dublin.
  38. Impressions of the Song of Wandering Aengus is a five-movement tour-de-force commissioned by the Irish Chamber Orchestra and composed by Elaine Agnew, Raymond Deane, Fergus Johnston, Jennifer Walshe, and Ian Wilson. It premiered at the Killaloe Music Festival in 2002.
  39. He Wishes for the Cloths of Heaven by John Buckley (1995) was recorded by Radio Telefís Éireann Dublin.
  40. Thomas Dunhill's setting of [He Wishes For] the Cloths of Heaven has been recorded by John Aler on Songs We Forgot to Remember (DE 3181).
  41. Dancing in the Wind by Claire Roche is a collection of Yeats settings. See the Web site for RealAudio selections.
  42. Yeats' Grave, on the Cranberries' No Need to Argue (Polygram PGD 3145 314-524 050-1) is loosely based on No Second Troy. Midi file on CPR MIDI Archives
  43. The Cloths of Heaven" on The Spin (Broken Records 1991) by Dave Stewart and Barbara Gaskin is adapted from He Wishes for the Cloths of Heaven.
  44. The Black Tower (Merrijig Word and Sound Co., 1998) contains Yeats settings by Greg Day.
  45. When You Are Old in an original setting by Chris Whetstone is on All the Home We Have from Keeva (KR-06702 1998).
  46. When You Are Old by Gretchen Peters is partly inspired by the Yeats poem.
  47. Troy by Sinead O'Connor is loosely based on No Second Troy.
  48. John Aschenbrenner's song cycle To An Isle In The Water comprises settings of: sung by Patti Cohenour. Published by Isle Enterprises. A RealAudio sound clip is on the site.
  49. Douglas Saum is undertaking the project of recording settings of over 170 of the poems. The first release is First Songs: Lullabies for Ireland (Barbarous Generation Music 10001), and covers mostly early and incidental pieces not in the Collected Poems. The second volume The Rose at the Crossway (Barbarous Generation Music 10002, 2000) covers poems from those two collections. See his web site for future plans in the series.
  50. The Chieftains' album Tears of Stone (BMG/RCA 68968 1999) includes a rendition of Never Give All the Heart by Brenda Fricker with Anúna.
  51. The album The Wild Swans at Coole by the Frisian band Fling contains settings of the title song and The Fisherman. (Fling CD 01/eigen beheer) The Blackbird (CUP8016) includes a setting of On Woman.
  52. A Ballad of Roger Casement on How Like Ghosts Are We by David Nigel Lloyd combines Roger Casement and The Ghost of Roger Casement with traditional Irish songs.
  53. The Norse singer Finn Coren has an album of Yeats settings on A Full Moon in March (Kirkelig Kulturverksted 1990).
  54. Ross Clement offers samples from his settings of several poems on his Web site. (May require Netscape).
  55. Stonecircle sets Cap and Bells on Serendipity (SM970105).
  56. Heather Alexander sets The Stolen Child on Wanderlust (SFP-9403 1994).
  57. Joyce Hope Suskind's Six Songs to Poetry of Yeats is performed on Songs by Women, Leonarda Productions LE352 (2003), including Audio samples are on the site.
  58. Steve Strickland records a setting of (?) on What You See Is What You Get.
  59. Sidney Homer (1864-1953) wrote settings of a number of Yeats poems.
  60. Among several settings of Yeats poems by Ben Moore are those sung by Deborah Voigt (Cloak, Boat and Shoes on All My Heart (Angel 57964-2 2005), and Nathan Gunn (When You Are Old and Gray on Just Before Sunrise (Sony 2007).
  61. James Wilding's suite Crazy Jane for soprano, clarinet and piano has extracts in MP3
  62. Now and in Time to Be from Grapevine Records (GRACD 219) includes Yeats reading Innisfree, Richard Harris in Under Ben Bulben V and VI, with musical settings, some newly composed, of:
  63. Kate Campbell's "Peace Comes Stealing Slow" on Blues and Lamentations (Large River Music 2005) is inspired by Innisfree.
  64. Liars includes "Sailing to Byzantium" on their self-titled album (Mute 2007)
  65. U2 has not actually done any Yeats settings (unless Bono's recitation of September 1913 "with musical accompaniment" counts), but here is an examination of Yeats connections
  66. A Bad Dream, inspired by An Iirsh Airman Foresees His Death, appears on Under an Iron Sea by Keane, as well as being released as a single. Hear band members discuss it in this podcast episode. See Performance video clip.
  67. Carla Bruni's album No Promises (Naive 2007) includes settings of Those Dancing Days Are Gone and Before the World Was Made. Hear an excerpt on the Ryan Turbridy Show
    68. See music video of Those Dancing Days
  69. Grace Griffish records "...Innisfree" with "The Quiet Land of Erin" in her self-titled album (Blix 1996). See performance video from the 2007 WAMMIE awards.
  70. Elizabeth Maconchy's "Six Yeats Settings for Soprano and Chorus" does not appear to have been recorded.
    71. A Furnished Soul includes a setting of The Long-Legged Fly in the album "Broken Record", downloadable here

    Drama

    1. Yeats' Noh Plays (Argo PLP 1091-1092, 1965) includes At the Hawk's Well,The Dreaming of the Bones,The Cat and the Moon and Resurrection directed by Barry Cassin and Noel MacMahon, and with music by Gerard Victory.
    2. Lennox Robinson presents William Butler Yeats (Spoken Arts SA 752, 1959) includes scenes from Countess Cathleen and Deirdre
    3. Music of a Lost Kingdom (LK MC 001) contains songs and incidental music for a number of plays composed for the Yeats International Theatre Festival by Bill Whelan.
    4. Five One-Act Plays (Caedmon CDL5315) includes The Cat and the Moon, The Only Jealousy of Emer, The Pot of Broth, Purgatory, and The Words Upon the Window Pane

    Readings

    1. Yeats reads three of his poems on The Cædmon Treasury of Poets Reading Their Own Poetry (TC2006).
    2. Yeats and others read his poetry on The Poems of William Butler Yeats (Spoken Arts 753 1959). Read by the author, Siobhan McKenna, and Michael MacLiammoir.
    3. Siobhan McKenna Reading Irish Poetry (Spoken Arts 707 1956) includes 16 Yeats poems.
    4. Helen Hayes, Raymond Massy, Thomas Mitchell" (RCA LM1812-14 1955) includes a Yeats selection.
    5. Yeats reads Innisfree and Song of the Old Mother on In Their Own Voices, Rhino Word Beat 72408.
    6. Lennox Robinson presents William Butler Yeats (Spoken Arts SA 751, 1959) includes an LP of poems.
    7. Readings by Siobhan McKenna and Cyril Cusack are on Poetry of Yeats (Caedmon CDL 51081).
    8. The Silver Lining from BMP Audio includes James Earl Jones reciting The Stolen Child
    9. Spoken Yeats, 63 Yeats poems recited by David Henry and Mary Watson, featuring original music by Barry Brennan. Anois-Keelobyboy-Calry, Sligo, Ireland. Contact Yeats@futurenet.ie.

    Marginalia

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