The long and vibrant tradition of art-song in England has seen many great composers from Finzi to Vaughan Williams, Gurney to Moeran and Warlock and countless more, supported for many years now by the English Poetry and Song Society.

This is the second of four albums of live EPSS concert performances made by Dunelm for private use and now on general release due to demand; it contains works by major composers and also the five excellent finalists in the EPSS competition of 2001. The concert and competition commemorated the bicentenary of the birth of Dorset dialect poet William Barnes.

These EPSS recordings were made on portable recording equipment and with less than ideal microphone placement and are not to our usual modern standard. However they contain fine performances and many very unfamiliar and exquisite songs, which will delight any lover of late-Romantic vocal music.