Songs from the North Country

As great lovers of traditional music, Rosemary Standley and François Lazarevitch were bound to meet one day. The founding leader of Les Musiciens de Saint-Julien proposed collaborating on a programme of English ballads with the iconic singer from the legendary rock band Moriarty, who has already recorded two equally iconic albums for Alpha, Love I Obey (Alpha 538) and Schubert in Love (Alpha 418): “This repertoire suits her musical style and her voice perfectly; she brings her experience of folk music and popular song. The old ballads that Child and Sharp collected in the late 19th century are classics of the genre.” Rosemary continues: “This repertoire is magnificent. The essence of American folk music lies in these English, Scottish and Irish ballads – it’s a genre that resonates with me very naturally.” With a carefully chosen array of instruments – baroque harp, viola da gamba, pandora, Scottish bodhrán drum and, of course, the flutes and bagpipes so dear to Lazarevitch – plus a superb group of singers and musicians, Rosemary and François set sail for the North in the wake of Alfred Deller, Joan Baez, Joni Mitchell, Nina Simone and Simon & Garfunkel, who had also fallen in love with these tales of sailors, fairs, a tailor and his mouse, murder, betrayal and revenge.