Poetry Serenade Pieces

Over many years Brian has set over 50 well-known poems to music. 18 of these were released on a Signum Classics CD titled ‘Poetry Serenade‘ in 2008. Elin Manahan Thomas, Juliette Pochin, Jon Christos and Nick Garrett are accompanied by the Prague Philharmonic Orchestra under the direction of James Morgen.

More of these settings are included on the ‘Love’s Philosophy’ Album as released by Rubicon in 2017 where the tenor James Gilchrist is accompanied by the world-renowned classical guitarist Craig Ogden.

‘Brian Knowles is that rare thing – a composer of great originality who can also write good tunes! This CD is a terrific example of his work in setting some of the nation’s favourite poems to music. Having enjoyed Brian’s work myself for many years now, I’m happy to think that this CD will ensure it of a wider audience. His is a talent that deserves greater recognition and I congratulate him on a tremendous achievement.’

Alan Titchmarsh MBE

Poetry Serenade – in alphabetical order

1. A Birthday – Christina Rossetti
2. A Child’s Sleep – Carol Ann Duffy
3. Adelstrop -Edward Thomas
4. A Listening Post – Robert Vernede
5. Angel Voices – Francis Potts
6. A Red, Red Rose – Robert Burns
7. Arise, My Love, My Fair One – Song Of Solomon 2 v10-13; 8 v6-7
8. Come Sweetheart, Come – 10th Century translated by Helen Waddell
9. Crossing The Bar – Alfred Lord Tennyson
10. Diamond Jubilee Tribute – Traditional
11. Do Not Stand At My Grave & Weep – Anon.
12. Everyone Sang – Siegfried Sassoon
13. God In Everything – Anon – attributed to Amergin ancient Irish Poet
14. God’s Aid – Words Traditional Celtic
15. He Wishes for the Cloths of Heaven – W B Yeats
16. High Flight – John Gillespie
17. If – Rudyard Kipling
18. In Flanders Fields – Lt Col John McCrae
19. I Remember, I Remember – Thomas Hood
20. I Sing of a Maiden – Anon.
21. Jenny Kiss’d Me – Leigh Hunt
22. Leisure – William Henry Davies
23. Let Me Not To The Marriage of True Minds – William Shakespeare
24. Let Us Now Praise Famous Men – Words selected from Ecclesiasticus 14: v1-15
25. Lord of the Winds – Mary Coleridge
26. Love Came Down At Christmas – Christina Rossetti
27. Loveliest Of Trees, The Cherry Now – A E Houseman
28. Love’s Philosophy – Solo Percy Bysshe Shelley
29. Night Mail – W H Auden
30. Nod – Walter De La Mare
31. O Mistress Mine – William Shakespeare
32. Pie Jesu – Requiem Mass
33. Please Mrs. Butler – Allan Ahlberg
34. Remember – Christina Rossetti
35. Ring Out Wild Bells – From ‘In Memoriam’ Alfred Lord Tennyson
36. Shall I Compare Thee?- William Shakespeare
37. She Walks in Beauty – Lord Byron
38. Stop All The Clocks – W H Auden
39. The Charge of the Light Brigade – Alfred Lord Tennyson
40. The Daffodils – William Wordsworth
41. The Darkling Thrush – Thomas Hardy
42. The Divine Guest – John Byrom 1692-1763
43. The Donkey – G K Chesterton
44. The Lake Isle of Innisfree – W B Yeats
45. The Listeners – Walter De Le Mare
46. The Secret – John Clare
47. The Shell – Amy Carmichael
48. The Soldier – Rupert Brooke
49. To Autumn – John Keats
50. Twelfth Night – Laurie Lee
51. Upon Westminster Bridge – William Wordsworth
52. Warning – Jenny Joseph
53. Weather – Thomas Hardy
54. When Icicles Hang by the Wall – William Shakespeare
55. Written in March – William Wordsworth