A Love Letter to Liverpool (2019)
for mezzo-soprano and piano
A Love Letter to Liverpool was recorded by Jennifer Johnston (mezzo-soprano) and Alisdair Hogarth (piano) in May 2019. The recording tells the story of Jennifer’s childhood and heritage against the backdrop of her home city, and features new arrangements of songs by ten composers with connections to Liverpool — including Bethan Morgan-Williams’s arrangement of Liverpool Lullaby.
Made famous by Cilla Black, Liverpool Lullaby has undergone a series of transformations since its origins in an early nineteenth-century folk song. The melody first appeared as Robert Nunn’s Sandgate Dandling Song (c. 1830), and was later used by Stan Kelly as the basis for Liverpool Lullaby some 130 years later. In 1965, the song was recorded by Marian McKenzie (The Three City Four) and has since been covered by many musicians, including Hughie Jones (The Spinners), Judy Collins, Val Doonican, the Ian Campbell Folk Group, and, of course, Cilla Black.
Bethan’s arrangement uses Nunn’s melody and Kelly’s text, while introducing a new accompaniment that draws the music into the classical realm. Described as “a haunted miniature music-drama” (Richard Bratby, Gramophone), the arrangement offers yet another adaptation of this deeply affecting song.
Performance / Recording
Recorded by Jennifer Johnston (mezzo-soprano) and Alisdair Hogarth (piano) in May 2019.
All proceeds from the recording are donated equally to Alder Hey Children’s Charity and the Liverpool Philharmonic Youth Company.
Photo credit: Helena Cooke