The Journey Home
John Brancy, baritone
Peter Dugan, piano
28th May 2021
AV2453 - Digital Album
Summary:
Recorded live at the Kennedy Center’s Terrace Theater on November 12, 2018, one day after the centennial of the signing of the Armistice that ended World War I, The Journey Home captures John Brancy’s radiant baritone and Peter Dugan’s dazzling pianism in a program that pays homage to composers and poets who fought in the war and traces a narrative arc of contemplation and peace. From the jollity of Gustav Holst’s “Jupiter” and Oley Speaks’ When the Boys Come Home to Ralph Vaughan Williams’ affectionate cycle Songs of Travel, from some of the finest lieder penned by Schubert and Rachmaninov to war-time songs by Irving Berlin and Ivor Novello and Pete Seeger’s iconic Where Have All the Flowers Gone, the music on The Journey Home spans many styles and generations but is united by a shared story about the search for meaning and belonging in the wake of catastrophe.
John and Peter’s Kennedy Center performance was the culmination of a tour that brought their message to thousands of audience members throughout the United States. Released to coincide with Memorial Day 2021, The Journey Home lives on through this recording, the accompanying videos and PBS broadcasts that will support the release, and www.journeyhomealbum.com.
critical acclaim
- “so refreshingly, marvelously different” – Washington Post
- “John Brancy has one of the most beautiful lyric baritones I’ve heard” – American Record Guide
- “there is a piano soloist — in this case the energetic and fearlessly athletic Peter Dugan — called on to execute feats of alarming dexterity.” – San Francisco Chronicle
Tracklist:
GUSTAV HOLST (1874–1934) arr. Peter Dugan
1. Jupiter, the Bringer of Jollity from The Planets Op. 32, No. 4 (7.12)
OLEY SPEAKS (1874–1948)
JOHN MILTON HAY (1838–1905)
2. When the Boys Come Home (3.16)
RALPH VAUGHAN WILLIAMS (1872–1958) §
ROBERT LOUIS STEVENSON (1850–1894)
Songs of Travel
3. The Vagabond (2.52)
4. Let Beauty Awake (2.00)
5. The Roadside Fire (2.20)
6. Youth and Love (3.35)
7. In Dreams (2.35)
8. The Infinite Shining Heavens (2.05)
9. Whither Must I Wander? (3.59)
10. Bright is the Ring of Words (2.11)
LEONARDO DUGAN (b. 1980)
ALAN SEEGER (1888–1916) *
11. I Have a Rendezvous with Death (5.14)
JOHN McCRAE (1872–1918) *
12. In Flanders Fields # (4.03)
PETE SEEGER (1919–2014) arr. Peter Dugan
PETE SEEGER; additional verses by JOE HICKERSON (b.1935)
13. Where Have All the Flowers Gone (3.59)
FRANZ SCHUBERT (1797–1828)
JOHANN MAYRHOFER (1787–1836)
14. Der Schiffer, D536 (1.49)
RUDI STEPHAN (1887–1915) *
JOHANN CHRISTIAN GÜNTHER (1695–1723)
15. Am Abend (1.18)
FRANZ SCHUBERT
GEORG PHILIPP SCHMIDT (1766–1849)
16. Der Wanderer, D489 (5.11)
RUDI STEPHAN
FRIEDRICH HEBBEL (1813–1863)
17. Memento vivere (3.55)
FRANZ SCHUBERT
FRIEDRICH RÜCKERT (1788–1866)
18. Du bist die Ruh, D776 (5.00)
SERGEI RACHMANINOV (1873–1943) †
MARIA DAVIDOVA (1863–?)
19. “Я жду тебя!” “I’ll Wait for You” (1.44)
GLAFIRA GALINA (1873–1942)
20. “Здесь хорошо” “How Nice It Is Here” (2.06)
FYODOR TYUTCHEV (1803–1873)
21. “Весенние воды” “Spring Waters” (2.24)
IRVING BERLIN (1888–1989) §
22. Goodbye France (2.57)
IVOR NOVELLO (1893–1951) §
EDWARD MOORE (EDWARD MARSH) (1872–1953)
23. The Land of Might-Have-Been (3.37)
CHRISTOPHER HASSALL (1912–1963)
24. Shine Through My Dreams (3.26)
RALPH VAUGHAN WILLIAMS
25 Songs of Travel (conclusion): I Have Trod the Upward and the Downward Slope (2.28)
Total time: 81.25
*Served and died in WWI · §Served in WWI · #World-premiere · †Fled Russia in 1917
JOHN BRANCY baritone
PETER DUGAN piano
Special thanks to Peter Russell, the U.S. World War I Centennial Commission & the General Delegation of the Government of Flanders to the USA
Peter Dugan is a Yamaha Artist
Recorded (live): 12 November 2018, Terrace Theater, Kennedy Center, Washington, D.C.
Executive producer: Vocal Arts DC
Editing: Charles Mueller, Ryan Streber
Mixing and Mastering: Ryan Streber at Oktaven Audio
Recording engineer: Michael Schweppe
Assistant producers: Ken Weiss, Benjamin Laude
Publishers: Boosey & Hawkes (3–10, 25); Copyright Control (11–12); Concord Music Publishing (13); Waterson, Berlin, & Snyder Co. (22); Chappell & Co. (23, 24)
