'Under The Greenwood Tree'
Featuring the musicians from Pop-up Globe
And the mesmerising voice of Victoria Girling-Butcher
The hottest theatre event in the Southern Hemisphere -- POP-UP GLOBE -- today announces the release of Under The Greenwood Tree, a collection of musical masterpieces inspired by Shakespeare.
The 10-track CD contains newly composed songs and instrumentals from POP-UP GLOBE’S 2017 season of four plays Othello, As You Like It, Much Ado About Nothingand Henry V.
Songs feature the hauntingly beautiful voice of former Lucid3 singer and solo artist Victoria Girling-Butcher, recorded
at The Boatshed studios in Auckland and showcasing the wonderfully talented musicians from POP-UP GLOBE: Oscar West -
fiddle, Irish whistles, recorders and pipes; and Shimna Higgins - fiddle. The album has been produced and orchestrated
by the legendary Bruce Lynch.
All music has been written by POP-UP GLOBE musical director Paul McLaney and all lyrics are by William Shakespeare.
"All of the song settings were newly composed for this season and my ambition with each was to match the poetry of the
words to melodies that felt timeless, easily remembered and in service to their emotional intent," says McLaney.
"Once this repertoire of new song settings was completed it seemed appropriate to collect them in a record. While the
plays themselves are presented with hugely diverse aesthetics I felt the songs would benefit from a universal theme and
across the board. To my mind, they share a pastoral quality. Furthermore, there is a female energy present throughout
the material that I wanted to highlight by featuring a vocalist whose performance would be infused with a woman's
spirit. I called upon one of New Zealand's great voices."
Since her last album, Girling-Butcher has been living in Paris, working on her next solo album. Under The Greenwood Tree
is her first musical release since returning to New Zealand.
“I had sung Shakespearian songs as a girl, when learning classical singing, but found it a little pompous and awkward.
But Paul’s compositions make it so easy inhabit the language with sincerity. Also, with the wisdom of years I have a new
depth of understanding when interpreting the timeless themes in the songs.”
Under The Greenwood Tree has been a new experience for the singer-songwriter, she says.
“The Celtic arrangements are new territory for me, and it is unusual to have not played any instruments in the
recordings but it has been such a pleasure to just sing and enjoy the work of the players.”