Stephen passionately believes that for the English-speaking singer the best approach to gaining experience in singing with intelligence and understanding is to start with one’s native language. Two of the problems for the young singer, namely the pronunciation and meaning of a foreign text, are immediately removed. Quite apart from this eminently practical purpose, there is the quality of the songs themselves, many of which stand comparison with their French and German counterparts. The book is mainly aimed at British students who might otherwise not be encouraged to explore their own musical heritage, but will also appeal to foreign singers who are interested to develop their knowledge of the language and the music.

Some reviews:

‘…a helpful guide, giving insight into the genre for advanced students and performers alike.’ – Sheet Music

‘…a wonderfully thought-provoking book which will in fact encourage singers to re-examine their approach to any music, not just that by English composers.’ – Classical Music

‘Stephen Varcoe has produced a valuable book, Sing English Song, outlining just how we shape our elusive tongue.’ – The Independent

‘Stephen Varcoe’s approach reflects both the practical experience accumulated during his distinguished career as a singer, and the serious thought he has given to the theoretical underpinnings of his art and craft. Quite apart from the valuable things it has to say, the book makes a most enjoyable read; Stephen Varcoe is a natural writer, and this is one of those books where by the end you feel that you know the author well and would get on with them if ever you met them.’ The English Poetry and Song Society Newsletter

‘Sung with exceptional sensitivity and intelligence…a pleasure to listen to’ (Gramophone)

‘Warmly recommended’ (Classic CD)

‘No praise can be too high for Stephen Varcoe…his warm, natural baritone, finely judged legato and sensitivity to words are a joy throuhgout’ (International Record Review)

Stanford songs volume 2:

‘Stephen Varcoe is the perfect singer for this repertoire. A treasure of a disc’ (Fanfare)

‘Maintains in each and every bar the high standards of the previous release’ (BBC Music Magazine)

‘Beautifully performed with excellent notes, this recording will convince even the skeptical of the true worth of these songs…a most sensitive performance’ (Gramophone)

‘This collection, along with its predecessor, has changed my life. Without any question, it contains some magnificent songs, settings that would grace any company under the sun…voice and piano are in true partnership. I can only salute with deepest admiration Stephen Varcoe’s sterling baritone, so utterly sympathetic to Stanford’s every note, so undemonstratively secure, so responsive to word and musical line’ (International Record Review)

Parry songs:

‘Une heure d’absolu ravissement’ (Diapason)

Fauré songs:

‘The immaculate voice of Stephen Varcoe singing the four songs of Mirages’ (Music Web International)

Grainger vol 2: songs for baritone – Chandos:

Stephen Varcoe’s nothing less than a marvel. The intonation is dead-on true, the tone clear, the diction immaculate. He phrases sound as supple as a great pop singer, like Bennett, Sinatra, Tormé, or Astaire. He has no annoying vocal mannerisms to snatch attention from the music. He sings superbly even in dialect. Even more wonderful, he has solved the chief problem of a singer of songs: that of “naturalness.” He communicates. He knows what the texts are about and can convey them to the listener. He’s a singing story-teller. I’d love to hear a Winterreise from him, or a Fauré recital. [Classical Net – Steve Schwarz]

Armstrong Gibbs songs – Hyperion

Stephen Varcoe has a perfect song-singer’s voice; not only is the tone blessed with a warmly resonant character that can carry almost any melody, but behind it is a steadiness and strength of sound and sureness of delivery that seems effortless. His upper-register singing is lovely, and he sparingly employs falsetto to delightful effect. [Classics Today – David Vernier]

London Philharmonic Orchestra/Paul Daniel

CHAN9657

Rheinische Kantorei/H. Max

10 206/7

Capella Coloniensis/W. Christie

HMA 190 231

Monteverdi Choir/English Baroque Soloists/Gardiner

463 583 – 2AH

Monteverdi Choir/English Baroque Soloists/Gardiner

463 581– 2AH

Monteverdi Choir/English Baroque Soloists/Gardiner

Vol 22 SDG 128

Monteverdi Choir/English Baroque Soloists/Gardiner

Vol 24 SDG 107

Das Kleine Konzert/Max

Carus 63.117

Monteverdi Choi/English Baroque Soloists/Gadiner

463 582 – 2AH

The Theatre of Early Music

ACD2 2279

Monteverdi Choir/Gardiner

2292 45988-2

Monteverdi Choir/Gardiner

431 809-2AH

Monteverdi Choir/Gardiner

429 782 – 2AH

Basle Madrigalists/H M Linde

CZS7 67552-2

Monteverdi Ch/London Oratory Ch/J E Gardiner

469 769-2X9

Monteverdi Ch/Gardiner

439 885-2AH

Collegium Musicum 90/Hickox

CHAN0518

Monteverdi Choir/Gardiner

415 514-2AH2 / 415 514 – 4AH2

CM 90/Hickox

CHAN0533/4

Choir of King's College/Cleobury

290241

Monteverdi Choir/Gardiner

419 324 – 2 AH2 / 419 324 – 4AH2

Goodwin

89301

Musica Antiqua Köln/Goebbel

419 253 2

New London Chamber Choir/J. Wood

CHAN8478

Mass in C, Op 86. CM90/Richard Hickox

CHAN0703

CDA 67031/2

London Baroque/C Medlam

HMA 190 1276

The Hanover Band/The Choir of New College
Oxford/Graham Lea-Cox

CD GAU176

Christopher Cox

SHE 577

CLS/Hickox

CHAN8997

CHAN9487

London Schutz Choir/Norrington

430 365-2

St John’s College Choir/G Guest

455 035-2DF2

CLS/Hickox

CHAN8864

Paris Chapelle Royale/Herreweghe

HMC90 1251

Monteverdi Choir/Gardiner

2292 45466-2

F Lott/G Johnson/W Burden/G McGreevy/T
Spence/Poliphony

CDA67133/4

Peter Seymour

John Holloway

NT 005

Meredith Davies

CLS & Cambridge Singers/J. Rutter

COLCD 109

Graham Johnson

CDA 67333

Graham Johnson

CDA 67334

Graham Johnson

CDA 67335

Graham Johnson

CDA 67336

CLS/Hickox

Chan8997

Clifford Benson

CDA 66161/2

Winchester Cathedral Choir/Hill

CDA 67116

R Vignoles/GMcGreevy

CDA67337

Penelope Thwaites

CHAN9503

City of London Sinfonia/Richard Hickox

CHAN9499

City of London Sinfonia/Richard Hickox

CHAN 9554

City of London Sinfonia/Richard Hichox

CHAN9653

John Lavender

CHAN9730

Academy of St Martin's in the Fields

CHAN9819

Das Kleine Konzert /Hermann Max

CPO999 592

Delmé String Quartet/I. Burnside

CDA 66385

Graham Johnson

CDA67141/2

Monteverdi Choi/Gardiner

PHIL (2) 422 053-2PH2

Petite Bande/S Kuijken

GD77110

Monteverdi Choir/Gardiner

422 053-2PH2

Monteverdi Choir/Gardiner

2292-45377-2

Preston

Montiverdi Choir and Orchestra / English
Baroque Soloists / Gardiner

2564 61757-2

Monteverdi Choir/Gardiner

2292-45399-2

Choir of Kings College/Brandenburg Consort/Stephen
Cleobury

452-295-2DH2

Maulbronn/Budday

K & K Verlag

LC 04457

Monteverdi Choir/Gardiner

422 351-2PH3

Klosterkonzerte Baroque Orchestra/Budday

LC04457

Petite Bande/S. Kuijken

GD77109

Monteverdi Choir/Gardiner

412 612-2PH2

London Handel Orchestra/ D. Darlow

CDA 66071/2

MESSIAH

La Grande Ecurie/Malgoire

E 8509

Collegium Musicum 90/Richard Hickox

CHAN0674

CM90/Richard Hickox

CHAN0612

NANNI

La Petite Bande/Kuijken

RD 77099

CM90/Richard Hickox

CHAN0640

CM90/Hickox

CHAN0667

CM90/Richard Hickox

CHAN0645

CM90/Richard Hickox

CHAN0633

CM 90/Richard Hickox

CHAN0599

CM 90/Richard Hickox

CHAN0592

Richard Hickox

CDA 66099

Das Kleine Konzert/Max

10 557

Collegium Musicum 90/ Hickox

CHAN0712

UEA Singers/Peter Aston

MRFD95802

New College Choir/King's Consort/E. Higginbottom

2292-45014-2

London Baroque/E. Higginbottom

CDA 66269

London Baroque

Stuttgart Radio Symphony Orchestra/Neville
Marriner

Collegium Aureum/H. Henning

VD77 588

English Serenata/V Soames Samek

CC0039

CLS/Hickox

DKP 9031

Clifford Benson

CDA 67044

National Philharmonic Orchestra/Bartoletti

414 3492DH3

Collegium Instrumentale Brugense/Peire

EUF1329

The King's Consort/Robert King

CDA 66644

AENEAS

The English Concert/Pinnock

REISSUE

427624-2AH

474 672-2

Monteverdi Choir/English Baroque Soloists/Gardiner

0630-10700-2

Monteverdi Choir/Gardiner

419 221-2AH2

Monteverdi Choir/Gardiner

2292 45187-2

ISMERON

Monteverdi Choir/Gardiner

2292 45556-2

Monteverdi Choir/Gardiner

2292 45211-2

Monteverdi Choir/Gardiner

2292 4555-2

Monteverdi Choir/Gardiner

2292 45327-2

Eng Concert/Hamburg Monteverdi Ch/EBS/Christchurch
Cath Ch/C Mackerras/J E Gardiner/S Preston

439 474-2GCL

J E Gardiner

4509-96371-2

Various Artist/Monteverdi Choir/J E Gardiner

8573 88044-2

Monteverdi/Gardiner

Paris Chapelle Royale Orchestra/Herreweghe

HMC90 1078

CLS/Hickox

CHAN9847

CLS/Rutter

COLCD 121

The English Concert/Pinnock

423 386-2AH

The 20th Century Classics Ensemble/Craft

37263-2

Volume 2

Graham Johnson

CDJ 33032

Various Artists

HYP200

Johnson

CDJ 33032

London Schubert Chorale/Layton

CDJ 33033

Purcell Quartet/Richard Boothby

CHAN0566/7

Ian Watson

CHAN9548

BBC Phil/Hickox

CHAN9548

Clifford Benson – Piano

CDA 67123

Clifford Benson – Piano

CDA 67124

London Schutz Choir/Norrington

430 365-2DM

The Orchestra of St. Luke’s/Robert
Craft

01612-67158-2

39842391-3

Aldeburgh Festival Ensemble/Lionel Friend

7023-2

Kleine Konzert/H. Max

10 315

Das Kleine Konzert/Max

10 319

London Baroque/Charles Medlam

HMA90 1159

Meredith Davies

Northern Sinfonia/Hickox

CHAN9928(2).

Purcell Quartet

CHAN0646

York Cathedral Choir/Moore

GMCD 7201

Collegium Musicum 90/Hickox

CHAN0518

La Grande Ecurie/Malgoire

E 8520

Various Artists

HMVS 74244-2

If there were Dreams to Sell

City of London Sinfonia/Hickox

CHAN 8743

Music for Shakespeare’s Company

The Parley of Instruments/Peter Holman

CDA 66836

Graham Johnson

CDA 66248

Farrar, Finzi, Gurney, Kelly

Clifford Benson

CDA 66261/2

Cambridge Clare College Choir/Rutter

HMV572340-2

King's College Choir/D Willcocks

HMV572341-2

Various Artists

HMX22958001/5

Concerto Vocale/Réné Jacobs

HMX290 605/7

Various Artists

8753-81631-2

Monteverdi Ch/EBS/J E Gardiner

0927443522

Cambridge Singers/Rutter

AG 500.

King's College Choir/Willcocks

CDM 7631792

The Scholars

UNS 254

“serene baritone” (St Matthew Passion, Brooklyn Academy of Music) – New York Times

“le baryton Stephen Varcoe s’est toutefois attire ma sympathie, ne serait-ce que parce qu’il était le seul a chanter de mémoire. Sa voix, tellement souple, pouvait parfois acquérir une incroyable légèreté.” (Bach’s St Matthew Passion, Les Violons du Roy) – Le Soleil, Québec

“It was Stephen Varcoe’s impressive-sounding bass-baritone that really stood out among the rest.” (Bach’s St Matthew Passion, NZ Chamber Orchestra)– New Zealand Herald

“Varcoe’s singing as Apollo was brave and touching.” (Handel’s Apollo and Daphne, St Paul Chamber Orchestra) – St Paul Pioneer Press, Minnesota

“Best of all was Stephen Varcoe’s hell-and-fire Pluto, who sang as if he meant every word, without deviating from impeccable period manners.” (Peri’s Euridice, Drottningholm) – Opera

“Varcoe demonstrated a fine sensitivity for the shape of the songs, and his superbly expressive voice, tuned to every nuance of so many rich numbers, projected strongly into every corner of St Johns.” (Percy Grainger Recital, St Johns, Smith Square) – British Music Society News

‘Stephen Varcoe – surely one of this country’s finest executants of English song’ – Jeremy Dibble (from his biography of Stanford)

Singing Workshops with Stephen Varcoe at Ansells Farm

As an extension of Stephen’s teaching practice, he now runs a series of song workshops at his house in Essex. In a relaxed, informal setting he brings together his own mission to introduce every singer to the joys of the song repertoire and his flair for encouraging inexperienced or less confident solo singers. In recent months workshops have covered such topics as English & American Song, Schumann and Brahms, La France Profonde, Celebrating Mozart and Schubert, Wolf & Brahms. The group (a maximum of eight participants) is drawn from students of singing, enthusiastic amateurs, choral singers, teachers or semi-professionals, of all ages and abilities. The only qualifications necessary are a love of song and an enthusiasm for sharing ideas and interpretations in a friendly, positive atmosphere.

We have been running our very successful Song Days here for several years now, and underpinning the whole venture is the fact that Stephen is a world-famous baritone, whose expertise and experience in the field of song is second to none – he has made over 150 recordings, and is widely acknowledged to be one of the foremost recitalists of the age.

Forthcoming Workshops include :-

Future dates are still to be decided, but will be posted in due course.

If you are interested in taking part in the workshops, would like more information, or if you would like us to add you to the mailing list for future classes, please contact us: stephen@varcoe.com or 01787 269570

The Song Day begins at 10 am, and ends at 5 pm or later, with breaks for coffee, tea and homemade cakes; at lunchtime everyone enjoys a two-course meal (with wine) prepared by Melinda – this is all included in the price. The winning combination of stimulating teaching and learning, delicious food and glorious music in a beautiful rural setting seems to work miracles! Each performer gets at least two chances to sing, (perhaps more, depending on numbers and time), and during the course of the day people invariably make new friends, catch up with old ones, find fresh inspiration and gain greater confidence to explore repertoire which might have been unfamiliar or daunting.

An experienced accompanist is provided, or singers may bring their own for an extra charge (£25). The cost is £95, with a deposit of £20 payable in advance (non-returnable unless the organisers have to cancel).

Here are a few comments taken either from our guestbook for the days, or from an article in Classical Music magazine in 2004 about the classes:-

“Above all, it was Stephen’s relaxed, engaging manner and good humour, coupled with a passion for sharing his skills and knowledge, that sent me away on a high, buzzing with new ideas.”

“A thousand thanks for a magnificent day of musical joy and instruction”

“…a wonderful day of Kunst and Genüss!”

“The atmosphere was as relaxed as it could possibly be in a performance context…the transformation of one absolute beginner in particular was inspiring.”

“Absolutely wonderful – and so is the food and drink!”

“Comments can be expressed more directly than in a larger setting, and it’s easier for individual singers to get feedback over things that concern them.”

“ I’ve learnt more about song in these classes with Stephen than in all the previous thirty years.”

“The consistency of the chocolate brownies merits special mention!”…

When a concert promoter asks for a programme, it is often part of a celebration of some kind, in which case the subject-matter is already defined. Recent commemorations have been the Mozart bicentenary, the Schumann sesquicentenary and the fiftieth anniversary of Finzi’s death, for all of which Stephen has created special programmes. For example, the Mozart included works by his son, Franz Xaver, and his British friends and colleagues, Linley, Attwood and Storace.

A programme for a symposium on Stanford included works by his friends and his pupils, offering scope for a wide variety of musical styles. Another on music in nineteenth century Britain not only explored little-known works by Wesley, Pinto, Sterndale Bennett and other English composers, but included works in English by foreign composers such as Mendelssohn and Gounod. Yet another was created to complement an exhibition of the work of Picabia, the Dadaist painter. This included the music of Durey, Debussy, Ravel, Satie and Poulenc.

At the Royal College of Music on March 12th 2008 he helped devise a student programme for the celebration of the work of Sir William Sterndale Bennett. The songs presented were examples of the English Romantic school interspersed with the great German Romantics, Schumann and Mendelssohn.

One of the features of Stephen’s recitals is the relaxed and informal quality of his presentation, which always involves spoken introductions, and often includes readings of poetry or prose-extracts. A particularly powerful example is his programme of songs and poems written during wartime. For the Thomas Hardy Society he has now created three different programmes based on Hardy’s writings, involving the poetry, the music which he knew and the music which his poetry has inspired. Similarly, for celebrations of the life of A E Housman he devised a sequence of songs and readings from A Shropshire Lad. For the Peter Warlock Society he has given a lecture recital on the life of the composer, illustrated by his songs.

Apart from concerts involving the modern piano, Stephen has worked for many years with Peter Seymour on the fortepiano, and together they have explored the early Lieder repertoire of Zelter, Reichardt and Zumsteeg, and given many performances of Schubert’s Die schöne Müllerin and Winterreise. One of their recurring themes is the development of the Lied from its early beginnings to the works of Schubert and Schumann, and they have devised programmes of comparative settings of Goethe, of ballad settings, and of dialogue songs.

On the concert platform, in a career spanning more than three decades, Stephen has appeared with orchestras all over the world. Highlights include Stravinsky’s Abraham and Isaac in New York with Robert Craft, Stravinsky’s Threni in London with Rozhdestvensky, Holst’s Savitri in Amsterdam with Hickox, C P E Bach’s Die Israeliten in der Wüste in Cologne with Christie, Bach’s Mass in B Minor in Italy with Rifkin, Haydn’s Creation in Lisbon with Brüggen, Handel’s Apollo and Daphne in Versailles with Minkowski, the centenary performance of Fauré’s Requiem in Paris with Tortelier, and the fortieth anniversary performance of Britten’s War Requiem in Coventry with Cleobury. He has regularly taken part in the BBC Proms and international festivals, and appeared in recital with some of our finest accompanists, particularly Graham Johnson, Iain Burnside, Julius Drake and Roger Vignoles.

His operatic appearances include Haydn’s L’Infedelta Delusa in Antwerp with Kuijken, Debussy’s Fall Of The House Of Usher in Lisbon and London, Tavener’s Mary Of Egypt in Snape, Rameau’s Les Boréades in Aix and Lyon with John Eliot Gardiner, Peri’s Euridice for Drottningholm, and Monteverdi’s Orfeo in Japan. His repertoire also includes Death in Holst’s Savitri, Demetrius in Britten’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Salieri in Rimsky Korsakov’s Mozart & Salieri. In 2006 he was heard in a BBC broadcast of Malcolm Arnold’s hitherto unperformed opera The Dancing Master. Stephen was in the original cast for Jonathan Miller’s ground-breaking staging of Bach’s St Matthew Passion and its subsequent television production, and revivals in the USA.