“Recording these works today has become a rite of passage for singers aspiring to being accepted as mature interpreters, also true for violinists with the Bach Unaccompanied Sonatas and for cellists, with the same composer’s unaccompanied Suites. It was not always so. When Ms. Matthews taped her reading of these songs about 1953-4, there had been only a few 78 sets of each and another few on LP.

These recordings differ from many others since they are usually performed by men as the protagonists are male. They are sung here by mezzo soprano Inez Matthews. Of women singers only soprano Lotte Lehmann had recorded them before her”