The Past and I: 100 Years of Thomas Hardy

The Past & I:
100 Years
of Thomas Hardy

“Anyone with an ear for Thomas Hardy’s poetry will respond to the sinewy variety of ‘The Past & I' – settings, composed or arranged by Arthur Keegan”

- Fiona Maddocks, The Observer

Album released 19th July 2024

“Keegan is supremely attuned not only to the finer details of Hardy’s poetry but also to his peculiar blend of old-school pastoral and what he once termed ‘the ache of modernism’ as... snatches of folk-music are disrupted by unexpected harmonies and extended vocal techniques”
– Katherine Cooper, Presto Music

“Outstanding performances by Lotte Betts-Dean, James Girling and the Ligeti Quartet enrich atmospheric settings composed and arranged by Arthur Keegan”
– Fiona Maddocks, The Observer

“Keegan’s... Elegies for Emma, embodies a heart-rending poignancy in that it incorporates the haunting voice of Emma herself, and the fluidity of Hardy’s verse is sensitively projected above the numinous sound of the guitar”
– Jeremy Dibble, Gramophone Magazine

“Keegan's first String Quartet, Elegies for Tom... highlights the tensions between man and nature, art and mortality, interlaying texts by Hardy and Philip Larkin. In all, a quirky, highly personal and thought-provoking project”
– Ashutosh Khandekar, BBC Music Magazine

“Keegan has crafted a highly satisfying mix of old and new, with his arrangements making us see more familiar items differently. My own favourite remains his cycle for voice and guitar, but the whole recital is a lovely one, benefitting from superbly sympathetic performances.”
– Robert Hugill, PlanetHugill.com

Buy the album here

Streaming links here

Concert Tour 2024 film here

Podcast about it here

This collaboration between mezzo-soprano Lotte Betts-Dean and composer Arthur Keegan celebrates Thomas Hardy’s special place in art song over the last 100 years.

The album includes new arrangements of beloved music by Finzi and Britten alongside beautiful songs (some unearthed from archives) by Imogen Holst, Muriel Herbert, Ivor Gurney, Robin Milford and Derek Holman. At its heart are three new pieces composed specially for the project: Kerry Andrew’s haunting setting of Hardy’s The Echo Elf Answers and a pair of song cycles by Arthur Keegan exploring the poet’s complex relationship with his first wife Emma and his obsession with the passage of time.

Through close collaboration with the composer, Lotte Betts-Dean’s unique vocal qualities, charisma and expressive emotional range have fundamentally shaped this celebration of Hardy and song.

The Past ​& I: 100 Years of Thomas Hardy​

Album released 19th July 2024

The Past & I:
100 Years
of Thomas Hardy