O Waly, Waly
Traditional (English), arr. Benjamin Britten
Recording
Peter Pears (tenor), Benjamin Britten (piano)
- Album
- Britten: Folksongs
- Year
- 1961
- Length
- Period
- Folk song
- Listen
Painting
Salomon van Ruysdael
Ferry near Gorinchem, 1646
The piece
Britten set this English folk song for voice and piano in the third volume of his Folk Song Arrangements, published by Boosey & Hawkes in 1947. Its first verse begins "The water is wide, I cannot get o'er" and asks for a boat that can carry two.
The recording
Pears and Britten recorded it for Decca at Kingsway Hall, London, in 1961. Reviewing the later Decca reissue for MusicWeb International, Em Marshall wrote that "the standard of performance is outstanding."
Other recordings
Kathleen Ferrier with Phyllis Spurr, and Lorna Anderson with Malcolm Martineau in their complete set of Britten's arrangements, also recorded this setting.