Robert Franz (1815-1892) was an unjustly neglected German composer who specialised almost entirely in lieder and was highly thought of in his day, being admired by Liszt, Mendelssohn and Schumann. This is a collection and sequence of beautiful and very moving miniatures (nearly all previously unrecorded), with the songs shared between and superbly performed by soprano Harriet Burns and tenor William Searle - both hugely talented young soloists with sensitive accompaniments from pianists Marc Verter and Sebastian Wybrew. The gorgeous recorded sound was engineered by Tony Faulkner and the sessions produced by Mike Purton. This is a double album containing all 51 songs set by Franz to poems by Wilhelm Osterwald (1820-1827), the project being originated by musicologist Victoria Edge, who through her research has discovered that composer and poet were even closer than very close friends as can be seen in the texts. It's a delightful and very moving musical journey about unrequited love and will be available for general release in early November.

As well as containing two CDs, this set has a most informative 60 page booklet including excellent programme notes and detail about the lives of and the relationship between the composer and the poet by Victoria Edge, with a very enthusiastic introduction by none other than Graham Johnson OBE. Each relatively short song is a work of art and the 51 songs (plus Franz’s only tiny composition for solo piano) are equally divided into the four seasons, to help tell the story. Franz was certainly unparalleled as a miniaturists and this album is a must for lovers of early romantic music and of song.