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Welcome to the world of Carey Blyton: composer, writer and nonsense poet (and nephew of Enid). Carey is perhaps best known as the creator of the accidental children’s hit Bananas in Pyjamas, but he was an accomplished musician and a man of many talents—not to mention an all-pervading sense of humour.
Explore this site to find out all about Carey’s multifaceted life and work. Use the quick links to access pages of particular interest, and you can see the latest news below. Visit the News page for more announcements.
Latest news
February 2025
Lyrics from the Chinese on CD
A new CD containing music by Carey Blyton was issued recently by Oboe Classics – as its name suggests, a label dedicated primarily to recordings of oboe music. The new disc is entitled What plaintive melodies are these? (CC2038) and it includes a new recording of a previously unheard version of Lyrics from the Chinese, alongside a fascinating array of other uncommon music by a range of British composers.
The primary performers on the CD are James Gilchrist, tenor and Mark Baigent, oboe, supported by Mira Marton, violin, Joanna Patrick, viola, George Ross, cello and Fiona Mitchell, clarinet.
Music on the CD is as follows (all world première recordings in this format):
- Ralph Vaughan Williams: Ten Blake Songs for Voice & Oboe (1957)
- Cyril Scott: Idyllic Fantasy for Voice, Oboe & Cello (1921)
- Herbert Murrill: Three Carols for High Voice & Oboe (1929)
- Carey Blyton: Lyrics from the Chinese for Tenor, Oboe & String Trio (op. 16a, 1953/4)
- Rutland Boughton: Piece for Voice, Oboe & Clarinet in A (1940)
- Philip Napier Miles: Four Songs for Baritone Voice & Oboe (op. 17, 1925)
- Benjamin Britten: Nocturne (op. 60, 1958), excerpt
The recording of Lyrics from the Chinese is of especial interest because it is the original version of the work – and the only version to include an oboe part. Originally a six-movement work scored for tenor, oboe and string trio, Carey later reworked and expanded the piece, adding a seventh song and a prelude, interlude and postlude for strings. The string trio was also expanded to a string orchestra (with a reduced version for piano), and the oboe part was dropped entirely. The original version was withdrawn and currently still remains in manuscript, so a recording of it is quite a coup.
The CD may be bought in physical form from the Oboe Classics online catalogue or as a digital download from Presto Music. An independent review by Jonathan Woolf may be found on MusicWeb International.
See the News section for more announcements.