Since the release of our Tragic Symphony album there have been many inquiries as to what the original "Tiger! Tiger!" sounds like. I myself first heard the piece on a CD issued by the now defunct Bay Cities label, a small independent classical label specializing in American composers, but since I had no idea what happened to the Bay Cities label or where to get the disc, I really didn't know what to say other than "you should hear it, it's great!"
Well, good news! Through various discussions with music people on the Internet and a tip from my brother David, I've discovered that the Bay Cities catalog is still available through Jabberwocky Productions, and yes, they do indeed still have copies of the original Thomson/Blake piece available.. and even better news, at a reduced cost!!
Here is what I have learned (courtesy of Alain Silver at Jabberwocky Productions). The original piece was written in 1951 specifically for Mark Harrell, the baritone who performs on the original recording, and the music was performed by The Philadelphia Orchestra conducted by Eugene Ormandy. The Bay Cities recording was produced by Tom Null who supervised the digital re-recording and new eq. from the old masters - apparently originally recorded by Desto Records. The disc is now available from:
Jabberwocky Productions
P.O. Box 3269, Santa Monica, CA 90408-3269
Send email inquiries to Jabwocky@aol.com
BCD 1006 - Virgil Thomson/Ernest Bloch : 3 Portraits; 3 Pictures; 4 Blake Songs (incl. Tiger! Tiger!) /3 Jewish Poems
The price is: $9.95 + $2.50 S+H (add $.50 S+H for each add'l disc).
If you enjoy our interpretation of the piece, then I strongly recommend obtaining a copy of the original !
Bill Berends