‘You Did Not Want for Joy’ is Carolyn Sampson and Matthew Wadsworth's third album together. It is a song recital programme, bookended by old and new settings of the same texts, interspersed with themes of nature, love, and the human condition. It features folk songs and broadside ballads, as well as songs by Dowland, Campion, Purcell and Britten. There is also a new commission by Nico Muhly – the first piece of new music to be written for Sampson and Wadsworth as a duo – a setting of the text from Hildegard von Bingen's O viridissima virga.

Equally at home on the concert and opera stages, soprano Carolyn Sampson has enjoyed notable successes in the UK as well as throughout Europe and the US. In 2023/24 Carolyn will make her debut at Berlin Staatsoper as well as releasing what will be her 100th Recording as a featured solo artist.

Working in the UK and Europe as a soloist and chamber musician, lutenist Matthew Wadsworth has appeared at most major concert halls and festivals, and can often be heard on radio, both in live performance and recordings. His many CD recordings for Channel Classics, Linn Records, Deux-Elles and Wigmore Live have all received international critical acclaim, and have been featured as Gramophone Editor's Choice on three occasions.