Songs of Farewell
| Songs of Farewell | |
|---|---|
| Six choral motets by Hubert Parry | |
| Year | 1918 |
| Period | Romantic |
| Genre | Choral music |
| Text | Poetry texts; the Book of Common Prayer |
| Language | English |
| Composed | 1916 – 1918: England |
| Premiere | |
| Date | 23 February 1919 |
| Location | Exeter College, Oxford[1] |
Songs of Farewell is a set of six choral motets by the British composer Hubert Parry. The pieces were composed between 1916 and 1918 and were among his last compositions before his death.
The songs were written during the First World War when a number of Parry's pupils at the Royal College of Music were being killed in action. Parry's choice of texts are thought to reflect a yearning to escape the violence of a world at war, and to find peace in a heavenly realm. In contrast to Parry's assured 1916 setting of William Blake's poem "And did those feet in ancient time", "Jerusalem", Songs of Farewell is seen as representing a decline in national confidence.[2][3]
Performance
The first concert performance of Songs of Farewell took place at the Royal College of Music on 22 May 1916, when The Bach Choir sang the first five pieces, directed by Hugh Allen. Parry's piece was well received by critics; reviews in The Daily Telegraph and The Musical Times praised the pieces, and a review in The Times said that the fifth song, ""At the round earth's imagined corners", was "one of the most impressive short choral works written in recent years".[4]
Parry died on 7 October 1918 and one of the pieces from Songs of Farewell, "There is an old belief", was sung at the composer's funeral in St Paul's Cathedral.[5] The first performance of the complete set of six songs was at a memorial service to Parry held in the chapel of Exeter College, Oxford on 23 February 1919, four months after his death.[1]
Songs
The six motets consist of poems by British poets and a Bible text, set to music for unaccompanied choir.[1]
- "My soul, there is a country"
- Text by Henry Vaughan, set for SATB choir
- "I know my soul hath power"
- Text by John Davies, set for SATB choir
- "Never weather-beaten sail"
- Text by Thomas Campion, set for SSATB choir
- "There is an old belief"
- Text by John Gibson Lockhart, set for SSATBB choir
- "At the round earth's imagined corners"
- Text from Holy Sonnets No. 7 by John Donne, set for SSAATTBB choir
- "Lord, let me know mine end"
- Text from Psalm 39 from the Book of Common Prayer, set for SATB double choir
Notable recordings
- Parry: Songs Of Farewell; Stanford: Magnificat, Eternal Father, Three Motets — Choir of Trinity College, Cambridge, Richard Marlow (Conifer, 1987)
- I Was Glad — Cathedral Music By Parry — Choir of St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle, Christopher Robinson (Hyperion Records, 1988)
- Hubert Parry — Songs of Farewell — Tenebrae, Nigel Short (Signum Records, 2011)
See also
References
- ^ a b c Shrock, Dennis (2009). Choral Repertoire. Oxford University Press, USA. ISBN 9780195327786. Retrieved 26 August 2018.
- ^ Hughes, Meirion; Stradling, Robert; Stradling, R. A. (2001). English Musical Renaissance, 1840-1940. Manchester University Press. p. 89. ISBN 9780719058301. Retrieved 26 August 2018.
- ^ Parry, C. Hubert H. Quinney, Robert (ed.). Songs of Farewell (notes to the vocal score). ISBN 9780193518469.
{{cite book}}:|access-date=requires|url=(help) - ^ Keen, Basil (2017). The Bach Choir: The First Hundred Years. Routledge. pp. 96–7. ISBN 9781351546072. Retrieved 28 August 2018.
- ^ Dibble, Jeremy (1992). C. Hubert H. Parry: His Life and Music. Clarendon Press. p. 496. ISBN 9780193153301.
External links
- Free scores by Songs of Farewell in the Choral Public Domain Library (ChoralWiki)
- Songs of Farewell texts at LiederNet
- "My soul there is a country" sung by Tenebrae
- "Lord let me know mine end" sung by Tenebrae