Song Literature Week 10 Reflections

In Boyhood from We’ll To The Woods No More (John Ireland)

I like the openness and sparseness of the accompaniment. It really adds to the drama of the
piece. The fact that the tessitura sits a nice speaking range helps emulate the humanity of the
text. The rhythmic setting of the text also assists the performer in making the portrayal of the
text very conversational and story-like. The harmony and dynamics in the left hand also assist
the driving of the narrative of this piece. Overall, I think Ireland does a great job of portraying the
mood of this piece in the combination of the accompaniment and the setting of the text. They
compliment each other well.

The Cloths of Heaven (Rebecca Clarke)

The melody of this line is unique. It’s conjunct and predictable at times and then disjunct at other
times. I was caught of guard a few times by some of the harmonic progressions. The
accompaniment was gorgeous and very romantic sounding. I loved the moments of triple versus
duple rhythm. The cascading triplets over the duple eighth notes create a separation between
dreams and reality and as they ascend the imagery of dreams is easily pictured.

The Singer (Michael Head)

I love the folk nature of this melody. If I were personally performing it, I would do a verse a
cappella and the rest with accompaniment. The setting of the text is very speech-like and I love
the freedom of expression that can come from performing this a cappella. I enjoyed the “fa la la
la” sections. I’m often iffy about those in songs but in a folk-song when it’s done tastefully, I
enjoy it. I think it’s appropriate here. It adds some of that mystical, folksy flair to it.

It Was A Lover And His Lass (Gerald Finzi)

My absolute favorite moments of harmony in this piece is with “sweet lovers” every time. The
accompaniment is very light even though it’s full in terms of texture. The tessitura helps the
listener gather an image of bubbly spring with birds singing and flowers blooming. The text
setting is again very speech-like and conversational. The strophic nature of this piece really
highlights the poetic verse that the Bard often used, but still gives the vocalist the opportunity to
give their own artistic flair to the line. This song never fails to put a smile on my face.

Last Rose Of Summer (Benjamin Britten)

This piece is simplistic for the most part. The text setting is extremely syllabic which makes you
hold on to every word being said. The simple and repetitive rolling of the chords in the piano
really set the stage for the text to shine and also help create the imagery of being alone as the
last rose of summer. It’s a slow walk to Fall or death as the fever of summer comes to an end.
The combination of the accompaniment and vocal help to portray this dirge while sauntering
toward death.