Saint-Saëns – La Cloche

by: David - April 14th, 2011   Filed under: French, High, Medium, Songs Add Comment

Song Information

Title: La Cloche

Music: Camille Saint-Saëns (1835-1921)

Text: Victor-Marie Hugo (1802-1885)

Sheet Music

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  • PDF available at IMSLP
    • Keys: D♭ Major or B Major

Song Text

Seule en ta sombre tour aux faîtes dentelés,
D’où ton souffle descend sur les toits ébranlés,
Ô cloche suspendue au milieu des nuées,
Par ton vaste roulis si souvent remuées,
Tu dors en ce moment dans l’ombre, et rien ne luit
Sous ta voûte profonde où sommeille le bruit!

Oh! tandis qu’un esprit qui jusqu’à toi s’élance,
Silencieux aussi, contemple ton silence,
Sens-tu, par cet instinct vague et plein de douceur
Qui révèle toujours une soeur à la soeur
Qu’a cette heure où s’endort la soirée expirante,
Une âme est près de toi, non moins que toi vibrante,
Qui bien souvent aussi jette un bruit solennel,
Et se plaint dans l’amour comme toi dans le ciel!

IPA will be available soon.

Machaut – Douce dame jolie

by: David - April 3rd, 2011   Filed under: French, High, Medium, Songs Add Comment

Song Information

Title: Douce dame jolie

Music: Guillaume de Machaut (c.1300-1377)

Text: Unknown (perhaps Machaut himself?)

Sheet Music

Free at Art Song Central:

  • PDF of adaptation by Horatio Parker: Douce dame jolie
    • Important note: this edition was posted by request, but is so heavily changed from the original melody that it is hard to say it is the same piece. If you enjoy this adaptation, do it with the knowledge that it bears little resemblance to the original melody. (also linked below.)
    • Key: G minor
    • Range: F4 – D5
    • Source: German, French and Italian Song Classics

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  • Original, unaccompanied melody with words via Wikipedia: Douce Dame Jolie
    • Key: D Dorian
    • Range: F4 – D5
    • Note: this virelai has more than one verse, though only the first is written in the score. The score has no accompaniment, though one could easily improvise an accompaniment for this, or simply sing it a capella.

Jordá – Amar y Sufrir

by: David - January 25th, 2011   Filed under: High, Songs, Spanish 1 Comment

Song Information

Title: Amar y Sufrir

Music: Luis Gonzaga Jordá (1869-1951)

Text: unknown

Sheet Music

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A CD with this song and other works by Jordá is available from Mozaic Editions.

Song Text

Lágrima silenciosa que en tu pestaña brilla y viene tu mejilla de rosa a humedecer
En su luz se refleja la pena del alma y el amor que nos dice ya no he de volver
Amar es el fin de la vida; llorar es el fin del amor. Ah!
Llóra el primer amor. Niña llena de encantos, que se aleja ya tu amor.
Llorar, sufrir, sufrir, llorar.
Huye el ensueno del alma pura sin ilusión;
Huye la ventura de tu corazón;
Ya no como antes su voz ideal,
En frases amantes volveras a oir que el amor dice, cuando se aleja:
Sufrid, llorad.

Haydn – She never told her love

by: David - December 30th, 2010   Filed under: English, German, High, Medium, Songs 3 Comments

Song Information

Title: She never told her love (Stets barg die Liebe sie)

Music: Franz Joseph Haydn (1732-1809)

Text: William Shakespeare (1564-1616)

German Translator: Unknown (Note that Haydn set this song in English, not German)

Sheet Music

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Song Text

She never told her love,
But let concealment, like a worm in the bud,
Feed on her damask cheek…;
She sat, like Patience on a monument,
Smiling at grief.

German text:

Stets barg di Liebe sie,
doch dieses Bergen,
wie in Knospen ein Wurm,
zehrt’ ihre Wange ab.
Sie glich der Duldung auf dem Grabmal,
lächelnd traur’gen Blick’s.

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Ching – I know the stars

by: David - June 25th, 2010   Filed under: English, High, Low, Medium, Songs Add Comment

Song Information

Title: I know the stars

Music: Michael Ching (b.1958) blog / store

Text: Sarah Teasdale (1884-1933)

Sheet Music

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Song Text

I know the stars by their names,
Aldebaran, Altair,
And I know the path they take
Up heaven’s broad blue stair.

I know the secrets of men
By the look of their eyes,
Their gray thoughts, their strange thoughts
Have made me sad and wise.

But your eyes are dark to me
Though they seem to call and call —
I cannot tell if you love me
Or do not love me at all.

I know many things,
But the years come and go,
I shall die not knowing
The thing I long to know.

Ponce – Estrellita

by: David - May 23rd, 2010   Filed under: High, Songs, Spanish Add Comment

Song Information

Title: Estrellita

Music: Manuel Ponce (1882-1948)

Text: Anonymous

Sheet Music

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Song Text

Estrellita del lejano cielo,
que miras mi dolor,
que sabes mi sufrir.
Baja y dime
si me quiere un poco,
porque yo no puedo sin su amor vivir.

¡Tu eres estrella mi faro de amor!
Tu sabes que pronto he de morir.
Baja y dime
si me quiere un poco,
porque yo no puedo sin su amor vivir.

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Dowland – Sorrow, Stay

by: David - February 6th, 2010   Filed under: English, High, Low, Medium, Songs Add Comment

Song Information

Title: Sorrow, Stay

Music: John Dowland (1563-1626)

Text: possibly John Dowland (1563-1626)

Sheet Music

Free at Art Song Central:

  • PDF file: Sorrow, Stay
    • Key: G Minor
    • Range: D4 – D5
    • From: The Second Book of Ayres
    • Source: Stainer & Bell edition, ed. Fellowes ©1922
    • Note: This edition includes lute tabulature as well as a piano transcription.

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Song Text

Sorrow, stay! lend true repentant tears
To a woeful wretched wight.
Hence, Despair! with thy tormenting fears
O do not my poor heart affright.
Pity, help! now or never;
Mark me not to endless pain.
Alas, I am condemned ever,
No hope, no help there doth remain.

But down, down, down, down I fall,
And arise I never shall.

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Quilter – Hey, ho, the wind and the rain

by: David - November 2nd, 2009   Filed under: English, High, Medium, Songs Add Comment

Song Information

Title: Hey, ho, the wind and the rain

Music: Roger Quilter (1877-1953)

Text: William Shakespeare (1564-1616)

Sheet Music

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Song Text

When that I was and a little tiny boy,
[With]1 hey, ho, the wind and the rain,
A foolish thing was but a toy,
For the rain it raineth every day.

But when I came to man’s estate,
With hey, ho, the wind and the rain,
‘Gainst knaves and thieves men shut their gate,
For the rain it raineth every day.

But when I came, alas! to wive,
With hey, ho, the wind and the rain,
By swaggering could I never thrive,
For the rain it raineth every day.

A great while ago the world begun,
With hey, ho, the wind and the rain,
But that’s all one, our play is done,
And we’ll strive to please you every day.

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Quilter – Take o take those lips away

by: David - November 2nd, 2009   Filed under: English, High, Low, Medium, Songs Add Comment

Song Information

Title: Take, o take those lips away

Music: Roger Quilter (1877-1953)

Text: William Shakespeare (1564-1616)

Sheet Music

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Song Text

Take, O take those lips away,
That so sweetly were forsworn;
And those eyes, the break of day,
Lights that do mislead the morn:
But my kisses bring again,
Seals of love, but sealed,
But sealed in vain!

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Quilter – It was a lover and his lass

by: David - September 25th, 2009   Filed under: English, High, Low, Medium, Songs Add Comment

Song Information

Title: It was a lover and his lass

Music: Roger Quilter (1877-1953)

Text: William Shakespeare (1564-1616)

Sheet Music

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Song Text

IT was a lover and his lass,
With a hey, and a ho, and a hey nonino,
That o’er the green corn-field did pass,
In the spring time, the only pretty ring time,
When birds do sing, hey ding a ding, ding;
Sweet lovers love the spring.

Between the acres of the rye,
With a hey, and a ho, and a hey nonino,
These pretty country folks would lie,
In the spring time, the only pretty ring time,
When birds do sing, hey ding a ding, ding;
Sweet lovers love the spring.

This carol they began that hour,
With a hey, and a ho, and a hey nonino,
How that life was but a flower
In the spring time, the only pretty ring time,
When birds do sing, hey ding a ding, ding;
Sweet lovers love the spring.

And, therefore, take the present time
With a hey, and a ho, and a hey nonino,
For love is crown`d with the prime
In the spring time, the only pretty ring time,
When birds do sing, hey ding a ding, ding;
Sweet lovers love the spring.

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Quilter – Under the Greenwood Tree

by: David - September 24th, 2009   Filed under: English, High, Songs 1 Comment

Song Information

Title: Under the Greenwood Tree

Music: Roger Quilter (1877-1953)

Text: William Shakespeare (1564-1616)

Sheet Music

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Song Text

Under the greenwood tree
Who loves to lie with me,
And turn his merry note
Unto the sweet bird’s throat,
Come hither, come hither, come hither:
Here shall he see
No enemy
But winter and rough weather.

Who doth ambition shun,
And loves to live i’ the sun,
Seeking the food he eats,
And pleas’d with what he gets,
Come hither, come hither, come hither:
Here shall he see
No enemy
But winter and rough weather.

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Quilter – Fear no more the heat o’ the sun

by: David - September 22nd, 2009   Filed under: English, High, Low, Medium, Songs Add Comment

Song Information

Title: Fear no more the heat o’ the sun

Music: Roger Quilter (1877-1953)

Text: William Shakespeare (1564-1616)

Sheet Music

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Song Text

Fear no more the heat o’ the sun,
Nor the furious winter’s rages;
Thou thy worldly task hast done,
Home art gone, and ta’en thy wages;
Golden lads and girls all must,
As chimney-sweepers, come to dust.

Fear no more the frown o’ the great;
Thou art past the tyrant’s stroke:
Care no more to clothe and eat;
To thee the reed is as the oak:
The sceptre, learning, physic, must
All follow this, and come to dust.

Fear no more the lightning-flash,
Nor the all-dreaded thunder-stone;
Fear not slander, censure rash;
Thou hast finished joy and moan;
All lovers young, all lovers must
Consign to thee, and come to dust.

No exorciser harm thee!
Nor no witchcraft charm thee!
Ghost unlaid forbear thee!
Nothing ill come near thee!
Quiet consummation have;
And renownéd be thy grave!

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Lawes – On Liberty

by: David - September 7th, 2009   Filed under: English, High, Medium, Songs Add Comment

Song Information

Title: On Liberty (How Happy Thou and I)

Composer: Henry Lawes (1595-1662)

Author: Unknown

Sheet Music

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Song Text

How happy thou and I that never knew how to love!
There’s no such blessing here beneath, whate’er there is above.
‘Tis Liberty, ’tis Liberty, that every wise man loves.

Out, out upon those Eyes, that think to murder me!
And he’s an Ass believes her fair that will not leave him free:
There’s nothing sweet, there’s nothing sweet to man but Liberty.

I’ll tie my heart to none nor yet confine mine eyes,
But I will rove at Liberty and be no woman’s prize:
‘Tis Liberty, ’tis Liberty, has made me now thus wise.

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Purcell – If Music be the Food of Love

by: David - June 3rd, 2009   Filed under: English, High, Songs Add Comment

Song Information

Title: If Music be the Food of Love

Composer: Henry Purcell (1659-1695)

Author: Colonel Henry Heveningham (1651-1700)

  • First seven words are part of a well known quote from Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night

Sheet Music

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Song Text

If music be the food of love,
Sing on till I am fill’d with joy;
For then my list’ning soul you move
To pleasures that can never cloy.
Your eyes, your mien, your tongue declare
That you are music ev’rywhere.

Pleasures invade both eye and ear,
So fierce the transports are, they wound,
And all my senses feasted are,
Tho’ yet the treat is only sound,
Sure I must perish by your charms,
Unless you save me in your arms.

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Purcell – Stript of their Green

by: David - June 3rd, 2009   Filed under: English, High, Songs Add Comment

Song Information

Title: Stript of their Green

Composer: Henry Purcell (1659-1695)

Author: Peter Anthony Motteux (1663-1718)

Sheet Music

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Song Text

Stript of their green our Groves appear,
Our vales lie buried deep in snow;
The blowing north controls the dire,
A nipping cold chills all below.
The frost has glaz’d our deepest streams,
Phoebus withdraws his kindly beams.
Yet winter blest be thy return,
Thou’st brought the swain
For whom I us’d to mourn;
And in thy ice with pleasing flames we burn.
Too soon the sun’s reviving heat,
Will thaw thy ice and melt thy snow,
Trumpets will sound, and drums will beat,
And tell me the dear, dear youth must go;
Then must my weak unwilling arms,
Resign him up to stronger charms;
What flowers, what sweets, what beauteous thing,
When Damon’s gone, can ease or pleasure bring?
Winter brings Damon, winter is my spring.

Resources

  • Recmusic.org has the text.
  • Here is a pdf of the song for voice and figured bass as it appeared in “Orpheus Brittanicus” published after Purcell’s death: Stript of their Green

Stanford (arr.) – My love’s an arbutus

by: David - May 20th, 2009   Filed under: English, High, Low, Medium, Songs 1 Comment

Song Information

Title: My love’s an arbutus

Music: Traditional, arranged by Charles Villiers Stanford (1852-1924)

Text: Alfred Perceval Graves (1846-1931)

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Song Text

My love’s an arbutus
By the borders of Lene,
So slender and shapely
In her girdle of green.
And I measure the pleasure
Of her eye’s sapphire sheen
By the blue skies that sparkle
Through the soft branching screen.

But though ruddy the berry
And snowy the flower
That brighten together
The arbutus bower,
Perfuming and blooming
Through sunshine and shower,
Give me her bright lips
And her laugh’s pearly dower.

Alas, fruit and blossom
Shall lie dead on the lea,
And Time’s jealous fingers
Dim your young charms, Machree.
But unranging, unchanging,
You’ll still cling to me,
Like the evergreen leaf
To the arbutus tree.

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Gastaldon – Musica Proibita

by: David - May 6th, 2009   Filed under: High, Italian, Songs Add Comment

Song Information

Title: Musica Proibita

Music: Stanislao Gastaldon (1861-1939)

Words:

  • Attributed to the obviously fictitious “Flick-Flock”
  • The lyrics are apparently by Gastaldon himself.

Sheet Music

Note: Much has been made of the similarity between this song and De Koven’s O Promise Me. However, beyond the opening melodic notes and sentimental spirit, the two songs share little in common.

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Song Text

Ogni sera di sotto al mio balcone
Sento cantar una canzone d’amore,
Più volte la ripete un bel garzone
E battere mi sento forte il core.

Oh quanto è dolce quella melodia!
Oh com’ è bella, quanto m’ è gradita!
Ch’io la canti non vuol la mamma mia
Vorrei saper perché me l’ha proibita?

Ella non c’è ed io la vo’ cantare
La frase che m’ha fatto palpitare:

“Vorrei baciare i toui capelli neri
Le labbra tue e gli occhi tuoi severi;
Vorrei morir con te angel di Dio,
O bella innamorata, tesor mio.”

Quí sotto il vidi ieri a passeggiare
E lo sentiva al solito cantar:

“Vorrei baciare i toui capelli neri
Le labbra tue e gli occhi tuoi severi;
Stringimi, o cara, stringimi al tuo core
Fammi provar l’ebbrezza dell’amor.”

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Lang – Ghosts

by: David - May 2nd, 2009   Filed under: English, High, Medium, Songs Add Comment

Song Information

Title: Ghosts

Music: Margaret Ruthven Lang (1867-1972)

Text: Richard Kendall Munkittrick (1853-1911)

Note: this song is very short, but was much praised by Lang’s contemporaries.

Sheet Music

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  • PDF: Ghosts
    • Key: A♭ Major
    • Range: F4 – F5

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  • Available here thanks to Project Gutenberg: Ghosts

Song Text

Out in the misty moonlight, the first snow flakes I see,
As they frolic among the leafless boughs of the appletree.

Faintly they seem to whisper, as round the boughs they wing;
“We are the ghosts of the flowers who died in the early spring.”

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Lang – Irish Love Song

by: David - May 1st, 2009   Filed under: English, High, Songs Add Comment

Song Information

Title: Irish Love Song (Op. 22)

Music: Margaret Ruthven Lang (1867-1972)

Text: Margaret Ruthven Lang (1867-1972)?

Sheet Music

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Song Text

O the time is long, Mavourneen,
Till I come again, O Mavourneen;
An’ the months are slow to pass, Mavourneen,
Till I hold thee in my arms, O Mavourneen!

Shall I see thine eyes, Mavourneen,
Like the hazel buds, O Mavournen;
Shall I touch thy dusky hair, Mavourneen,
With its shim’rin glint o’ gold, O Mavourneen?

O my love for thee, Mavourneen,
Is a bitter pain, O Mavourneen;
Keep thy heart aye true to me, Mavourneen,
I should die but for thy love, O Mavourneen!

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Quilter – The Answer

by: David - April 30th, 2009   Filed under: English, High, Medium, Songs Add Comment

Song Information

Title: The Answer

Music: Roger Quilter (1877-1953)

Text: Laurence Binyon (1869-1943)

Sheet Music

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Song Text

Ask me not, dear, what thing it is
That makes me love you so;
What graces, what sweet qualities,
That from your spirit flow:
For I have but this old reply,
That you are you, that I am I.

My heart leaps when you look on me,
And thrills to hear your voice;
Lies, then, in these the mystery
That makes my soul rejoice?
I only know I love you true,
Since I am I, and you are you.

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