Recordings
|
|
|
Details
|
|
No 1: I shall not die for thee
For thee I shall not die
author of text traditional Irish translator of text
No 2: Dear dark head
Put your head, darling
author of text traditional Irish translator of text
No 3: Popular song
Were I at the Moss House where the birds do increase
author of text mid nineteenth century
No 4: Ringleted youth of my love
author of text traditional Irish translator of text
No 5: Jig
That winter love spoke and we raise no objection, at
author of text The Complete Poems by C Day Lewis, Sinclair-Stevenson (1992)
|
‘I shall not die for thee’ is a diatribe by a man determined not to fall for a particular woman’s beauty and charms. The music features suitably severe harmony and musical imagery in the melodic lines, for instance, the spiky quavers at ‘sharp wit’ and florid evocation of her ‘blue eye’. ‘Dear dark head’ is a passionate love song, featuring a tenor solo aching with ardour and sensuous harmony to heighten words, for instance, at ‘mouth of honey’.
‘Popular song’ has a swinging folksong-like melody, with a jaunty underlying choral accompaniment, as the would-be lover tries to steal a kiss from the object of his desire. Maw later discovered that this ballad ‘had a charming tune of its own that bears a strong rhythmic resemblance to mine, as well as several more verses that deal with the young man’s unrequited love for a girl from Bunclody and subsequent decision to emigrate to America. Who would have guessed such an outcome from this blithe opening?’
‘Ringleted youth of my love’ is another love song in which the lover laments that his beloved is absent in tender and caressing music. The last song, ‘Jig’, Maw suggests, ‘introduces a note of urban sophistication into the praise of country life and love and the changing seasons.’ It provides a light-hearted finale, setting words laced with wry wit to a winning tune that is passed around the voices.
from notes by Andrew Burn © 2007
