DAVID EDGAR WALTHER DEEP PASSIONATE NIGHT MUSIC
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SERENADE AND FUGUE
DavidEdgarWalther ยท Serenade And Fugue (Hardy): Saunders/Webbs/Southcott
   SERENADE:

    ​"The Blinded Bird"
​     by Thomas Hardy

    So zestfully canst thou sing?
    And all this indignity,
    With God's consent, on thee!
    Blinded ere yet a-wing
    By the red-hot needle thou,
    I stand and wonder how
    So zestfully thou canst sing!

    Resenting not such wrong,
    Thy grievous pain forgot,
    Eternal dark thy lot,
    Groping thy whole life long;
    After that stab of fire;
    Enjailed in pitiless wire;
    Resenting not such wrong!

    Who hath charity? This bird.
    Who suffereth long and is kind,
    Is not provoked, though blind
    And alive ensepulchred?
    Who hopeth, endureth all things?
    Who thinketh no evil, but sings?
    Who is divine? This bird.


FUGUE:

"Birds at Winter Nightfall "
​by Thomas Hardy

Around the house the flakes fly faster,
And all the berries now are gone
From holly and cotoneaster
Around the house. The flakes fly!--faster
Shutting indoors that crumb-outcaster
We used to see upon the lawn
Around the house. The flakes fly faster,
And all the berries now are gone!
Notes: 

"Serenade: was originally written
for two sopranos
to a poem by Ann Head; performed
in Rockport, MA
by Janet Wheeler,
​& Charlotte Regni Lord. This new version, uses a very sad poem by Thomas, about the inhumane practice of blinding birds in the hope that it will improve their singing. As a singer, I'm very glad that this practice has been discontinued. 

"Fugue" is an attempt to create a two part fugue. The fugue process is generally considerd to be exclusively for three or more contrapuntal voices. Hardy's poem: "Birds at "Winter Nightfall" is a Tiolet: a complex poetic form a triolet is an eight-line poem (or stanza) with a rhyme scheme of ABaAabAB: The first line is repeated in the fourth and seventh lines and the second is also the last line  (the capital letters indicate repeating lines). It's similar to a rondeau, another French poetic form of repeated lines.
David Edgar Walther Copyright 2023
  • Watch/Listen
    • Listen to Opera & Oratorio
    • Listen to Song Groups & Cycles
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    • Watch
  • About
    • Biography
    • Résumé: 2010-2023
    • Education
    • Teachers
    • Press
    • Family
    • Activism
  • Pieces
    • I. Chamber
    • II. Keyboard
    • III. Orchestra
    • IV. Dance
    • V. Voice
    • VI. Chorus
    • VII. Opera
    • VIII. Music Theater
    • IX. Critical Editions
    • James Joyce
    • Emily Dickinson
  • Photos
  • Contact