High voice and piano -
Late Intermediate
SKU:
EC.9278
Composed by
Joseph Stillwell. E.C.
Schirmer Publishing
#9278. Published by E.C.
Schirmer Publishing
(EC.9278).
UPC:
600313311185.
English.
Songs of
Love and Solace traces a
young man's journey of
love and heartbreak. The
cycle of four texts by
Irish poet William Butler
Yeats begins with Brown
Penny. This short poem
depicts a young man
infatuated with the idea
of falling in love, and
then becoming awestruck
as he contemplates the
depths of love’s power.
In the second poem, He
Wishes for the Cloths of
Heaven, the poet,
speaking to his beloved,
realizes he has nothing
of value to offer but his
dreams. Tread softly, he
implores, because you
tread on my dreams.” In
When You Are Old, we find
our poet heartbroken. In
his grief he peers into
the future and foresees
his beloved, in old age,
remembering the depth and
purity of their forsaken
love: “But one man love
the pilgrim soul in you,
And loved the sorrows of
your changing face.” In
the final song, The Lake
Isle of Innisfree,” the
poet, saddened but wiser,
wistfully resolves to
escape the struggles and
heartbreaks of his modern
existence, and seek
solace in the beauty and
calm of nature. Songs may
be performed separately.
