The Water is Wide for Piano Quintet by James M. Guthrie Piano Quintet - Digital Sheet Music

The Water Is Wide (O Waly Waly)Duration: 5:24Score: 11 pg. 121 ms., MM quarter = 94, final verse MM quarter = 80, common timeString parts: vl. 3 pg., vla. 2 pg., vc. 2 pg.Piano part: 4 pg.A thought-provoking arrangement of a Traditional Scottish Folksong. Probably most widely known as "The Water Is Wide,"it is also well known by it's more ancient title: "O Waly Waly." The tune is also known as " When I Survey the Wondrous Cross," and "The Gift of Love." This is an original arrangement from the ground up.Programming:If you are looking for something with new contrapuntal and harmonic adventures for a Lenten prelude or a meditation during Holy Week, this will fit the bill. It could also work well in a recital setting because it fits well on the instruments, and provides a chance to show off long, sensitive musical phrases.Some of the figures in the descant verse are a wee-bit more advanced so, this is for intermediate players rather than beginners.Keep in mind these performance ideas:1. It's a simple tune that needs to unfold in the due course of time, so don't rush it. A slight ritardando at the end of each verse may help if you want to further delineate the verses.2. There is a lot of interesting counterpoint here, so be prepared to give-and-take on the dynamics more than what I have indicated.3. The final verse is much slower and more mysterious, and the dynamics are crucial - the quieter the better. Piano - the last chord: take your time on the roll, make it nice and slow.Synopsis of the arrangement:verse 1: Simple, quiet duet with the melody in the solo instrument.verse 2: Melody in the solo instrument accompanied by a 2-part canon in the piano.verse 3: Melody in the piano in 4-part harmony.verse 4: 3-part canon on the melody (with a free accompaniment voice).verse 5: 2-part canon with a free accompaniment in the solo partverse 6: Melody in octaves with free bass in octaves; descant in the solo part - loudest verse.verse 7: Very quiet ending verse - Modulates down a fourth, melody in the solo part accompanied by simple quartal/quintal piano clusters over bass chords that suggest submerged church bells.For better insight into the performance of this music: express the emotion indicated by the lyrics:The Water Is Wide:The water is wide, I cannot get overNeither have I wings to flyGive me a boat that can carry twoAnd both shall row, my love and IA ship there is and she sails the seaShe's loaded deep as deep can beBut not so deep as the love I'm inI know not if I sink or swimI leaned my back against an oakThinking it was a trusty treeBut first it bent and then it brokeSo did my love prove false to meI reached my finger into some soft bushThinking the fairest flower to findI pricked my finger to the boneAnd left the fairest flower behindOh love be handsome and love be kindGay as a jewel when first it is newBut love grows old and waxes coldAnd fades away like the morning dewMust I go bound while you go freeMust I love a man who doesn't love meMust I be born with so little artAs to love a man who'll break my heartWhen cockle shells turn silver bellsThen will my love come back to meWhen roses bloom in winter's gloomThen will my love return to meThe lyrics for "Waly, Waly, Gin Love Be Bonny" from Ramsay's Tea Table Miscellany (1724).