Three Songs of Love and Death for soprano voice and piano Soprano Voice - Digital Sheet Music

A deeply moving collection of three songs for solo voice (soprano, e' - b'') combining folk and art-song idioms. The songs are: 1 "The Ballad of Seamus McPhee" [Moderato, 3/4, a, E+] This touchingly plaintive song, with its markedly folk-like character, is a fictional first-person account of the sufferings of an unwed mother whose husband-to-be was tragically drowned at sea. The simple arpeggiated accompaniment style suggests the Irish harp (or perhaps guitar). Like the other songs in this collection, the ballad is among the composer's earliest works. 2 "Look to the Sky" [Lento ma non troppo, 2/2, a, E+] This song-poignant in its utter simplicity-recounts the timeless tale of love unrequited. Dating from the 1970s, it is among the composer's earliest works, but was revised in 2001 by the addition of new material for the piano. (The vocal solo is here simulated by synthesized oboe.) 3 "Lament for Hyacinthus" [Moderato, 6/8, C/D, M+] This song, which recalls the romanticism of late nineteenth-century France, was originally composed in 1978. The piano accompaniment was revised prior to publication in 2001. It narrates the ancient Greek myth of Hyacinthus, a youth beloved by Apollo, who was tragically killed by a discus misdirected by the West Wind. The sound sample is an electronic preview, using the oboe to represent the soprano voice.