Ten Blake Songs
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Ten Blake Songs
''Ten Blake Songs'' is a song cycle for tenor or soprano voice and oboe composed over the Christmas period of 1957 by Ralph Vaughan Williams (18721958), for the 1958 film ''The Vision of William Blake'' by Guy Brenton for Morse Films. The first nine songs are from ''Songs of Innocence and of Experience'' by the English poet and visionary William Blake (17571827); the tenth (Eternity) is from ''Several Questions Answered'' (No1 & No2) from the poet's notebook . The cycle is dedicated to the tenor Wilfred Brown and the oboist Janet Craxton. It was first performed in concert and broadcast on the BBC Third Programme on 8 October 1958, shortly after the composer's death. The songs are: # "Infant Joy" (Innocence) # " A Poison Tree" (Experience) # "The Piper" (Innocence, titled "Introduction") # "London" (Experience) # " The Lamb" (Innocence) # "The Shepherd" (Innocence) # " Ah! Sun-flower" (Experience) # " Cruelty Has a Human Heart" (Experience, titled 'A Divine Image') # "The Divi ...
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Song Cycle
A song cycle (german: Liederkreis or Liederzyklus) is a group, or cycle (music), cycle, of individually complete Art song, songs designed to be performed in a sequence as a unit.Susan Youens, ''Grove online'' The songs are either for solo voice or an ensemble, or rarely a combination of solo songs mingled with choral pieces. The number of songs in a song cycle may be as brief as two songs or as long as 30 or more songs. The term "song cycle" did not enter lexicography until 1865, in Arrey von Dommer's edition of ''Koch’s Musikalisches Lexikon'', but works definable in retrospect as song cycles existed long before then. One of the earliest examples may be the set of seven Cantiga de amigo, Cantigas de amigo by the 13th-century Galicians, Galician jongleur Martin Codax. Jeffrey Mark identified the group of dialect songs 'Hodge und Malkyn' from Thomas Ravenscroft's ''The Briefe Discourse'' (1614) as the first of a number of early 17th Century examples in England. A song cycle is ...
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The Lamb (poem)
"The Lamb" is a poem by William Blake, published in ''Songs of Innocence'' in 1789. "The Lamb" is the counterpart poem to Blake's poem: "The Tyger" in ''Songs of Experience''. Blake wrote ''Songs of Innocence'' as a contrary to the ''Songs of Experience'' – a central tenet in his philosophy and a central theme in his work.Kazin, Alfred. "Introduction". ''The Portable Blake''. The Viking Portable Library. 41–43. Like many of Blake's works, the poem is about Christianity. The lamb is a frequently used name of Jesus Christ, who is also called "The Lamb of God" in the Gospel of John 1:29 and 36, as well as throughout John's Book of Revelation (or Revelations) at the end of the New Testament. Poem Structure At first glance, this poem appears to consist of rhyming couplets, and the first and last couplet in the first stanza could be said to exhibit identical rhyme; however, the rhyme is an exact repeat of the three last words, or phrase, "who made thee," and the last coup ...
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Compositions For Oboe
Composition or Compositions may refer to: Arts and literature * Composition (dance), practice and teaching of choreography *Composition (language), in literature and rhetoric, producing a work in spoken tradition and written discourse, to include visuals and digital space *Composition (music), an original piece of music and its creation * Composition (visual arts), the plan, placement or arrangement of the elements of art in a work * ''Composition'' (Peeters), a 1921 painting by Jozef Peeters * Composition studies, the professional field of writing instruction * ''Compositions'' (album), an album by Anita Baker * Digital compositing, the practice of digitally piecing together a video Computer science * Function composition (computer science), an act or mechanism to combine simple functions to build more complicated ones *Object composition, combining simpler data types into more complex data types, or function calls into calling functions History * Composition of 1867, Austro-Hung ...
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1958 Compositions
Events January * January 1 – The European Economic Community (EEC) comes into being. * January 3 – The West Indies Federation is formed. * January 4 ** Edmund Hillary's Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition completes the third overland journey to the South Pole, the first to use powered vehicles. ** Sputnik 1 (launched on October 4, 1957) falls to Earth from its orbit, and burns up. * January 13 – Battle of Edchera: The Moroccan Army of Liberation ambushes a Spanish patrol. * January 27 – A Soviet-American executive agreement on cultural, educational and scientific exchanges, also known as the "Lacy-Zarubin Agreement, Lacy–Zarubin Agreement", is signed in Washington, D.C. * January 31 – The first successful American satellite, Explorer 1, is launched into orbit. February * February 1 – Egypt and Syria unite, to form the United Arab Republic. * February 6 – Seven Manchester United F.C., Manchester United footballers are among the 21 people killed i ...
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Song Cycles By Ralph Vaughan Williams
A song is a musical composition intended to be performed by the human voice. This is often done at distinct and fixed pitches (melodies) using patterns of sound and silence. Songs contain various forms, such as those including the repetition and variation of sections. Written words created specifically for music, or for which music is specifically created, are called lyrics. If a pre-existing poem is set to composed music in classical music it is an art song. Songs that are sung on repeated pitches without distinct contours and patterns that rise and fall are called chants. Songs composed in a simple style that are learned informally "by ear" are often referred to as folk songs. Songs that are composed for professional singers who sell their recordings or live shows to the mass market are called popular songs. These songs, which have broad appeal, are often composed by professional songwriters, composers, and lyricists. Art songs are composed by trained classical composers fo ...
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The Divine Image
"The Divine Image" is a poem by the English poet William Blake from his book ''Songs of Innocence'' (1789), not to be confused with "A Divine Image" from ''Songs of Experience'' (1794). It was later included in his joint collection ''Songs of Innocence and of Experience'' (1794). In this poem (see Wikisource below) Blake pictures his view of an ideal world in which the four traditionally Christian virtues–Mercy, Pity, Peace and Love–are found in the human's heart and stand for God's support and comfort. Joy and gratitude are sentiments expressed through prayer for the caring and blessing of an infallible almighty God and are shared by all men on Earth encompassing a sense of equality and mutual respect. The title of the poem refers to the Book of Genesis Chapter 1 verse 26: 'And God said: Let us make man in our image'.(KJV) Ralph Vaughan Williams set the poem to music in his 1958 song cycle '' Ten Blake Songs''. Summary In ''The Divine Image'', the figures of Mercy ...
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A Divine Image
"A Divine Image" is a poem by William Blake from ''Songs of Experience'', not to be confused with "The Divine Image" from ''Songs of Innocence''. The poem only appeared in copy BB of the combined ''Songs of Innocence and of Experience.'' Ralph Vaughan Williams set the poem to music in his 1958 song cycle ''Ten Blake Songs ''Ten Blake Songs'' is a song cycle for tenor or soprano voice and oboe composed over the Christmas period of 1957 by Ralph Vaughan Williams (18721958), for the 1958 film ''The Vision of William Blake'' by Guy Brenton for Morse Films. The firs ...'', under the title "Cruelty Has a Human Heart". Full text References Songs of Innocence and of Experience {{poem-stub ...
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Ah! Sun-flower
"Ah! Sun-flower" is an illustrated poem written by the English poet, painter and printmaker William Blake. It was published as part of his collection '' Songs of Experience'' in 1794 (no.43 in the sequence of the combined book, ''Songs of Innocence and of Experience''). It is one of only four poems in '' Songs of Experience'' not found in the "Notebook" (the Rossetti MS). The poem Poetic structure and tone The poem consists of eight lines, in two quatrains. The metre is largely one of anapaestic trimeter with an admix of initial iambs and trochees to break up the rather monotonous rhythm that the anapaestic line confers. Thus Blake is able to show the cyclical monotony that the protagonists are suffering, while at the same time giving a forward note of impetus and hope to the movement of the lines. The rhyme scheme is abab, cdcd; all the rhymes are masculine. The ambiguous use of the word "Ah," (a note of delight, surprise, pity?) and the repetition of the word "where" a ...
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The Shepherd (Blake)
"The Shepherd" is a poem from William Blake's ''Songs of Innocence'' (1789). This collection of songs was published individually four times before it was combined with the ''Songs of Experience'' for 12 editions which created the joint collection ''Songs of Innocence and of Experience'' (1794). Blake produced all of the illuminated printings himself beginning in 1789. Each publication of the songs has the plates in a different order, and sixteen other plates were published posthumously. Ralph Vaughan Williams set the poem to music in his 1958 song cycle ''Ten Blake Songs''. Poem Critical analysis This poem is one of the three pastoral poems in ''Songs of Innocence'', the other two being ''The Lamb (poem), The Lamb'' and ''Spring (poem), Spring.''Gardner [15-21] This poem is written from the Piper's perspective. This can be seen in the repetition of the word 'sweet' in the first line which the Piper uses in the other poems of his narration.Leader [75-79] This repetition may also ...
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London (William Blake Poem)
"London" is a poem by William Blake, published in '' Songs of Experience'' in 1794. It is one of the few poems in ''Songs of Experience'' that does not have a corresponding poem in ''Songs of Innocence''. Blake lived in London so writes of it as a resident rather than a visitor. The poems reference the "Two Contrary States of the Human Soul". The "Songs of Innocence" section contains poems which reference love, childhood and nature. Critics have suggested that the poems illustrate the effects of modernity on people and nature, through the discussion of dangerous industrial conditions, child labour, prostitution and poverty. Poem I wander thro’ each charter’d street, Near where the charter’d Thames does flow. And mark in every face I meet Marks of weakness, marks of woe. In every cry of every Man, In every Infants cry of fear, In every voice: in every ban, The mind-forg’d manacles I hear How the Chimney-sweepers cry Every blackning Church appalls, And the hapless So ...
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Ralph Vaughan Williams
Ralph Vaughan Williams, (; 12 October 1872– 26 August 1958) was an English composer. His works include operas, ballets, chamber music, secular and religious vocal pieces and orchestral compositions including nine symphonies, written over sixty years. Strongly influenced by Tudor music and English folk-song, his output marked a decisive break in British music from its German-dominated style of the 19th century. Vaughan Williams was born to a well-to-do family with strong moral views and a progressive social life. Throughout his life he sought to be of service to his fellow citizens, and believed in making music as available as possible to everybody. He wrote many works for amateur and student performance. He was musically a late developer, not finding his true voice until his late thirties; his studies in 1907–1908 with the French composer Maurice Ravel helped him clarify the textures of his music and free it from Teutonic influences. Vaughan Williams is among the best ...
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A Poison Tree
"A Poison Tree" is a poem written by William Blake, published in 1794 as part of his '' Songs of Experience'' collection. It describes the narrator's repressed feelings of anger towards an individual, emotions which eventually lead to murder. The poem explores themes of indignation, revenge, and more generally the fallen state of mankind. Background The ''Songs of Experience'' was published in 1795 as a follow up to Blake's 1789 ''Songs of Innocence.''Gilchrist 1907 p. 118 The two books were published together under the merged title ''Songs of Innocence and Experience, showing the Two Contrary States of the Human Soul: the author and printer, W. Blake'' featuring 54 plates. The illustrations are arranged differently in some copies, while a number of poems were moved from ''Songs of Innocence'' to ''Songs of Experience.'' Blake continued to print the work throughout his life. Of the copies of the original collection, only 28 published during his life are known to exist, with an ad ...
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