"Arabian Serenade" is a poem written by

Margery Lawrence Margery Lawrence (8 August 1889 – 13 November 1969) (pseudonym of Mrs. Arthur E. Towle) was an English romantic fiction, fantasy fiction, horror fiction and detective fiction author who specialized in ghost stories.Stefan Dziemianowicz, "Lawre ...

and set to music by the English composer

Edward Elgar Sir Edward William Elgar, 1st Baronet, (; 2 June 1857 – 23 February 1934) was an English composer, many of whose works have entered the British and international classical concert repertoire. Among his best-known compositions are orchestr ...

in 1914. The poem is from "Songs of Childhood and other Verses" by Margery Lawrence, published by Grant Richards, Ltd. This is one of Elgar's finest songs. In it he uses the

Phrygian mode The Phrygian mode (pronounced ) can refer to three different musical modes: the ancient Greek ''tonos'' or ''harmonia,'' sometimes called Phrygian, formed on a particular set of octave species or scales; the Medieval Phrygian mode, and the modern ...

, which is popular in Arabian music.

Lyrics

''The repetition of certain words and phrases in the song is not shown.'' ARABIAN SERENADE :The silver silence of the night has spun ::A web of glamour o'er the purple sea. :The Watcher of the Sky has lit his lamp, - ::Waken, my white one; come thou forth with me. :We will go softly through the shining meadows, ::Setting our faces to the distant moon; :Drenching our feet in pureness, and our souls ::Drenched in the sweetness of the

bulbul The bulbuls are members of a family, Pycnonotidae, of medium-sized passerine songbirds, which also includes greenbuls, brownbuls, leafloves, and bristlebills. The family is distributed across most of Africa and into the Middle East, tropical As ...

's tune. :Come forth, O maid, the Feast is well prepared. ::Between the dim wood and the purple sea :The world hangs breathless and the stars look down. ::Waken, Zareiba; come thou forth with me.

Recordings

Songs and Piano Music by Edward Elgar
has "Arabian Serenade" performed by Peter Savidge (baritone), with David Owen Norris (piano).

Christopher Maltman Christopher Maltman (born 6 February 1970) is a British operatic baritone. Christopher Maltman was born in Cleethorpes and was educated at Warwick University where he received a degree in Biochemistry and subsequently studied music at the Royal A ...

(baritone) with Malcolm Martineau (piano), at Southlands College, London, April 1999

References

* Michael Kennedy, ''Portrait of Elgar'' (Oxford University Press, 1968)

External links

* {{authority control Songs by Edward Elgar 1914 songs