''Oh, soft was the song'' is a song with words by

Gilbert Parker Sir Horatio Gilbert George Parker, 1st Baronet (23 November 1862 – 6 September 1932), known as Gilbert Parker, Canadian novelist and British politician, was born at Camden East, Addington, Ontario, the son of Captain Joseph Parker, R.A. Ed ...

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 1910, as his Op. 59, No. 3. It is the second and last verse of a poem ''At Sea'' which Parker published in Volume I of a series of poems called ''Embers''. The Opus 59 songs were part of a song-cycle of six romantic songs by Parker that was never completed – Nos 1, 2 and 4 were never composed. The other songs were '' Was it some Golden Star?'' and ''

Twilight Twilight is light produced by sunlight scattering in the upper atmosphere, when the Sun is below the horizon, which illuminates the lower atmosphere and the Earth's surface. The word twilight can also refer to the periods of time when this il ...

''. The songs were originally written with piano accompaniment, but this was later re-scored by the composer for full orchestra. The songs were composed between December 1909 and January 1910, and published by Novello's in 1910. Elgar's friend Edward Speyer sent him as a Christmas present some music scores of

Beethoven Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. Beethoven remains one of the most admired composers in the history of Western music; his works rank amongst the most performed of the classical ...

String Quartets, and when Elgar thanked Speyer he added to his letter a quotation from Beethoven's Op.59 No.3. The first performance was by

Muriel Foster Muriel Foster (22 November 187723 December 1937) was an English contralto, excelling in oratorio. '' Grove's Dictionary'' describes her voice as "one of the most beautiful voices of her time". Muriel Foster was born in Sunderland in 1877. She w ...

at the Jaeger Memorial ConcertElgar's friend August Jaeger died on 18 May 1909, and the music for the funeral was provided by Dr.

Walford Davies Sir Henry Walford Davies (6 September 1869 – 11 March 1941) was an English composer, organist, and educator who held the title Master of the King's Music from 1934 until 1941. He served with the Royal Air Force during the First World War, dur ...

. The organisation of a Memorial Concert took time, and that concert was not until eight months later. in the

Queen's Hall The Queen's Hall was a concert hall in Langham Place, London, opened in 1893. Designed by the architect Thomas Knightley, it had room for an audience of about 2,500 people. It became London's principal concert venue. From 1895 until 1941, it ...

on 24 January 1910.

Lyrics

OH, SOFT WAS THE SONG :Oh, soft was the song in my soul, and soft beyond thought were thy lips, ::And thou wert mine own, and Eden re-conquered was mine: :And the way that I go is the way of thy feet, and the breath that I breathe ::It hath being from thee, and life from the life that is thine.

Recordings

Songs and Piano Music by Edward Elgar
has "Oh, soft was the song" performed by Mark Wilde (tenor), with David Owen Norris (piano).

Amanda Roocroft (soprano), Reinild Mees (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

*Kennedy, Michael, ''Portrait of Elgar'' (Oxford University Press, 1968) * *Parker, Sir Gilbert, (1894
''"Embers"'' Gutenberg Free Text

External links

Notes

{{Authority control Songs by Edward Elgar 1910 songs