''The Curlew'' is a

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 ...

Peter Warlock Philip Arnold Heseltine (30 October 189417 December 1930), known by the pseudonym Peter Warlock, was a British composer and music critic. The Warlock name, which reflects Heseltine's interest in occultism, occult practices, was used for all his ...

on poems by

W. B. Yeats William Butler Yeats (13 June 186528 January 1939) was an Irish poet, dramatist, writer and one of the foremost figures of 20th-century literature. He was a driving force behind the Irish Literary Revival and became a pillar of the Irish liter ...

. It is generally considered one of the composer's finest works. It was written between 1920 and 1922 for singer and an unusual accompanying group of flute,

cor anglais The cor anglais (, or original ; plural: ''cors anglais''), or English horn in North America, is a double-reed woodwind instrument in the oboe family. It is approximately one and a half times the length of an oboe, making it essentially an alto ...

and

string quartet The term string quartet can refer to either a type of musical composition or a group of four people who play them. Many composers from the mid-18th century onwards wrote string quartets. The associated musical ensemble consists of two violinists ...

(two violins,

viola The viola ( , also , ) is a string instrument that is bow (music), bowed, plucked, or played with varying techniques. Slightly larger than a violin, it has a lower and deeper sound. Since the 18th century, it has been the middle or alto voice of ...

and cello). Warlock completed the work in Cefn Bryntalch, his family home in

Llandyssil Llandyssil is a village in Powys, Wales, about two miles from the town of Montgomery. The village is part of the Llandyssil community. In 2001 there were 420 inhabitants in the parish, of whom 300 lived in the village itself.The population fig ...

, near Montgomery in Wales. There are four songs, with a short instrumental interlude. The poems they are based on (with the first line in parentheses) are: #"He Reproves the Curlew" ("O Curlew, cry no more in the air") #"The lover mourns for the loss of love" ("Pale brows, still hands and dim hair") #"The Withering of the Boughs" ("I cried when the moon was murmuring to the birds:") #Interlude #"He Hears the Cry of the Sedge" ("I wander by the edge of this desolate lake") "The Withering of the Boughs" was taken from '' In the Seven Woods,'' while the other poems were taken from '' The Wind Among the Reeds''. There is a lengthy instrumental introduction to the first song, in which the cry of the

curlew The curlews () are a group of nine species of birds in the genus ''Numenius'', characterised by their long, slender, downcurved bills and mottled brown plumage. The English name is imitative of the Eurasian curlew's call, but may have been in ...

is represented by the cor anglais and the peewit by the flute. The songs, which concern lost love, are melancholy in mood. A number of motif elements recur throughout the songs dependent on the point in the text – a structural technique also found in many others of Warlock's songs. The cycle lasts around twenty-five minutes. ''The Curlew'' won the Carnegie Award in 1923. In making the award the trustees wrote: 'A most imaginative setting of Mr Yeats's poems, of which, indeed, it may be regarded as the musical counterpart. It is pervaded by a keen feeling for harmonic colour, which is here used to most appropriate effect'.

Recordings

''The Curlew'' was well served by the gramophone, three excellent recordings having been made within the first thirty years after its composition: * John Armstrong (tenor), Robert Murchie (flute), T. McDonagh (English horn), International String Quartet (Mangeot, Price, Bray, Shineburne) conducted by

Constant Lambert Leonard Constant Lambert (23 August 190521 August 1951) was a British composer, conductor, and author. He was the founder and music director of the Royal Ballet, and (alongside Ninette de Valois and Frederick Ashton) he was a major figure in th ...

(

National Gramophonic Society The National Gramophonic Society (NGS) was founded in England in 1923 by the novelist Compton Mackenzie to produce recordings of music which was ignored by commercial record companies. The Society was proposed shortly after Mackenzie had launched hi ...

163–165). This recording was made with the personnel who gave the notable Warlock Memorial performance on 23 February 1931 at the

Wigmore Hall Wigmore Hall is a concert hall located at 36 Wigmore Street, London. Originally called Bechstein Hall, it specialises in performances of chamber music, early music, vocal music and song recitals. It is widely regarded as one of the world's leadin ...

, to preserve the benefit of their rehearsed ensemble. * René Soames (tenor), Geoffrey Gilbert (flute),

Léon Goossens Léon Jean Goossens, CBE, FRCM (12 June 1897 – 13 February 1988) was an English oboist. Career Goossens was born in Liverpool, Lancashire, and studied at Liverpool College of Music and the Royal College of Music. His father was violinist and ...

(English horn), Aeolian String Quartet (Cave, Williams, Forbes, Moore) (HMV 3x12" 78rpm discs C 7934-36) (27 March and 12 April 1950). Recorded under auspices of the British Council. *

Alexander Young Alexander Young may refer to: * Alexander Young (bishop) (died 1684), 17th century Scottish prelate *Alexander Young (engineer) (1833–1910), Scottish engineer and businessman who became a citizen of the Kingdom of Hawaii *Alexander Young (musicia ...

(tenor), Lionel Solomon (flute),

Peter Graeme Graeme Peter Crump (1921 – 1 March 2012), known professionally as Peter Graeme and as 'Timmy' Crump to friends and family, was an English oboist and academic teacher. He was best known as the principal oboist of the Melos Ensemble. Career ...

(English horn), Sebastian String Quartet (Argo LP RG 26) (January 1954)Argo listings
* There are numerous more recent recordings.

Sources

{{DEFAULTSORT:Curlew, The Song cycles by Peter Warlock 1922 compositions Adaptations of works by W. B. Yeats Classical song cycles in English