"Music, When Soft Voices Die" is a major poem by

Percy Bysshe Shelley Percy Bysshe Shelley ( ; 4 August 17928 July 1822) was one of the major English Romantic poets. A radical in his poetry as well as in his political and social views, Shelley did not achieve fame during his lifetime, but recognition of his achie ...

, written in 1821 and first published in ''Posthumous Poems of Percy Bysshe Shelley'' in 1824 in London by John and Henry L. Hunt with a preface by Mary Shelley. The poem is one of the most anthologised, influential, and well-known of Shelley's works.

Text

Music, When Soft Voices Die Music, when soft voices die,
Vibrates in the memory;
Odours, when sweet violets sicken,
Live within the sense they quicken. Rose leaves, when the rose is dead,
Are heap'd for the belovèd's bed;
And so thy thoughts, when thou art gone,
Love itself shall slumber on.

Summary

The poem was published as "To---" in 1824 under Miscellaneous Poems in ''Posthumous Poems''. It is composed of two stanzas containing two couplets each. The theme of the poem is the endurance of the memories of events and of sensations. Mary Shelley edited the poems and wrote the preface to the collection. She described the poems: "Many of the Miscellaneous Poems, written on the spur of the occasion, and never retouched, I found among his manuscript books, and have carefully copied: I have subjoined, whenever I have been able, the date of their composition."

Musical compositions

Many composers and musicians have set the poem to music with vocal accompaniment. Among the composers are Charles Wood as a three-part song in 1915, Frank Bridge, for mixed chorus a capella, in 1904, Eric Nelson in 1999, Canadian composer Stephen Chatman, as a part of his set "There Is Sweet Music Here," in 1993, Sir Charles Hubert Parry in 1897, Three Songs, Opus 12,

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 ...

in 1893, Sergei Taneyev, Opus 17, No. 3, ''Pust' otsvuchit'', in 1905, Rebecca Clarke for mixed chorus in 1907,

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 ...

in 1911 (two versions),

Liza Lehmann Liza Lehmann (11 July 1862 – 19 September 1918) was an English soprano and composer, known for her vocal compositions.Banfield, Stephen. Grove Music Online' After vocal studies with Alberto Randegger and Jenny Lind, and composition studies ...

for voice and piano,

Henry Cowell Henry Dixon Cowell (; March 11, 1897 – December 10, 1965) was an American composer, writer, pianist, publisher and teacher. Marchioni, Tonimarie (2012)"Henry Cowell: A Life Stranger Than Fiction" ''The Juilliard Journal''. Retrieved 19 June 202 ...

in 1922, Jack Gibbons, Opus 17,

Samuel Barber Samuel Osmond Barber II (March 9, 1910 – January 23, 1981) was an American composer, pianist, conductor, baritone, and music educator, and one of the most celebrated composers of the 20th century. The music critic Donal Henahan said, "Proba ...

, for piano and voice in 1926, Ernest Gold,

Quincy Porter William Quincy Porter (February 7, 1897 – November 12, 1966) was an American composer and teacher of classical music. Biography Born in New Haven, Connecticut, he went to Yale University where his teachers included Horatio Parker and David St ...

in 1947,

Edward Bairstow Sir Edward Cuthbert Bairstow (22 August 18741 May 1946) was an English organist and composer in the Anglican church music tradition. Life and career Bairstow was born in Trinity Street, Huddersfield in 1874. His grandfather Oates Bairstow was ...

, in 1929, Roger Quilter, for voice and piano, Opus 25, No. 5, in 1927, John Harbison for SATB choir and organ or harpsichord in 1966, Julie Knowles for SSA chorus and piano in 1982, Victor C. Johnson for piano and choir, Tobias Picker for piano in 1977, Stephen Chatman for chorus and oboe in 1984, John H. Ratledge for SATB/a cappella in 1992, Geoffrey Bush for chorus, David Diamond for voice and piano, Gary Bachlund, for baritone and piano in 2009, and Philip Legge for choir and piano in 2010. In 2018 Lowell Dykstra made a version for soprano and guitar.

References

External links

Online version at Bartleby.com.

Audiorecordings of "Music, When Soft Voices Die" on the LibriVox website.
{{Authority control 1824 poems Memory in culture Poetry by Percy Bysshe Shelley