Five Art Songs

Song Cycle by Jeraldine Saunders Herbison (b. 1941)

. The Rainy Day

Language: English 
The day is cold, and dark, and dreary ;
It rains and the wind is never weary;
The vine still clings to the mouldr'ng wall,
But at every gust the dead leaves fall,
  And the day is [dark]1 and dreary.

My life is cold, and dark, and dreary;
It  rains and the wind is never weary;
My thoughts still cling to the mould'ring Past,
But the hopes of youth fall thick in the blast,
  And the days are [dark]1 and dreary.

Be still, sad heart!  and cease repining;
Behind the clouds is the sun still shining;
Thy fate is the common fate of all,
Into each life some rain must fall,
  Some days must be dark and dreary.

Text Authorship:

Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):

Set by Jeraldine Saunders Herbison (b. 1941), copyright © 1977/2005 [ medium voice and piano ]
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Confirmed with Popular Poetry: a selection of pieces old and new, adapted for general use, London, Burns & Lambert, 1862, page 119.

1 Ascham: "cold"

Research team for this page: Barbara Miller , Johann Winkler

. We Met By Chance
 (Sung text for setting by J. Herbison)
 Matches base text

Language: English 
We met by chance this man and I
he looking seeking straining to communicate
and finding few who cared to listen
We met by chance this man and I
I listened and found pleasure in his words.

Text Authorship:

Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):

Set by Jeraldine Saunders Herbison (b. 1941), copyright © 1977/1978 [ medium voice and piano ], Southern Illinois University Press
Researcher for this page: Joost van der Linden [Guest Editor]

. Love and Not Know Why

Language: English 
— This text is not currently
in the database but will be added
as soon as we obtain it. —

Text Authorship:

  • by Anonymous / Unidentified Author

Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):

Set by Jeraldine Saunders Herbison (b. 1941), copyright © 1978/2009 [ voice and piano ]

3. I’ll Not Forget  [sung text not yet checked]

Language: English 
In a single file, my brain has set a list of things I’ll not forget
 [ ... ]

Text Authorship:

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Total word count: 234