by Harry Cowell
How old is song
Language: English
Before a man had sung a note Or a song bird warbled in its throat, The winds were whipering through the trees Wild prehistoric melodies Prophetic of the days to come When man would make him harps to strum The halls of heaven with music rang The morning stars together sang, Prophetic of the voice of him Who chants of choiring Seraphin From chaos the orchestral seas Were forming polyharmonies. No song is new, Man sings and rings Times changes in eternal things; His voice prophetic of a long Lone silence to succeed his song.
Note: the author is the father of the composer Henry Cowell.
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):
- by Henry Dixon Cowell (1897 - 1965), "How old is song", L. 477, published 1931 [voice and piano] [ sung text checked 1 time]
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2008-07-11
Line count: 16
Word count: 95