Strings in the earth and air 
  Make music sweet; 
Strings by the river where 
  The willows meet. 

There's music along the river 
  [For Love wanders there,]1
Pale [flowers]2 on his mantle, 
  Dark leaves on his hair. 

All softly playing, 
  With head to [the]3 music bent, 
And fingers straying 
  Upon an instrument.

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View original text (without footnotes)
¹ omitted by Berio
² Coulthard: "flow'rs"
³ omitted by Coulthard

Text Authorship:

• by James Joyce (1882 - 1941), appears in Chamber Music, no. 1, first published 1907 [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]

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

• by Samuel Hans Adler (b. 1928), "Strings in the earth", published 1957 [ satb chorus a cappella ], from Five Choral Poems [sung text not yet checked]
• by David Arditti (b. 1964), no title, op. 20 no. 1 (1998) [ tenor and string quartet ], from Chamber Music, no. 1 [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Gary Bachlund (b. 1947), "Make Music Sweet", 1991, published 1996 [ high voice or medium voice and piano ], from Chamber Music, no. 1 [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Samuel Barber (1910 - 1981), "Strings in the earth and air" [ voice and piano ], confirmed with a CD booklet [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Phyllis Batchelor (1915 - 1999), "Strings in the Earth and Air", copyright © 2023 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
• by Luciano Berio (1925 - 2003), "Strings in the earth and air", 1953, published 1954 [ female voice, clarinet, violoncello and harp ], from Chamber Music, no. 1 [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Lorne M. Betts (b. 1918), "Strings in the earth and air", 1951 [ high voice and piano ], from Six Songs to Poems of James Joyce [sung text not yet checked]
• by Brian Boydell (1917 - 2000), "Strings in the earth and air", 1946 [ baritone and piano ], from Five Joyce Songs [sung text not yet checked]
• by Benjamin Burrows (1891 - 1966), "Strings in the earth and air", 1928 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
• by Israel Citkowitz (1909 - 1974), "Strings in the earth and air", published c1930, from Five Songs from "Chamber Music", no. 1 [sung text not yet checked]
• by Laurence Clarke , "Strings in the earth and air" [ soprano and piano ], from "Chamber Music": Five Poems by James Joyce [sung text not yet checked]
• by Jean Coulthard (1908 - 2000), "Strings in the earth and air", 1946 [ medium voice and piano ], from Three Songs for Medium Voice and Piano, no. 2 [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Emma Lou Diemer (b. 1927), "Strings in the earth and air", 1972-3 [ high voice and piano ], from A Miscellany of Love Songs, no. 1 [sung text not yet checked]
• by Emma Lou Diemer (b. 1927), "Strings in the earth and air", published 2000 [ voice and piano ], from Four Songs, no. 1, in Art Songs by American Women Composers, Vol. 14, Southern Music Co. [sung text not yet checked]
• by Joan Ferris , "Strings in the earth and air", published 1967 [ SATB chorus a cappella ], from Six Songs [sung text not yet checked]
• by Ross Lee Finney (1906 - 1997), "Strings in the earth and air ", 1952, published 1985, first performed 1975 [ voice and piano ], from Chamber Music, no. 1, Henmar Press [sung text not yet checked]
• by J. Bertram Fox (1881 - 1946), "Strings in the earth", published 1926 [sung text not yet checked]
• by Derek Healey (b. 1936), "Strings in the earth", op. 16 no. 2 (1962) [ voice and piano ], from Six Irish Songs, no. 2 [sung text not yet checked]
• by Richard Hundley (1930 - 2018), "Strings in the earth and air", 1990 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
• by Jack Marius Jarrett (b. 1934), "Strings in the earth", published 1964 [ satb chorus and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
• by Sergius Kagen (1909 - 1964), "Strings in the earth and air", <<1953 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
• by (Martin) William Karlins (1932 - 2005), "Quartet for strings" [ soprano and strings ] [sung text not yet checked]
• by Hugo Kauder (1888 - 1972), "Strings in the earth", published 1955 [ soprano, alto, tenor, and string quartet ], from Ten Poems [sung text not yet checked]
• by Christopher Kaye Le Fleming (b. 1908), "Strings in the earth and air", published 1955 [ SA chorus and piano and/or strings ] [sung text not yet checked]
• by (Kurt) Rudolf Mengelberg (1892 - 1959), "Strings in the earth and air", published 1960 [ medium voice and piano ], from Chamber music, no. 1 [sung text not yet checked]
• by Ernest John Moeran (1894 - 1950), "Strings in the earth and air", R. 51 no. 1 (1929), published 1930 [ mezzo-soprano or baritone and piano ], from Seven Poems by James Joyce, no. 1 [sung text not yet checked]
• by Ivan Pawle , "Strings in the earth and air" [ orchestra ] [sung text not yet checked]
• by Ernesto P. Pellegrini (b. 1932), "Strings in the earth and air", 1966 [ soprano and piano ], from Chamber Music I [sung text not yet checked]
• by John Theodore Livingston Raynor (1909 - 1970), "Strings in the Earth", op. 266 (1950) [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
• by Wilhelm Rettich (1892 - 1988), "Strings in the earth", published 1973 [ voice and piano ], from Seven Songs for Voice and Piano [sung text not yet checked]
• by Hermann Reutter (1900 - 1985), "Strings in the earth and air", 1972 [ low male voice and piano ], from Chamber Music, no. 1 [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Barry Seaman (b. 1946), "The last song", 1981 [ voice and piano ], from Chamber Music Book I, no. 6 [sung text not yet checked]
• by Rick Sowash (b. 1950), "Strings in the earth and air", 1998 [ mezzo-soprano, viola, clarinet, flute, and piano ], from Along the River, no. 1 [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Irwin Spector (b. 1916), "Strings in the earth and air" [ medium voice, oboe, viola, and piano ], from Songs of Love and Music [sung text not yet checked]
• by Conrad Susa (b. 1935), "Strings in the earth and air", published 1973 [ satb chorus and piano ], from Chamber Music [sung text not yet checked]
• by Karol Maciej Szymanowski (1882 - 1937), "Strings in the earth", op. 54 no. 5, published 1926 [ voice and piano ], from Pieśni do słów Jamesa Joyce'a, no. 5, also set in Polish (Polski) [sung text checked 1 time]

Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:

• Also set in Hungarian (Magyar), a translation by Ágnes Gergely (b. 1933) , first published 1907 ; composed by András Mihály.
  • Go to the text. [Note: the text is not in the database yet.]
    
• Also set in Polish (Polski), a translation by Jarosław Iwaszkiewicz (1894 - 1980) ; composed by Karol Maciej Szymanowski.
  • Go to the text.
    

Other available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):

• FRE French (Français) (Guy Laffaille) , copyright © 2009, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 12
Word count: 51