Movements/SectionsMov'ts/Sec's | 1 |
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Composition Year | 2007 |
Genre Categories | Songs; For voice, lute; For voices with solo instruments; |
Work Title | Orpheus with His Lute (Song) |
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Alternative. Title | |
Composer | Grayson, Martin |
I-Catalogue NumberI-Cat. No. | IMG 18 |
Movements/SectionsMov'ts/Sec's | 1 |
Year/Date of CompositionY/D of Comp. | 2007 |
First Publication. | 2008 |
Librettist | William Shakespeare (1564–1616) |
Language | English |
Composer Time PeriodComp. Period | Modern |
Piece Style | Modern |
Instrumentation | Voice and lute (or guitar) |
This was an entry into a competition to set the Shakespeare text, (from the play Henry VIII), specifically for lute and voice, in a manner influenced by golden age Elizabethan lute song. This popular text has been set by many composers, including Edward German, Sullivan, Ivor Gurney and Vaughan-Williams, though apparently not by any Jacobean composers.
There is the original lute version here and a guitar version which is slightly clumsy because the chords used exploit the position of the 3rds in the lute tuning. Scordatura might help here.