"All things that pass" [Alex Tinlin]

"All things that pass" [Alex Tinlin]

First line of lyrics: All things that pass are woman's looking glass

Part of: "The Rossetti Songs"

Tinlin, Alex; music (British, born 1977)

Rossetti, Christina Georgina; text (English, 1830-1894)

1999 [copyright]

genre: vocal chamber music|song cycle|song

solo: alto

instrumentation: clarinet|viola|cello

initial sharps/flats: two sharps

initial time signature: 3/4

origin: United Kingdom

male composer

English

Rossetti poem(s): "Passing and Glassing"

Place in the larger work: The third song of three in the song cycle, "The Rossetti Songs," which includes 1. "Remember"; 2. "The Bourne"; 3. "All things that pass."

Notes about the text: Rossetti's line "They show her how her bloom must fade, / And she herself be laid" is changed to "They tell her when her bloom must fade / And how her self be laid" and the line "Brimful of good or ill" is changed to "Brimful of good and ill."

Composition history: When asked about what occasioned the composition of this song cycle and the selection of texts, composer Alex Tinlin commented: "The three pieces were written as an exercise in vocal writing within a small ensemble, and as far as I can remember we were given free reign over which texts we could set to music, though I think there were certain length constraints we had to adhere to. I have always liked the poem ‘Remember’, but in researching her other works I came across ‘The Bourne’ and ‘Passing and Glassing’ which I was initially attracted to by their relatively concise structure, which lent themselves well to musical adaptation, particularly ‘Passing and Glassing.' They are also wonderful poems, of course" (Tinlin, Alex. "Re: Rossetti Songs." Received by Mary Arseneau. 28 Feb. 2018).

Performance instructions: Composer Alex Tinlin added in personal correspondence that "it was intended as more of a jazzy voice rather than a classical mezzo soprano" (Tinlin, Alex. "Re: Rossetti Songs." Received by Mary Arseneau. 22 Feb. 2018).

Notes: A second version of the music scored for voice and piano was also created at a later date, but the mixed ensemble remains the composer's preferred version (Tinlin, Alex. "Re: Rossetti Songs." Received by Mary Arseneau. 28 Feb. 2018).

Format 1: musical score

9 pages (pp. 16-24)

Other data reference(s): Tinlin, Alex. "Re: Rossetti Songs." Received by Mary Arseneau. 28 Feb. 2018.

Cataloguer: Mary Arseneau and Emily McConkey, University of Ottawa

musical score: Alex Tinlin

Record: CRM-passingandglassing-tinlin

File(s): CRM-passingandglassing-tinlin.pdf

This score is protected by copyright. All rights reserved. The score appears on this website by kind permission of composer Alex Tinlin.

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