"The First Spring Day" [Robert Hugill]

"The First Spring Day" [Robert Hugill]

First line of lyrics: I wonder if the sap is stirring yet

Part of: "Quickening"

Hugill, Robert; music (English, born 1955)

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

2001 [copyright]

genre: song cycle|song

solo: mezzo-soprano

instrumentation: viola|piano

initial sharps/flats: two sharps

initial time signature: 3/4

other version 1 - solo: soprano

other version 1 - instrumentation: piano|violin|clarinet

origin: United Kingdom

male composer

English

Rossetti poem(s): "The First Spring Day"

Place in the larger work: The sixth song of six in the song cycle called "Quickening," settings of Rossetti poems. The songs include 1. "Song"; 2. "Bitter for Sweet"; 3. "Two Pursuits"; 4. "Remember"; 5. "Withering"; 6. "The First Spring Day."

Composition history: "It was only relatively recently that I started reading Christina Rosetti's poetry. Having concentrated on setting a small group of poets that appealed to me, I was concerned to try pastures new for a further song cycle. Also, having had copyright difficulties with a recent choral piece, I was anxious to choose texts that were out of copyright. A number of extended sessions browsing in Waterstones led to my considering setting Elizabeth Barrett-Browning and Christina Rosetti. On first reading, all of Christina Rosetti's poems that I selected for setting were of a similar melancholy cast (like the first song in the cycle). But further exploration led me to realise that I could create a sequence of poems in which the gloomy anticipation of death gradually prefigures joyful anticipation of the life to come is paralleled by winter's gradual prefiguring of a future spring. Thus, though the cycle has a predominantly melancholy tone, it progresses towards the final joyful conclusion" (Hugill).

Tempo markings: quarter note = 60

Performance instructions: Other version 1: "Soprano + Piano & Violin (or Clarinet)" ("Catalogue of Compositions")

Performance history: "Quickening was premiered on 16th November 2001 at Lauderdale House, Highgate, London by David Greiner (counter-tenor), Amanda Chancellor (viola) and Paul Webster (piano)" (Hugill).

Recordings: "Quickening." Quickening: Songs by Robert Hugill to Texts by English and Welsh Poets, Performance by Anna Huntley, mezzo-soprano, Rosalind Ventris, viola, William Vann, piano, recording on 14-15 Nov. 2016 at Potton Hall, Suffolk, Andrew Walton, producer and editor, Deborah Spanton, sound engineer, Navona Records, 2017. ("Quickening") Spotify, ttps://open.spotify.com/album/6fpbMCT5JaXOrx7ujdXkMo. Accessed 20 Jul. 2021. “Quickening: No. 6, The First Spring Day.” YouTube, uploaded by Anna Huntley - Topic, 7 Sep. 2017, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lFyqtaJg3x4.

Format 1: musical score

7 pages (pp. 25-31); performance time ca. 4 minutes

Other data reference(s): "Catalogue of Compositions." Robert Hugill, https://www.roberthugill.com/music-catalogue. Acessed 20 Jul. 2021.
"Quickening." Navona Records, https://www.navonarecords.com/catalog/nv6121/. Accessed 20 Jul. 2021.
Hugill, Robert. "Christina Rossetti in Music project." Received by Mary Arseneau. 24 August 2020.

Cataloguer: Abby Jurgeneit and Emily McConkey, University of Ottawa

Musical score: Robert Hugill

Record: CRM-firstspringday-hugill

File(s): CRM-firstspringday-hugill.pdf

"©Robert Hugill, London, 2001." This score is protected by copyright. All rights reserved. The score appears on the website by kind permission of composer Robert Hugill.

The Christina Rossetti in Music project website is hosted in Canada at the University of Ottawa Library, and we aim to comply with Canadian copyright laws. If you believe we have violated Canadian copyright law, please contact us at christinarossettimusic@uottawa.ca. The Christina Rossetti in Music project is strictly not for profit and intended for research and educational purposes only.