"The Rainbow" [arr. Caroline Kohlsaat, music unknown composer]

"The Rainbow" [arr. Caroline Kohlsaat, music unknown composer]

First line of lyrics: Boats sail on the rivers

Unknown; music (folk melody)

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

Kohlsaat, Caroline; arrangement (American, 1875-1950)

1921 [publication] [copyright]; 1922, 1925 [publication]

New York, Cincinnati: The Abingdon Press

genre: children's music|song

solo: voice

chorus: children's unison chorus

initial sharps/flats: three sharps

initial time signature: 6/8

origin: United States

female arranger

English

Rossetti poem(s): "'Boats sail on the rivers'"

Performance instructions: "An accompaniment, if added, should merely serve the melody." (Baker, "Introduction") "All so-called 'marks of expression' have been omitted. The words and tunes together should suggest both style and tempo. In general, it may be said that the songs should be sung lightly and with spontaneity." (Baker, "Contents")

Notes: This song is one of three settings of poems by Christina Rossetti found in Clara Belle Baker's "Songs for a Little Child" (1921). According to Gooch and Thatcher (4241), the song is set to an English air. It is in a section called "Wind and Weather." The book's introduction states: "The tunes used in the book have been chosen from the most naïve and charming of the old folk songs. [...] They are drawn from many nationalities: American, French, English, Swedish, German, Bohemian, Irish, Danish, Dutch, Lithuanian, Welsh, Russian, Syrian, Finnish, Sicilian. [...] The harmonizations in this book [by Caroline Kohlsaat] are in keeping with the simplicity and delicacy of the tunes. [...] In most instances, the form follows that of the original folk song, with the same rhyme scheme, the same phrasing, and a like simplicity."

Format 1: musical score

1 page

In reference to the published works below: Gooch and Thatcher 4241

Reference: Gooch, Bryan N.S. and David S. Thatcher. Musical Settings of Early and Mid-Victorian Literature: A Catalogue. New York: Garland, 1979.

Other data reference(s): Baker, Clara Belle. Songs for the Little Child, Abingdon Press, 1925.

Cataloguer: Roxanne Lafleur, University of Ottawa

Musical score: Baker, Clara Belle. Songs for the Little Child, Abingdon Press, 1925, p. 37. Université Bishop's University, Sherbrooke.

Record: CRM-boatssail-kohlsaat-unknown

File(s): CRM-boatssail-kohlsaat-unknown.pdf

"Copyright, 1921, by Clara Belle Baker"

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.