"The Swallow" [Nicola LeFanu]
Title
"The Swallow" [Nicola LeFanu]
First line of lyrics: Fly away, fly away over the sea
Creator
LeFanu, Nicola [Frances]; music (British, born 1947)
Rossetti, Christina Georgina; text (English, 1830-1894)
Date
2008 [composition]
Publisher
Edition Peters
Subject
genre: song|song cycle
chorus: women's chorus
instrumentation: keyboard (for rehearsal only)|a cappella
origin: United Kingdom
female composer
Language
English
Description
Rossetti poem(s): "'Fly away, fly away over the sea'"
Place in the larger work: The fifth song of seven in the song cycle called "Rossetti Songs," settings of Christina Rossetti poems. The songs include 1. "The Bourne"; 2. "The Pancake"; 3. "Lullaby"; 4. "from Goblin Market"; 5. "The Swallow"; 6. "Home by Different Ways"; 7. "October Canzonet."
Composition history: "These settings of seven poems by Christina Rossetti were composed in 2008; they were commissioned by MUSE, Cincinnati’s Women’s Choir, artistic director Catherine Roma" ("Rossetti Songs").
Performance instructions: "These settings of poems by Christina Rossetti are composed for women’s voices and intended for amateur choir. Any selection from this collection may be made, and the songs sung in any order. Conductors may use solo voices, small groups or large choirs, as they wish. | If instrumental support is needed, they could be doubled by melody instruments, but keyboard (useful in rehearsal) is not suitable in performance. They may also be transposed: for example, ‘Lullaby’ could be transposed up a semitone, and violins used to play the ostinati" ("Rossetti Songs").
Performance history: "[F]irst performance Cincinnati, November 22nd, 2008" by MUSE, Cincinnati’s Women’s Choir, artistic director Catherine Roma ("Rossetti Songs").
Format
Format 1: musical score
complete song cycle performance time 15 minutes
Source
Other data reference(s): "Rossetti Songs." Nicola LeFanu, https://www.nicolalefanu.com/resources/programmenotes/9-Choral-a-cappella/9-2008-Rossetti-Songs.pdf. Accessed 17 March 2022.
Cataloguer: Emily McConkey, University of Ottawa
Identifier
Record: CRM-flyawayflyaway-lefanu
Rights
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.
Files
Collection
Citation
LeFanu, Nicola [Frances]; music (British, born 1947) and Rossetti, Christina Georgina; text (English, 1830-1894), “"The Swallow" [Nicola LeFanu],” Christina Rossetti In Music, accessed November 23, 2024, http://omeka.uottawa.ca/christinarossettiinmusic/items/show/3208.
Item Relations
| This Item | is part of a larger work that also includes | Item: "October Canzonet" [Nicola LeFanu] |
| This Item | is part of a larger work that also includes | Item: "Home by Different Ways" [Nicola LeFanu] |
| Item: "The Bourne" [Nicola LeFanu] | is part of a larger work that also includes | This Item |
| Item: "The Pancake" [Nicola LeFanu] | is part of a larger work that also includes | This Item |
| Item: "Lullaby" [Nicola LeFanu] | is part of a larger work that also includes | This Item |
| Item: "from 'Goblin Market'" [Nicola LeFanu] | is part of a larger work that also includes | This Item |