"Aloof" [Vivian Fine]

"Aloof" [Vivian Fine]

First line of lyrics: The irresponsive silence of the land

Part of: "Five Victorian Songs" and "Four Victorian Songs"

Fine, Vivian; music (American, 1913-2000)

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

1988 [composition] [copyright]; 1991 November [composition]

Vivian Fine Estate

genre: song cycle|art song (lied)|song

solo: soprano

instrumentation: flute|clarinet|viola|cello

initial sharps/flats: no sharps or flats

initial time signature: 3/4

other version 1 - solo: soprano

other version 1 - instrumentation: piano

other version 1 - initial sharps/flats: no sharps or flats

origin: United States

female composer

English

Rossetti poem(s): "The Thread of Life"

Place in the larger work: The first song of five in the song cycle called "5 Victorian Songs" which includes 1. "Aloof" (Christina Rossetti); 2. "Cadmus and Harmonia" (Matthew Arnold); 3. "Spring and Fall: to a young child" (Gerald Manley Hopkins); 4. "Invictus" (William Ernest Henley); 5. "Sonnet from the Portuguese" (Elizabeth Barrett Browning). The first song of four songs in the song cycle called "4 Victorian Songs" which includes 1. "Aloof" (Christina Rossetti); 2. "Cadmus and Harmonia" (Matthew Arnold); 3. "Invictus" (William Ernest Henley); 4. "Sonnet from the Portuguese" (Elizabeth Barrett Browning).

Notes about the text: This song is a setting of the first stanza only.

Composition history: Commissioned by "Capitol Chamber Artists, with a grant from the New York State Council on the Arts". In the program notes, Heidi Von Gunden, The Music of Vivian Fine, Scarecrow Press, 1999, it states : "In 1991 she scored the collection as Four Victorian Songs for piano and voice, thinning the canonic textures and omitting one of the poems" ("Five Victorian Songs," Vivian Fine).

Tempo markings: "Five Victorian Songs": "Moderato"; quarter note = 60. "Four Victorian Songs": quarter note = 60

Performance instructions: In "Four Victorian Songs": "Somberly"

Performance history: Debut performance of "Five Victorian Songs" was held on March 4, 1988 at Green Mountain College, Poultney, Vermont, with Janet Stasio, soprano, Mary Lou Saetta, violin and viola, Irvin Gilman, flute, Charles Stancampiano, clarinet, Ann Alton, cello. ("Five Victorian Songs," Vivian Fine)

Recordings: Five Victorian Songs. Performance by The Capitol Chamber Artists: Janet Stasio, soprano, Mary Lou Saetta, violin and viola, Irvin Gilman, flute, Charles Stancampiano, clarinet, Ann Alton, cello. Vivian Fine Vivian Fine Estate, IMSLP Petrucci Music Library, imslp.org/wiki/Special:ReverseLookup/191210.

Notes: Manuscripts. "[4 Victorian Songs] is a rescoring of Five Victorian Songs (1988) with one song omitted" ("4 Victorian Songs (Fine, Vivian).").

Format 1: musical score

8 pages (pp. 1-8); complete song cycle performance time 16 minutes and 45 seconds of "Five Victorian Songs". 4 pages (pp. 1-4); complete song cycle performance time 10 minutes of "4 Victorian Songs"

Format 2: sound recording

performance time 3 minutes and 10 seconds from the song cycle "Five Victorian Songs"

Reference: IMSLP Petrucci Music Library, http://imslp.org/

Reference: Ezust, Emily. The LiederNet Archive. http://www.lieder.net/lieder/index.html

Other data reference(s): "Five Victorian Songs." Vivian Fine, www.vivianfine.org/main/compositions/five-victorian-songs.htm. Accessed 21 Oct. 2019.
"5 Victorian Songs (Fine, Vivian)." imslp.org/wiki/5_Victorian_Songs_(Fine%2C_Vivian). Accessed 11 Oct. 2019.
"4 Victorian Songs (Fine, Vivian)." IMSLP Petrucci Music Library, imslp.org/wiki/4_Victorian_Songs_(Fine%2C_Vivian). Accessed 11 Oct. 2019.

Cataloguer: Anna Lewis and Roxanne Lafleur, University of Ottawa

Musical score: Five Victorian Songs (Fine, Vivian), IMSLP Petrucci Music Library, imslp.org/wiki/Special:ReverseLookup/191208. Accessed 11 Oct. 2019.

Musical score: Four Victorian Songs (Fine, Vivian), IMSLP Petrucci Music Library, imslp.org/wiki/Special:ReverseLookup/191215. Accessed 11 Oct. 2019.

Sound recording: "Aloof." Five Victorian Songs (Fine, Vivian), IMSLP Petrucci Music Library, imslp.org/wiki/Special:ReverseLookup/191210, Accessed 28 Feb. 2023.

Record: CRM-threadoflife-fine

File(s): CRM-threadoflife-fine-1.pdf; CRM-threadoflife-fine-1.mp3; CRM-threadoflife-fine-2.pdf

"© 1988 Vivian Fine" (Five Victorian Songs)"
5 Victorian Songs (Fine, Vivian), https://imslp.org/wiki/5_Victorian_Songs_(Fine,_Vivian)#IMSLP191210 and 4 Victorian Songs (Fine, Vivian), https://imslp.org/wiki/4_Victorian_Songs_(Fine,_Vivian)#IMSLP191215, by Vivian Fine is licensed under IMSLP: Performance Restricted Attribution Non-commercial No Derivatives 1.0, https://imslp.org/wiki/IMSLP:Performance_Restricted_Attribution_Non-commercial_No_Derivatives_1.0, based on the Creative Commons Attribution Non-commercial No Derivatives 3.0 license, https://imslp.org/wiki/Creative_Commons_Attribution_Non-commercial_No_Derivatives_3.0, but with the added restriction of no performance allowed.
Audio recording: Aloof, https://imslp.org/wiki/5_Victorian_Songs_(Fine,_Vivian)#IMSLP191210, by Vivian Fine, performed by the Capitol Chamber Artists, Janet Stasio, soprano, Mary Lou Saetta, violin and viola, Irvin Gilman, flute, Charles Stancampiano, clarinet, Ann Alton, cello, is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution Non-commercial No Derivatives 3.0, https://imslp.org/wiki/IMSLP:Creative_Commons_Attribution_Non-commercial_No_Derivatives_3.0.

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