Come, Gentle Night!

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Come Gentle Night song by Elgar cover 1901.jpg

"Come, Gentle Night!" is a poem by Clifton Bingham [1] set to music by the English composer Edward Elgar in 1901.

Contents

It is a song for soprano voice, the title page advertising that it was sung by Madame Clara Butt.

The song was written at the same time as Elgar's Cockaigne , and published in 1901 by Boosey & Co. in London and New York. [2] It was first performed in Queens Hall, London on 12 October 1901, sung by Clara Butt. [3]

In his book on Elgar, Thomas Dunhill criticised this and others of his songs, finding it "...almost unbelievable that a composer of such power and distinction should have been willing to attach his name to productions like After , The Pipes of Pan , Come, Gentle Night! and Pleading ". [4] Dunhill considered some "...scarcely distinguishable from pot-boilers turned out by baser English composers in the days of ballad concerts."

Lyrics

Come, gentle night!
Upon our eye-lids lay thy fingers light ;
For we are tired, and fain aside would lay
The cares and burdens that surround the day.
Come, peaceful night!
Thy courier-stars already glitter bright ;
And we who labour, both unblest and blest,
Are weary of our work, and long for rest.
Come, holy night!
Long is the day and ceaseless is the fight;
Around us bid thy quiet shadows creep,
And rock us in thy sombre arms to sleep!

Recordings

References

  1. ↑ Clifton Bingham (1859-1913) was an English author of poems and children's books, many of them illustrated by Louis Wain.
  2. ↑ J. N. Moore, Edward Elgar, A Creative Life, p. 346
  3. ↑ The Era, 19/10/1901
  4. ↑ T. F. Dunhill, Sir Edward Elgar
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