MONARCH MINSTREL For Mens Chorus, After Byron
Harold Blumenfeld
About this work:
Byron's 'Hebrew Melody', "THE HARP THE MONARCH MINSTREL SWEPT", set for mens chorus with cello and piano, initiates five-part Byron-based choral cycle "FOR SION! - OH THEE", which can be seen elsewhere on this site in its entirety. ["Minstrel" can be performed separately].
Its stirring lines - "The harp the Monarch Minstrel swept.....It softn'd men of iron mould, It gave them virtues not their own; No ear so dull, no soul so cold That felt not, fired not to the tone, Till David's lyre grew mightier than his throne" - open a cycle which gathers girth, adds vocal and instrumental dimension, gains intensity as it moves forward towards violence of its Fourth Part........ SOUND BITE and Sample SCORE PAGES of "Minstrel" can be accessed under entry for the complete "For Sion!" cycle on this site. Also offered there: copious notes on Work and on Byron...... ["Minstrel" also exists in accompaniment version for string orchestra with piano and solo cello concertato.]........
>Former Pub MMB Music, now closed. Published by COMPOSER: blumenf@wustl.edu
Score: $15...
Premiered 2002 by men of Washington University Choir, Beth MacDonald, cello, John Stewart, conductor...
Byron, as well as being fighter for Greek independence from Ottoman Turks, was proto-Zionist who envisioned return of scattered Hebrew people to Zion - this a century before birth of modern Zionism.
Year composed: 2002
Duration: 00:05:00
Ensemble type: Chorus, with or without Solo Voices:Chorus with Chamber Ensemble
Instrumentation: ,1 Piano soloist(s), ,1 Cello soloist(s), 6 T, 6 B
Instrumentation notes: "Monarch Minstrel" is opening part of "SION" choral cycle. For MENS CHORUS with CELLO, PIANO. "Minstrel" is separately performable, duration 5 minutes. Also in version for accompaniment by string ensemble with piano, cello concertato.