In Haven is a poem by Caroline Alice Elgar

Caroline Alice Elgar

Caroline Alice, Lady Elgar was an English author of verse and prose fiction, who married the composer Edward Elgar.- Family :...

, probably best known in its musical setting as the second (and shortest) song composed by her husband Edward Elgar

Edward Elgar

Sir Edward William Elgar, 1st Baronet OM, GCVO was an English composer, many of whose works have entered the British and international classical concert repertoire. Among his best-known compositions are orchestral works including the Enigma Variations, the Pomp and Circumstance Marches, concertos...

 for his song-cycle Sea Pictures

Sea Pictures

Sea Pictures, Op. 37 is a song cycle by Sir Edward Elgar consisting of five songs written by various poets. It was set for contralto and orchestra, though a distinct version for piano was often performed by Elgar...

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History

Elgar first set Alice's poem to music for voice and piano in 1897 and it was published in a cultural magazine "The Dome

The Dome (periodical)

The Dome published in London at 7 Cecil Court by the Unicorn Press and subtitled consecutively "A Quarterly Containing Examples of the Arts" and "An Illustrated Monthly Magazine and Review" was a literary periodical associated with the "Nineties" scene, edited by Ernest J. Oldmeadow. It ran for...

" in 1898, with the title "Love alone will stay

Love alone will stay

" Love alone will stay" is a poem by Caroline Alice Elgar, set to music for voice and piano by her husband, the English composer Edward Elgar, in 1897....

". Alice then adapted it for Sea Pictures

Sea Pictures

Sea Pictures, Op. 37 is a song cycle by Sir Edward Elgar consisting of five songs written by various poets. It was set for contralto and orchestra, though a distinct version for piano was often performed by Elgar...

: she re-ordered the verses, included more allusions to the sea, and it was re-named "In Haven".

Lyrics

in "Sea Pictures" IN HAVEN (CAPRI) Closely let me hold thy hand, Storms are sweeping sea and land; Love alone will stand. Closely cling, for waves beat fast, Foam-flakes cloud the hurrying blast; Love alone will last. Kiss my lips, and softly say: "Joy, sea-swept, may fade to-day; Love alone will stay."

first published as LOVE ALONE WILL STAY Closely cling, for winds drive fast, Blossoms perish in the blast, Love alone will last. Closely let me hold thy hand, Storms are sweeping sea and land, Love alone will stand. Kiss my lips, and softly say, "Joy may go and sunlit day, Love alone will stay."

Elgar's setting

In the third verse, violins are added to the vocal line. It concludes with an upward scale on the violins and a pizzicato

Pizzicato

Pizzicato is a playing technique that involves plucking the strings of a string instrument. The exact technique varies somewhat depending on the type of stringed instrument....

on the lower strings.

Recordings

As well as the recordings listed in the Sea Pictures

Sea Pictures

Sea Pictures, Op. 37 is a song cycle by Sir Edward Elgar consisting of five songs written by various poets. It was set for contralto and orchestra, though a distinct version for piano was often performed by Elgar...

article, In Haven has been recorded by Robert Meadmore

Robert Meadmore

Robert Meadmore a musical theatre artist.-Theatre:He has starred in many of the biggest hit shows in London's West End which include Phantom of The Opera, Brigadoon, My Fair Lady, Bless the Bride, The Gondoliers, Oklahoma!, The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, Metropolitan Mikado and Camelot.In...

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