The Long Day Closes (song)
Encyclopedia
The Long Day Closes is a part song
by Henry Fothergill Chorley
and Arthur Sullivan
published in 1868. This song is one of seven part songs that Sullivan published that year, and it became Sullivan's best-known part song. Sullivan wrote most of his twenty part songs prior to the beginning of his long collaboration with W. S. Gilbert
.
Chorley had also collaborated with Sullivan on other songs, on Sullivan's first (but never-produced) opera, The Sapphire Necklace
(completed in 1867), and on a piece for chorus and orchestra, The Masque at Kenilworth
(Birmingham Festival, 1864).
With the growth of choral societies during the Victorian era
, part songs became popular in Britain (as they had earlier in Germany and elsewhere). The term "part song" is used here to mean a song written for several vocal parts, usually with the highest part carrying the melody and the other voices supplying accompanying harmonies, rather than one which is contrapuntal like a madrigal. Part songs are often sung unaccompanied.
The plaintive harmonies of The Long Day Closes and the text's touching meditation on death have made the song a frequent selection at events of mourning, and in particular it was often sung at funerals of members of the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company
. There are at least three recordings of the song, including the instrumental arrangement at the end of the sound track of the film Topsy-Turvy
called "Resolutions".
Part song
A part song is a form of choral music which consists of a secular song which has been written or arranged for several vocal parts, commonly SATB choir, but also for an all-male or all-female ensemble...
by Henry Fothergill Chorley
Henry Fothergill Chorley
Henry Fothergill Chorley was an English literary, art and music critic and editor. He was also an author of novels, drama, poetry and lyrics....
and Arthur Sullivan
Arthur Sullivan
Sir Arthur Seymour Sullivan MVO was an English composer of Irish and Italian ancestry. He is best known for his series of 14 operatic collaborations with the dramatist W. S. Gilbert, including such enduring works as H.M.S. Pinafore, The Pirates of Penzance and The Mikado...
published in 1868. This song is one of seven part songs that Sullivan published that year, and it became Sullivan's best-known part song. Sullivan wrote most of his twenty part songs prior to the beginning of his long collaboration with W. S. Gilbert
W. S. Gilbert
Sir William Schwenck Gilbert was an English dramatist, librettist, poet and illustrator best known for his fourteen comic operas produced in collaboration with the composer Sir Arthur Sullivan, of which the most famous include H.M.S...
.
Chorley had also collaborated with Sullivan on other songs, on Sullivan's first (but never-produced) opera, The Sapphire Necklace
The Sapphire Necklace
The Sapphire Necklace, or the False Heiress , was the first opera composed by Arthur Sullivan...
(completed in 1867), and on a piece for chorus and orchestra, The Masque at Kenilworth
The Masque at Kenilworth
Kenilworth, A Masque of the Days of Queen Elizabeth , is a cantata with music by Arthur Sullivan and words by Henry Fothergill Chorley that premiered at the Birmingham Festival on 8 September 1864.In 1575, Queen Elizabeth visited Robert Dudley at Kenilworth Castle, where he presented her with...
(Birmingham Festival, 1864).
With the growth of choral societies during the Victorian era
Victorian era
The Victorian era of British history was the period of Queen Victoria's reign from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. It was a long period of peace, prosperity, refined sensibilities and national self-confidence...
, part songs became popular in Britain (as they had earlier in Germany and elsewhere). The term "part song" is used here to mean a song written for several vocal parts, usually with the highest part carrying the melody and the other voices supplying accompanying harmonies, rather than one which is contrapuntal like a madrigal. Part songs are often sung unaccompanied.
The plaintive harmonies of The Long Day Closes and the text's touching meditation on death have made the song a frequent selection at events of mourning, and in particular it was often sung at funerals of members of the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company
D'Oyly Carte Opera Company
The D'Oyly Carte Opera Company was a professional light opera company that staged Gilbert and Sullivan's Savoy operas. The company performed nearly year-round in the UK and sometimes toured in Europe, North America and elsewhere, from the 1870s until it closed in 1982. It was revived in 1988 and...
. There are at least three recordings of the song, including the instrumental arrangement at the end of the sound track of the film Topsy-Turvy
Topsy-Turvy
Topsy-Turvy is a 1999 musical drama film written and directed by Mike Leigh and stars Allan Corduner as Arthur Sullivan and Jim Broadbent as W. S. Gilbert, along with Timothy Spall and Lesley Manville. The story concerns the 15-month period in 1884 and 1885 leading up to the premiere of Gilbert...
called "Resolutions".
Lyric
- No star is o'er the lake,
- Its pale watch keeping,
- The moon is half awake,
- Through gray mists creeping,
- The last red leaves fall round
- The porch of roses,
- The clock hath ceased to sound,
- The long day closes.
- Sit by the silent hearth
- In calm endeavour,
- To count the sounds of mirth,
- Now dumb for ever.
- Heed not how hope believes
- And fate disposes:
- Shadow is round the eaves,
- The long day closes.
- The lighted windows dim
- Are fading slowly.
- The fire that was so trim
- Now quivers lowly.
- Go to the dreamless bed
- Where grief reposes;
- Thy book of toil is read,
- The long day closes.
External links
- "The Long Day Closes" at The Gilbert and Sullivan Archive
- "The Long Day Closes" at The Gilbert & Sullivan Discography
- Information about Sullivan's part songs at The Gilbert and Sullivan Archive
- Detailed review of recording of The Long Day Closes
- Clip of the song being sung at the 2008 Proms at Royal Albert Hall