''The Curlew'' is a

song cycle A song cycle () is a group, or cycle (music), cycle, of individually complete Art song, songs designed to be performed in sequence, as a unit.Susan Youens, ''Grove online'' The songs are either for solo voice or an ensemble, or rarely a combinat ...

Peter Warlock Philip Arnold Heseltine (30 October 189417 December 1930), known by the pseudonym Peter Warlock, was a British composer and music critic. The Warlock name, which reflects Heseltine's interest in occult practices, was used for all his published ...

on poems by

W. B. Yeats William Butler Yeats (, 13 June 186528 January 1939), popularly known as W. B. Yeats, was an Irish poet, dramatist, writer, and literary critic who was one of the foremost figures of 20th-century literature. He was a driving force behind the ...

. It is generally considered one of the composer's finest works. It was written between 1920 and 1922 for singer and an unusual accompanying group of flute,

cor anglais The cor anglais (, or original ; plural: ''cors anglais''), or English horn (mainly North America), is a double-reed woodwind instrument in the oboe family. It is approximately one and a half times the length of an oboe, making it essentially ...

and

string quartet The term string quartet refers to either a type of musical composition or a group of four people who play them. Many composers from the mid-18th century onwards wrote string quartets. The associated musical ensemble consists of two Violin, violini ...

(two violins,

viola The viola ( , () ) is a string instrument of the violin family, and is usually bowed when played. Violas are slightly larger than violins, and have a lower and deeper sound. Since the 18th century, it has been the middle or alto voice of the ...

and cello). Warlock completed the work in Cefn Bryntalch, his family home in

Llandyssil Llandyssil () is a village in the community of Abermule with Llandyssil, in Powys, Wales, in the traditional county of Montgomeryshire. It is about two miles from the town of Montgomery, Powys, Montgomery. In 2001 there were 420 inhabitants i ...

, near Montgomery in Wales. There are four songs, with a short instrumental interlude. The poems they are based on (with the first line in parentheses) are: #"He Reproves the Curlew" ("O Curlew, cry no more in the air") #"The lover mourns for the loss of love" ("Pale brows, still hands and dim hair") #"The Withering of the Boughs" ("I cried when the moon was murmuring to the birds:") #Interlude #"He Hears the Cry of the Sedge" ("I wander by the edge of this desolate lake") "The Withering of the Boughs" was taken from '' In the Seven Woods,'' while the other poems were taken from ''

The Wind Among the Reeds William Butler Yeats (, 13 June 186528 January 1939), popularly known as W. B. Yeats, was an Irish poet, dramatist, writer, and literary critic who was one of the foremost figures of 20th-century literature. He was a driving force behind the I ...

''. There is a lengthy instrumental introduction to the first song, in which the cry of the

curlew The curlews () are a group of nine species of birds in the genus ''Numenius'', characterised by their long, slender, downcurved bills and mottled brown plumage. The English name is imitative of the Eurasian curlew's call, but may have been infl ...

is represented by the cor anglais and the peewit by the flute. The songs, which concern lost love, are melancholy in mood. A number of motif elements recur throughout the songs dependent on the point in the text – a structural technique also found in many others of Warlock's songs. The cycle lasts around twenty-five minutes. Four of the songs later to be incorporated into the cycle were performed by Gerald Cooper on 6 October 1920 at the Mortimer Hall in London. The first complete performance took place on 23 November 1922, sung by Philip Wilson. Warlock wrote to his mentor Colin Taylor: "for the first time in my life I really feel pleased with something I have written. Wilson buggered up the voice part completely but the instrumentalists were fine. It's going to be given again in January with another singer, John Goss, who will do it far better". The performance with John Goss took place on 31 January, 1923 at the

Hyde Park Hotel The Mandarin Oriental Hyde Park, London, is a historic five-star hotel located in the Knightsbridge area of London, owned and managed by Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group. The Edwardian-style building opened in 1889 as apartments and was converted t ...

. ''The Curlew'' won the Carnegie Award in 1923. In making the award the trustees wrote: 'A most imaginative setting of Mr Yeats's poems, of which, indeed, it may be regarded as the musical counterpart. It is pervaded by a keen feeling for harmonic colour, which is here used to most appropriate effect'.

Recordings

''The Curlew'' was well served by the gramophone, three excellent recordings having been made within the first thirty years after its composition: * John Armstrong (tenor),

Robert Murchie Robert Murchie (2 March 1884 – 26 July 1949) was a virtuoso British flautist and a prominent member of the major English orchestras between 1914 and 1938. He was successively principal flautist in the New Symphony, Thomas Beecham, Beecham Sym ...

(flute), T. McDonagh (English horn), International String Quartet (Mangeot, Price, Bray, Shineburne) conducted by

Constant Lambert Leonard Constant Lambert (23 August 190521 August 1951) was a British composer, conductor, and author. He was the founding music director of the Royal Ballet, and (alongside Dame Ninette de Valois and Sir Frederick Ashton) he was a major figu ...

(

National Gramophonic Society {{No footnotes, date=January 2024 The National Gramophonic Society (NGS) was founded in England in 1923 by the novelist Compton Mackenzie to produce recordings of music which was ignored by commercial record companies. The Society was proposed short ...

163–165). This recording was made with the personnel who gave the notable Warlock Memorial performance on 23 February 1931 at the

Wigmore Hall The Wigmore Hall is a concert hall at 36 Wigmore Street, in west London. It was designed by Thomas Edward Collcutt and opened in 1901 as the Bechstein Hall; it is considered to have particularly good building acoustics, acoustics. It specialis ...

, to preserve the benefit of their rehearsed ensemble. * René Soames (tenor), Geoffrey Gilbert (flute),

Léon Goossens Léon Jean Goossens, CBE, FRCM (12 June 1897 – 13 February 1988) was an English oboist. Career Goossens was born in Liverpool, Lancashire, and studied at Liverpool College of Music and the Royal College of Music. His father was violinist an ...

(English horn), Aeolian String Quartet (Cave, Williams, Forbes, Moore) (HMV 3x12" 78rpm discs C 7934-36) (27 March and 12 April 1950). Recorded under auspices of the British Council. *

Alexander Young Alexander Young may refer to: *Alexander Young (bishop) (died 1684), 17th century Scottish prelate *Alexander Young (engineer) (1833–1910), Scottish engineer and businessman who became a citizen of the Kingdom of Hawaii *Alexander Young (musician ...

(tenor), Lionel Solomon (flute),

Peter Graeme Graeme Peter Crump (1921 – 1 March 2012), known professionally as Peter Graeme and as 'Timmy' Crump to friends and family, was an English oboist and academic teacher. He was best known as the principal oboist of the Melos Ensemble. Career ...

(English horn), Sebastian String Quartet (Argo LP RG 26) (January 1954)Argo listings
* There are numerous more recent recordings.

Sources

{{DEFAULTSORT:Curlew, The Song cycles by Peter Warlock 1922 compositions Music based on works by W. B. Yeats Classical song cycles in English Songs with instrumental ensemble