Work
Loading...-
The Beggar's SongYear: 1936
Genre: Solo Song / Lied / Chanson
Pr. Instrument: Voice
This is one of a group of ten songs that was published only in 1994, when selected from among Barber manuscripts in the Library of Congress by some musicians who were preparing a Barber song anthology for compact disc. Out of the ten, it is this song's lengthy absence from the recital stage that is the most regrettable. An unusually jolly and heartening little work, it manages to be gently ironic, exuberant, good-natured, and entertaining in its short length. In its text by W.H. Davies, a beggar proclaims his fellows' holiness, for while the good people of the town observe their sabbath, the beggars keep every day as their day of rest and yet manage to do "the noblest" work in wooing the ladies' tender feelings. The melodic line has a tendency toward almost medieval-sounding melismatic flourishes, while the piano part exhibits a carefree independence. A first-rate work.
© All Music Guide



