Charles Griffes composed some of his greatest works during the months of 1918, including the Three Poems of Fiona MacLeod, and what some consider his masterpiece, the Piano Sonata. A lesser-known product of that year is the lively sea-song, An Old Song Re-Sung; it is based on a text by John Masefield (1878 - 1967), English poet laureate, dramatist, and novelist, who was well known for his many sea poems. The song reflects Griffes' distinctive approach to song writing in its mixture influences: the sailor's song, combined with modernistic dissonance and the harmonic deftness of his many German lieder.

An Old Song Re-Sung was published as the first of Two Poems by John Masefield (the second song being "Sorrow of Mydath") by the composer's publisher, G. Schirmer, in 1920—the year of Griffes' death. The anouncement of his death brought on an increased interest in his music, and Schirmer was eager to oblige, although they made numerous changes to his scores in the process (and he was, of course, not there to object!). The most noticeable change in An Old Song was the transcription of the vocal part from the bass clef to the treble clef; Schirmer did this to encourage "the use of the song by tenors of heroic type." In 1935, Schirmer arranged the song for four-part male chorus.

Indeed, An Old Song Re-Sung is heroic in nature. It is an energetic sea-song, speaking of sailors and a large ship reeling on the swells of the ocean. It is a proud and gallant ship, carrying purple amethysts and yellow wine. In the first stanza, the ship is "a-sailing," in the second, "a-steering," and in the third and final stanza, it is "a-sinking." But in the text, as in the music, it never loses its spirit. The tempo of the song is upbeat until the very last line, which states "The broken glass was chinking as she sank among the wrecks." The sadness in which this line is portrayed in the music is in opposition to the rest of the song; however, it fits because it describes the sorrow which accompanies the death of anything strong or grand. Griffes ends on a large block chord, which is, in its one beat, reminiscent of the rest of the song—somehow stating that, despite its sinking, all is not vanished of the grandeur of the ship and its sailors.

© All Music Guide

Portions of Content Provided by All Music Guide.
© 2008 All Media Guide, LLC. All Music Guide is a registered trademark of All Media Guide, LLC.