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Carol Barnett
Carol Barnett (Beady Eyes)
On My First Son (from Epigrams, Epitaphs)
A sombre reflection on the unbearable loss of a child
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The Lady Who Offers Her Looking-Glass to Venus
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My Own Epitaph
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On the Setting up Mr. Butler’s Monument in Westminster Abbey
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Epitaph of Two Piping-Bullfinches of Lady Ossory’s, Buried under a Rose-Bush in her Garden
SATB, 4-hand piano
One of Ben Jonson’s most moving epigrams, “On My First Son” is set simply and solemnly, with deep-toned bells in the background. The mixed meters and pauses mirror the distracted disorientation of grief.
Composer’s Notes
Epigrams, Epitaphs was written for the Grand Rapids Area Community Chorus. Director James Clarke wanted a companion piece to Brahms Liebeslieder Waltzes, hence the piano four-hand accompaniment.
– Carol Barnett
Text
On My First Son
Farewell, thou child of my right hand, and joy;
My sin was too much hope of thee, lov’d boy,
Seven years thou wert lent to me, and I thee pay,
Exacted by thy fate, on the just day.
O, could I lose all father, now. For why
Will man lament the state he should envy?
To have so soon ‘scap’d world’s, and flesh’s rage,
And if no other misery, yet age?
Rest in soft peace, and, ask’d, say here doth lie
Ben. Jonson his best piece of poetry.
For whose sake, henceforth, all his vows be such,
As what he loves may never like too much.
– Ben Jonson (1572-1637)
$1.75 per licensed PDF
Music from Carol Barnett (Beady Eyes)
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Quem Pastores (from I Sing the Birth)
Difficulty: 3Duration: less than 3 min. -
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