• SSATB
  • soprano
  • 5 min

Programme Note

Sirens’ Song
Music by ELIZABETH MACONCHY(1974) words by WILLIAM BROWNE
For soprano solo and unaccompanied chorus SSATB

William Browne’s beautiful poem ‘Steer, hither steer your winged pines, All beaten mariners!’, comes from his masque ‘Ulysses and Circe’, performed at the Inner Temple in 1615. In this setting we first hear the Sirens singing to lure all mariners. From the distance the mariners reply. They are gradually drawn on, until the climax on ‘Come on shore’, after which the whole scene recedes into distance like a dream.

Media

Maconchy: Siren's Song

Discography

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