Songs IV to English Texts

Desmond Maley is the music librarian at the J.W. Tate Library,
Huntington College, Laurentian University.

As librarian of a small music library, I’ve often lamented the dearth
of anthologies of Canadian song. Especially prior to 1945, material is
either out of print or exists in manuscript.

That’s why this publication is so valuable. Frederick A. Hall,
professor of music at McMaster, has compiled a treasure trove of
English-language songs written by 39 Canadian composers between 1901 and
1948. Hall also provides the introduction, critical notes, and
bibliography, all of which reflect the CMHS’s usual high standard.

Art songs constitute 80 percent of the collection. Hall places the
composers in three groups: those born before 1880 who were active during
the first two decades of this century; British- or Canadian-born
composers born between 1880 and 1900; and Canadian composers born during
the first 25 years of this century. For example, in the first category
we find Paul Ambrose, Ernest Whyte, Laura G. Lemon, W.O. Forsythe, and
Edward Manning. Manning, a Maritime-born composer who spent most of his
life in New York, receives the most generous representation.

There are many outstanding songs by composers of the second group,
including Healey Willan, Sir Ernest MacMillan, Leo Smith, William
Dichmont, and Gena Branscombe. Willan’s gift for melody and
craftsmanship are finely displayed in “To Music.” MacMillan’s
songs include a superb treatment of “The Storke,” the 16th-century
English Christmas legend. Also noteworthy is Branscombe’s song cycle
“Love in a Life,” based on texts by Elizabeth Barrett Browning.

Among the rising generation of young Canadian composers are Violet
Archer, Walter MacNutt, Robert Fleming, Barbara Pentland, Harry Somers,
and Jean Coulthard. MacNutt’s “Take Me to a Green Isle” has
enduring appeal, while Archer’s “Moon Songs” are delightfully
tongue in cheek.

The popular songs that make up the remaining 20 percent of this
excellent collection include love songs, topical songs, and war and
patriotic songs. I was taken with the sardonic “Oh! It’s a Lovely
War,” written for the Dumbells, a World War I comedy troupe. But the
highlight is Ernest Seitz’s “The World Is Waiting for the
Sunrise.” This gorgeous love song was recorded over 100 times by
artists that included Billie Holiday and Duke Ellington.