Beloved

08:23 duration|Composed in 2022|Difficulty: Intermediate

Beloved consists of three songs for Mezzo-Soprano. The text is from the Song of Solomon: a collection of love poems. There are many different interpretations of the Song of Solomon. For example, some view the book as describing God’s love for us. Others believe that it is a celebration of human love and nature. I chose to set this text as I felt a strong connection between my sometimes voluptuous, jazz-inspired harmonic language and the nature of the poetry.

Text

I. My Beloved Spake

My beloved spake, and said unto me,
Rise up, my love, my fair one, and come away.
For, lo, the winter is past, the rain is over and gone;
The flowers appear on the earth;
the time of the singing of birds is come,
and the voice of the turtle is heard in our land;
The fig-tree putteth forth her green figs,
and the vines with the tender grape give a good smell.
Arise, my love, my fair one, and come away.

II. Awake, O North Wind

Awake, O north wind;
and come, thou south;
blow upon my garden,
that the spices thereof may flow out.
Let my beloved come into his garden,
and eat his pleasant fruits.

III. The Apple Tree

As the apple tree among the trees of the wood,
so is my beloved among the sons.
I sat down under his shadow with great delight,
and his fruit was sweet to my taste.

From the Song of Solomon