Composer

:

Ralph Vaughan Williams

Genre

:

Vocal

Style

:

Vocal Music

Compose Date

:

1913

Average_duration

:

3:58

Ralph Vaughan Williams composed "The Lover's Ghost" in 1921, and it premiered in the same year. The piece is a song cycle consisting of four movements, each of which is based on a traditional English folk song. The first movement, "The Unquiet Grave," is a haunting ballad about a lover who visits his beloved's grave and hears her ghostly voice calling out to him. The music is slow and mournful, with a simple melody that is repeated throughout the piece. The second movement, "Willow, Willow," is a melancholy song about lost love. The lyrics describe a willow tree that weeps for a lover who has gone away, and the music is similarly mournful, with a slow, flowing melody that evokes the gentle swaying of the tree's branches. The third movement, "The Lover's Ghost," is the centerpiece of the cycle. It tells the story of a woman who is haunted by the ghost of her lover, who died at sea. The music is eerie and atmospheric, with dissonant harmonies and a haunting melody that captures the sense of unease and foreboding in the lyrics. The final movement, "The Water Mill," is a more upbeat and lively song about a young woman who falls in love with a miller. The music is cheerful and energetic, with a lively melody that captures the joy and excitement of the young woman's romance. Overall, "The Lover's Ghost" is a haunting and evocative song cycle that showcases Vaughan Williams' skill at setting traditional folk songs to music. The music is simple and direct, but also deeply emotional and expressive, capturing the timeless themes of love, loss, and longing that are at the heart of these classic English ballads.

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