Voice and piano SKU: HL.49029398
Song Cycle. Composed by Matyas Seiber. This edition: Saddle stitching. Sheet music. Edition Schott. Composed 1953. 24 pages. Duration 15'. Schott Music #ED 10329. Published by Schott Music (HL.49029398). ISBN 9790220124495. 9.0x12.0x0.084 inches. English.
This substantial cycle was written for the tenor Peter Pears, and first performed by him in 1953 at the Royal Festival Hall, London, with the distinguished pianist Noel Mewton-Wood. It follws the example of Britten's Serenade in setting a variety of poets, and the set is framed by settings of the same words by Goethe in translation by Louis MacNeice, the unifying factor being presumably the quality of the poetry. The angry setting of Timor Mortis, using the well-known Dies Irae tune is the emotional hear of the cycle.John Turner 2010.