The Wind at Dawn
Encyclopedia
"The Wind at Dawn" is a poem set to music by the English composer Edward Elgar
in 1888. The poem was written in 1880 by Caroline Alice Roberts
, before she had met Elgar, though they were married in the year after the song was written.
Alice offered the poem to Edward when they were engaged, and such was the quality of the work that he put into it—the independent brilliant piano part, the voice in turn subtle and heroic—that it won the first prize of £5 in a competition organised by the publishers Joseph Williams. The song consequently appeared in the Magazine of Music of July 1888.
Edward in turn presented Alice with "Salut d'Amour
" as an engagement present, and Jerrold Northrop Moore finds a resemblance in parts between the two works.
It was published by Boosey & Co. in 1907, when the dedication to the German tenor Ludwig Wüllner was added.
Elgar arranged the song for orchestra in 1912.
Edward Elgar
Sir Edward William Elgar, 1st Baronet OM, GCVO was an English composer, many of whose works have entered the British and international classical concert repertoire. Among his best-known compositions are orchestral works including the Enigma Variations, the Pomp and Circumstance Marches, concertos...
in 1888. The poem was written in 1880 by Caroline Alice Roberts
Caroline Alice Elgar
Caroline Alice, Lady Elgar was an English author of verse and prose fiction, who married the composer Edward Elgar.- Family :...
, before she had met Elgar, though they were married in the year after the song was written.
Alice offered the poem to Edward when they were engaged, and such was the quality of the work that he put into it—the independent brilliant piano part, the voice in turn subtle and heroic—that it won the first prize of £5 in a competition organised by the publishers Joseph Williams. The song consequently appeared in the Magazine of Music of July 1888.
Edward in turn presented Alice with "Salut d'Amour
Salut d'Amour
Salut d’Amour, Op. 12, is a musical work composed by Edward Elgar in 1888, originally written for violin and piano.-History:Elgar finished the piece in July 1888, when he was engaged to be married to Caroline Alice Roberts, and he called it "Liebesgruss" because of Miss Roberts’ fluency in German...
" as an engagement present, and Jerrold Northrop Moore finds a resemblance in parts between the two works.
It was published by Boosey & Co. in 1907, when the dedication to the German tenor Ludwig Wüllner was added.
Elgar arranged the song for orchestra in 1912.
Lyrics
THE WIND AT DAWN- And the wind, the wind went out to meet with the sun
- At the dawn when the night was done,
- And he racked the clouds in lofty disdain
- As they flocked in his airy train.
- And the earth was grey, and grey was the sky,
- In the hour when the stars must die;
- And the moon had fled with her sad, wan light,
- For her kingdom was gone with night.
- Then the sun upleapt in might and in power,
- And the worlds woke to hail the hour,
- And the sea stream’d red from the kiss of his brow,
- There was glory and light enow.
- To his tawny mane and tangle of flush
- Leapt the wind with a blast and a rush;
- In his strength unseen, in triumph upborne,
- Rode he out to meet with the morn!
Recordings
- Songs and Piano Music by Edward Elgar has "The Wind at Dawn" performed by Amanda Pitt (soprano), with David Owen Norris (piano).
- Rarely Heard Elgar Orchestral version of "The Wind at Dawn". Munich Symphony Orchestra with Douglas Bostock, on ClassicO label.
- Elgar: Complete Songs for Voice & Piano Amanda Roocroft (soprano), Reinild Mees (piano)
- The Songs of Edward Elgar SOMM CD 220 Christopher Maltman (baritone) with Malcolm Martineau (piano), at Southlands College, London, April 1999