Choral settings of poetry by VIOLET NICOLSON

Several years ago, in an antique shop, I picked up a little book of poetry, published in 1909, entitled India’s Love Lyrics, written by Laurence Hope. It wasn’t until  last year that I finally opened it and started reading the poems. I learned that the poet was actually a young English woman named Violet Nicolson, publishing under a male pseudonym. Even more mysterious is the fact that she identified the poems as being English translations of ancient Persian poetry. But they are definitely her own poems, written during her years living India. Her life was full of romance, danger, and hardship, all of which she apparently relished, enshrining in her poems a great amount of anguish and sadness, heartache and loss, all within the context of her chosen life in a land she loved. (Read about her life in The Poetry Foundations‘s Laurence Hope/Violet Nicolson biography.)

In search for poems to set to music, I found most of hers too depressing, or too explicitly sexual. But some of them were so musical and lyrically evocative that I decided to tackle them. Uplifting, inspirational texts are much more in favor these days, and I understand that. Nevertheless, I’m drawn to texts that explore the dark, or at least sombre, side of the human experience.

My first effort was a pair of poems set for unaccompanied treble voices (From the Garden of Kama).

The second effort, and really the main purpose for this short blog, is a six-movement setting of her six-stanza poem, The Singer. I’ve finished the first stanza, which can be performed by itself, and have tentatively done the rest.

But I would really like to collaborate with a choral group and its director on the completion of the work—preferably a choir from the UK that might have a special interest in this early 20th century woman poet.

THEREFORE, if you direct a choir and are interested in (1) programming stanza 1 of The Singer in an upcoming season, and (2) consulting with me as I finalize the remaining five stanzas and perhaps “workshopping” them with your choir, please get in touch:  steve@creativespiritonline.com

Additional extended choral works published by Creative Spirit:
Beethoven, Mass in C Major
Karl Michael Komma, Die Weihnachtsgeschichte nach Lukas (The Christmas Story According to Luke)
Joseph Weber, Cantata on the Oracle of Edom
Juan del Encina, Romance & Villancicos
Francisco López Capillas, Missa Benedicta