Frank Martin: Five Ariel Songs (1950)

[@treesny]

This was Martin's only setting of an English-language text. He had long loved Shakespeare's play, and this was the first of four works composed in the 1950s related to the play and/or these choruses. The first movement of his Violin Concerto quotes the music of the first song ("Come unto these yellow sands"), and the spirit of Ariel haunts the entire work; the Harpsichord Concerto begins with music inspired by the sound of the ocean - Martin was on holiday by the North Sea when he began the work; and Martin's opera Der Sturm is a setting of Schlegel's classic German translation of Shakespeare. Almost all of the music of these five choruses was incorporated into the opera, and the orchestral prelude is an instrumental version of the second, "Full fathom five." All marvelous music by a great composer! :-)

[@meisterwue]

Wellesz, thanks again for sharing....right now I am re-reading The Tempest and watching it in the set of the Minack-Theatre.....❤

[@takisan0000]

Long time, I have looked for these peaces. Thank you for upload.

[@slyslaughter5115]

Wonderful.

[@BABISKANAS]

A marvelous work by a rather disregarded composer... Thanks for the upload !

[@damienderbes1962]

Masterpiece!!

[@byjfritch]

Thanks! Works by Martin are wonderful and hard to find!

[@dulCISSIMA1]

oh god!!this is truly unique!

[@oldtygerthatsleeps]

Wonder if Michael Nyman is an admirer of Martin... Prospero's Books is like Five Songs for the remix age.

[@lkh0120]

I 0:00 II 2:18 III 6:22 IV 7:32 V 12:05

[@averagemusicenjoyer]

0:02 2:18 6:22 7:32 12:04

[@2906nico]

I find a lot of Martin's music uninteresting, and rather meandering. I was very surprised by how immediate and arresting these songs are. Maybe there is something about the words. Vaughan Williams also wrote some extraordinary Tempest settings for a capella choir.