Peter Warlock - The Curlew (1920-1922) [Score Video]

[@elionthekeys]

This may be one of the finest musical pieces ever written!

[@EcceHumanitatis]

Agreed.

[@mrtchaikovsky]

"The boughs have withered because I have told them my dreams." - depressing, but ever so beautiful, just as the music. Indeed, this work is peak Warlock and might be his masterpiece; a mixture of Delius-like chromatic harmonies, Renaissance-like modal inflections and a way of setting words to music that was uniquely his own makes this a compelling listen. As for the poems, Warlock and Yeats seem to be a match made in heaven; it was one of the more admirable traits of Warlock (and by Jove, there are not many) that he frequently set poetry of contemporary poets. On a side note, both Warlock and Yeats took a strong interest in the occult, so make of that what you will... P.S.: Are you sure that the photograph you chose actually depicts the composer? It looks very different from others I know.

[@mrtchaikovsky]

​@@cybercake2576 Your thoughts are so deep that they sink under their own weight, leaving nothing behind but even the faintest semblance of intellect. Doomed to lifelong imprisonment in your own mind, no one but you will ever truly comprehend your insights into the human condition, as the feeble attempts at communication exhibited in your comments are all you are capable of while your thoughts dwell in the profound depths of your subconscious. As human society casts you out of its midst, the Greek chorus weeps and wails: Ah, what unspeakable truths must remain obscured? Oh, what wondrous things might have been? Questions unanswered, answers unquestioned swirl through your brain as you descend into madness after the realisation that you will spend the rest of your days with minds of inferiority. With no salvation to be found in the cold ignorance of the gods you bury yourself deeper in your thoughts, until you finally leave the old world behind to inhabit a hell of your own creation, preferable to the hell created by other people; as you suffer, being both the torturer and the tortured, you weep for the first time only upon realising your unavoidable mistake. Such is the burden of genius.

[@mrtchaikovsky]

@@cybercake2576 I think it can be said of me that I have never, ever boomed anything. That is one thing I have never done; I can lay my hand on my heart, or indeed anybody else's heart and say: "I have never boomed anything, never boomed at all."

[@mrtchaikovsky]

@@cybercake2576 "Ce grand malheur, de ne pouvoir être seul" - Your inability to be with yourself prompts your pitiful attempts at communication with others, but your failure to do so excludes you from sharing your being with fellow people and you remain with your greatest enemy: yourself.

[@mrtchaikovsky]

@@cybercake2576 The revered master did indeed pursue certain lavender sentiments, as did Szymanowski, Poulenc, Copland, Barber, Cage, Britten, Bernstein and Henze, but not me, as your mother can attest...

[@mrtchaikovsky]

@@elionthekeys Oh, I know! I was just having a bit of fun.

[@EcceHumanitatis]

The opening photo is not of Peter Warlock (Hesteltine); it's been notoriously mislabeled. For one thing, Warlock died aged thirty-five and looked nothing like that.

[@Protosini]

Apologies!

[@EcceHumanitatis]

@@Protosini Not your fault at all. It's a Google error, unfortunately. But more importantly, The Curlew is a hauntingly beautiful piece, isn't it? ;)

[@jeffreyquick5594]

He turned on the gas Dec. 17, 1930, so the death date is wrong too!

[@EcceHumanitatis]

@@jeffreyquick5594 Such a loss for music.