Ralph Vaughan Williams - Orpheus with His Lute (Igor Sirotinsky, guitar)

Ralph Vaughan Williams - Orpheus with His Lute guitar arrangement by Igor Sirotinsky Recorded at 1929 Art Deco private museum Villa de Bondt (Ghent, Belgium). The song Orpheus with his lute was written by Vaughan Williams somewhere circa 1903 before his deep devotion to English folk music. The composer used a text fragment from Shakespeare’s play “Henry VIII“ (Act III, Scene 1). Orpheus with his lute made trees And the mountain tops that freeze Bow themselves when he did sing: To his music plants and flowers Ever sprung; as sun and showers There had made a lasting spring. Everything that heard him play, Even the billows of the sea, Hung their heads and then lay by. In sweet music is such art, Killing care and grief of heart Fall asleep, or hearing, die. Orpheus by William Shakespeare is about Orpheus and how he softens and in some ways hypnotizes or lures anyone or thing that hears him sing or play his lute. Orpheus is the son of the god Apollo and the Muse Calliope. This poem talks about all the things
Back to Top