Before and after Summer
song analysis

 

 

 

Poet: Thomas Hardy

Date of poem:

Publication date:

Publisher:

Collection:

History of Poem:

Poem

Before and after Summer
I
1 Looking forward to the spring  
2 One puts up with anything.  
3 On this February day  
4 Though the winds leap down the street  
5 Wintry scourgings seem but play,  
6 And these later shafts of sleet  
7 -- Sharper pointed than the first --  
8 And these later snows -- the worst --  
9 Are as a half-transparent blind  
10 Riddled by rays from sun behind.  
 
II
11 Shadows of the October pine  
12 Reach into this room of mine:  
13 On the pine there swings a bird;  
14 He is shadowed with the tree.  
15 Mutely perched he bills no word;  
16 Blank as I am even is he.  
17 For those happy suns are past,  
18 Fore-discerned in winter last.  
19 When went by their pleasure, then?  
20 I, alas, perceived not when.  
 
(Hardy, 333-4)


Content/Meaning of the Poem:

Speaker:

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✦✼✦✼✦✼✦✼✦✼✦✼✦✼✦✼✦✼✦✼✦✼✦✼✦✼✦✼✦✼✦✼✦✼✦

 

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✦✼✦✼✦✼✦✼✦✼✦✼✦✼✦✼✦✼✦✼✦✼✦✼✦✼✦✼✦✼✦✼✦✼✦

Musical Analysis

Composition date:

Publication date:

Publisher: Boosey & Hawkes - Distributed by Hal Leonard Corporation

Tonality:

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Rhythm:

Melody:

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Dynamic Range:

Accompaniment:

Published comments about the music:

Pedagogical Considerations for Voice Students and Instructors:

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✦✼✦✼✦✼✦✼✦✼✦✼✦✼✦✼✦✼✦✼✦✼✦✼✦✼✦✼✦✼✦✼✦✼✦

 

✦✼✦✼✦✼✦✼✦✼✦✼✦✼✦✼✦✼✦✼✦✼✦✼✦✼✦✼✦✼✦✼✦✼✦

 

Pitch Analysis
  pitch
stanza 1
stanza 2
stanza 3
stanza 4
total
highest
A
G
F
E
D
middle C
B
A
G
F
lowest
E

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Interval Analysis of Vocal Line
interval
direction
stanza 1
stanza 2
stanza 3
stanza 4
total
occurrences
minor 3rd
up
minor 3rd
down
major 3rd
up
major 3rd
down
perfect 4th
up
perfect 4th
down
perfect 5th
up
perfect 5th
down
minor 6th
up
minor 6th
down
major 6th
up
major 6th
down
minor 7th
up
minor 7th
down
octave
up
octave
down
total
up
total
down
grand
total

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Rhythm Duration Analysis of Vocal Line
  stanza 1 stanza 2 stanza 3 stanza 4 total
16th note
8th note
dotted 8th
quarter note
dotted quarter
triplet
half note
dotted half
 
stanza total

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✦✼✦✼✦✼✦✼✦✼✦✼✦✼✦✼✦✼✦✼✦✼✦✼✦✼✦✼✦✼✦✼✦✼✦

 
Audio Recordings

To a Poet
CBC Records To a Poet album cover
  • Works: Finzi's To a Poet and Before and After Summer. Please click on album image to view complete listing.
  • Recorded: Sept. 1999; released July 2001
  • Record Label: CBC Records MVCD 1134
  • Playing time: 74 minutes

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The Songs of Gerald Finzi to Words by Thomas Hardy
The Songs of Gerald Finzi to Words by Thomas Hardy
  • Works: Disc I: Finzi's Earth and Air and Rain, Till Earth Outwears, I Said To Love; Disc II: A Young Man's Exhortation, and Before and After Summer.
  • Recorded: December 1984; rereleased Aug. 2009
  • Hyperion CDA66161/2 MCPS.
  • Playing time: 116 minutes and 34 seconds

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Gerald Finzi
  • Works: Disc 1: Finzi's Before & After Summer, Till Earth Outwears, I Said to Love; Disc 2: Finzi's A Young Man's Exhortation, and Earth and Air and Rain.
  • Recorded: Disc 1: December 1967; Disc 2: April 1970; Rereleased in 2007
  • Lyrita SRCD.282.
  • Playing time: 1 hour and 59 minutes total; Disc I: 62 minutes and 41 seconds; Disc II: 56 minutes and 30 seconds.

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The English Song Series - 12
I said to Love album cover
  • Works: Finzi's I Said to Love, Let Us Garlands Bring, and Before and After Summer. Please click on album image to view complete listing.
  • Recorded: Aug. 2004; released: May 2005
  • Record Label: Naxos 8.557644
  • Playing time: 61 minutes 19 seconds

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Unpublished Analysis Excerpts


 

The following are comments by Chia-wei Lee regarding the song Before and After Summer. Dr. Lee extended permission to post this excerpt from his dissertation on February 16, 2012. His dissertation dated 2003, is entitled:

 

A Performance Study of Gerald Finzi's Song Cycle
"Before and After Summer"

 

This excerpt begins on page 65 and concludes on page 69.

 

 

The preceding were comments by Chia-wei Lee regarding the song Before and After Summer. Dr. Lee extended permission to post this excerpt from his dissertation on February 16th, 2012. His dissertation dated 2003, is entitled:

A Performance Study of Gerald Finzi's Song Cycle
"Before and After Summer"

The excerpt began on page 65 and concluded pn page 69.

 

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Unpublished Analysis Excerpts


 

The following is an analysis of **** by Gerhardus Daniël Van der Watt. Dr. Van der Watt extended permission to post this excerpt from his dissertation on October 8th, 2010. His dissertation dated November 1996, is entitled:

 

The Songs of Gerald Finzi (1901-1956) To Poems by Thomas Hardy

 

This excerpt comes from Volume II and begins on page *** and concludes on page ***. To view the methodology used within Dr. Van der Watt's dissertation please refer to: Methodology - Van der Watt.

1. Poet

Specific background concerning poem:

2. Poem

CONTENT/MEANING

STYLE

FORM

3. Synthesis

Setting

1. Timbre

VOICE TYPE/RANGE

ACCOMPANIMENT CHARACTERISTICS

2. Duration

METRE

RHYTHM

Rhythmic motifs

Rhythmic activity vs. Rhythmic stagnation

Rhythmically perceptive, erroneous and interesting settings

Lengthening of voiced consonants

SPEED

3. Pitch

MELODY

Intervals: Distance distribution

Interval
Upwards
Downwards
Unison
Second
Third
Fourth
Fifth
Sixth
Seventh

 

Interval
Bar no.
Word/s
Reason/s

Melodic curve

Climaxes

System no.
Pitch
Word

Phrase lengths

TONALITY

System no.
From - To
Suggested reason/s

Chromaticism

HARMONY AND COUNTERPOINT

Non-harmonic tones

Harmonic devices

Counterpoint

4. Dynamics

FREQUENCY

RANGE

VARIETY

DYNAMIC ACCENTS

5. Texture

No. of parts
No. of beats
Percentage
2 parts
3 parts
4 parts
5 parts
6 parts

6. Structure

7. Mood and atmosphere

General comment on style

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Unpublished Analysis Excerpts


The following is an analysis of the song, Before and after Summer by Curtis Alan Scheib. Dr. Scheib extended permission to post this excerpt from his dissertation on February 17th, 2012. His dissertation dated 1999, is entitled:

Gerald Finzi's Songs For Baritone On Texts By Thomas Hardy: An Historical And Literary Analysis And Its Effect On Their Interpretation

This excerpt begins on page fifty-four and concludes on page fifty-five.

Before and after Summer
I
  Looking forward to the spring  
  One puts up with anything.  
  On this February day  
  Though the winds leap down the street  
  Wintry scourgings seem but play,  
  And these later shafts of sleet  
  -- Sharper pointed than the first --  
  And these later snows -- the worst --  
  Are as a half-transparent blind  
  Riddled by rays from sun behind.  
 
II
  Shadows of the October pine  
  Reach into this room of mine:  
  On the pine there swings a bird;  
  He is shadowed with the tree.  
  Mutely perched he bills no word;  
  Blank as I am even is he.  
  For those happy suns are past,  
  Fore-discerned in winter last.  
  When went by their pleasure, then?  
  I, alas, perceived not when.  
 
(Hardy, 333,4)

The second poem in the set, rather than lamenting the loss of innocence, mourns the unnoticed passing of spring and summer into fall and winter. The introduction begins with overlapping sixth figures in both hands, the right hand figure falling into a syncopation that obscures the pulse. Soon the figures move into a constant eighth-note motion, the February storm moving in continuing sixths while the vocal line rides above in a declamatory fashion, as seen in example 20.

Example 20, p. 55.

The winter storm slowly begins to subside however, falling back into the hesitant start of the beginning, until time is suspended for a moment as the motion in the accompaniment comes to a complete halt. Finzi uses a fermata over a quarter rest for the brief suspension, a device he often used. The second verse of the poem appears as a more lyrical vocal line over a steadily marching bass. At the mention of "winter last" in the last line, the sixth figures return, winding to the C# minor chord at the end. The chord also marks the end of a tonal effect at work here. The song begins in Ab minor, moves to B minor for the second verse, and marks the final question with a rise to C# minor. The effect is to leave the question open, appropriate, as there is no real answer to be had.

The preceding was an analysis of the song, Before and after Summer by Curtis Alan Scheib. Dr. Scheib extended permission to post this excerpt from his dissertation on February 17th, 2012. His dissertation dated 1999, is entitled:

Gerald Finzi's Songs For Baritone On Texts By Thomas Hardy: An Historical And Literary Analysis And Its Effect On Their Interpretation

The excerpt began on page fifty-four and concluded on page fifty-five.

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Thomas Hardy, The Complete Poems of
Thomas Hardy
, Edited by James Gibson
(New York: Macmillan Publishing Co., 1976), 333-4.
Thomas Hardy, The Complete Poems of
Thomas Hardy
, Edited by James Gibson
(New York: Macmillan Publishing Co., 1976), 333-4.