Imagine a big, beautiful oil painting hanging on the wall in an art museum.

Just to the right of it hangs a modest little white piece of paper on which is printed the title of the painting, the name of the artist, the year it was painted and a few comments about the work.

In the song I want to share today, the PIANO is the big, beautiful oil painting — a painting of the sea, with tossing waves and changing winds — while the WORDS of the song, sung by the mezzo, comprise the modest little piece of paper hanging alongside.

In most songs, the vocalist dominates while the pianist accompanies. This song turns that notion on its head.

Why? Because the poem specifies, in the first line, that the singer “cannot be what the sea is….” The piano evokes the sea; the singer intones a few brief words of regret.

Here’s the poem:

The Sea Lover
by Sarah Teasdale

I cannot be what the sea is
To you who love the sea,
Its ease of empty spaces,
Its soothing majesty;

To the many moods of the ocean
Go back, for here in me
Is only its sad passion
And changeful constancy.

I want to let you in on a little ‘composer’s trick’ at the very end of this song.

(Composers are music nerds; we love stuff like this.)

The last word of the song is “constancy,” right? Which means that the last syllable of the song is “-cy.” And on what note is that syllable sung? Why MIDDLE C, of course! With a great big C major chord in the piano.

The song begins in G flat major, modulating to its opposite extreme on the circle of fifths, i.e. in C major.

What’s more, the poem is about how the poet/singer cannot be what the sea is.

No, she can’t. But at least she gets to end by singing the syllable “-cy” (a homonym for the word “sea”) and on the pitch we call “Middle C” no less!

There’s some comfort for the singer / poet in the irony of that!

Ha!

(I’ll confess it again: composers are nerds.)

To hear Susan Olson sing “The Sea Lover” from my cycle, Teasdale Songs, click on the link above.

To see a PDF of the score, click on the link above.

🎶 🎶 🎶 🎶 🎶

Imagine a painting hanging on the wall in an art museum.
A little piece of paper has been mounted alongside it on which is printed the title of the painting, the name of the artist, the year it was painted and a few comments about the work.

In the song I want to share today, the PIANO is the painting — a sea-scape, with tossing waves and shifting winds — while the WORDS of the song, sung by the mezzo, are the humble equivalent of the modest little piece of paper posted alongside.

In most songs, the vocalist dominates while the pianist accompanies. In this song it’s the other way about. The piano is the “leading actor,” the singer is the “supporting actor.”
Why? Because the poem specifies, in the first line, that the singer “cannot be what the sea is….” The piano evokes the sea; the singer intones a few regretful words. What are her spare words in comparison with the sea? Not much.

The Sea Lover … by Sarah Teasdale

I cannot be what the sea is
To you who love the sea,
Its ease of empty spaces,
Its soothing majesty;

To the many moods of the ocean
Go back, for here in me
Is only its sad passion
And changeful constancy.

I want to let you in on a little ‘composer’s trick’ at the very end of this song.
The last word of the song is “constancy,” right? Which means that the final syllable of the lyrics is “-cy.”
On what note is that syllable sung? Why, on MIDDLE C, of course! With a great big C major chord in the piano. The note C = arrives with the syllable “cy,” you see?

To hear Susan Olson sing “The Sea Lover” from my cycle, Teasdale Songs, click on the link above.