Is she not passing fair?
Appearance
"Is she not passing fair?" is a song written by the English composer Edward Elgar.
It was completed on 28 October 1886[1] but not published until 1908, by Boosey & Co.
It is described as a "Lay", written by Charles, Duke of Orléans (1391-1466) and translated from the French by Louisa Stuart Costello.
Lyrics
[edit]IS SHE NOT PASSING FAIR?
- Is she not passing fair,
- She whom I love so well ?
- On earth, in sea, or air,
- Where may her equal dwell ?
- Oh! tell me, ye who dare
- To brave her beauty's spell,
- Is she not passing fair,
- She whom I love so well ?
- Whether she speak or sing,
- Be jocund or serene,
- Alike in ev'rything,
- Is she not beauty's queen ?
- Then let the world declare,
- Let all who see her tell,
- That she is passing fair,
- She whom I love so well !
Recordings
[edit]- Songs and Piano Music by Edward Elgar has "Is she not passing fair?" performed by Mark Wilde (tenor), with David Owen Norris (piano).
- The Songs of Edward Elgar SOMM CD 220 Neil Mackie (tenor) with Malcolm Martineau (piano), at Southlands College, London, April 1999
References
[edit]- Kennedy, Michael, Portrait of Elgar (Oxford University Press, 1968) ISBN 0-19-315414-5
- Young, Percy M., Elgar O.M., (London, Collins, 1955)
External links
[edit]Notes
[edit]- ^ Percy Young: ‘’Elgar O.M.’’