The Too Short Time
Poet: Thomas Hardy
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Poem
The Best She Could |
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Finzi's title: The Too Short Time |
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| 1 | Nine leaves a minute | |
| 2 | Swim down shakily; | |
| 3 | Each one fain would spin it | |
| 4 | Straight to earth; but, see, | |
| 5 | How the sharp airs win it | |
| 6 | Slantwise away! - Hear it say, | |
| 7 | 'Now we have finished our summer show | |
| 8 | Of what we knew the way to do" | |
| 9 | Alas, not much! But, as things go, | |
| 10 | As fair as any. And night-time calls, | |
| 11 | And the curtain falls!' | |
| 12 | Sunlight goes on shining | |
| 13 | As if no frost were here, | |
| 14 | Blackbirds seem designing | |
| 15 | Where to build next year; | |
| 16 | Yet is warmth declining: | |
| 17 | And still the day seems to say, | |
| 18 | 'Saw you how Dame Summer drest? | |
| 19 | Of all God taught her she bethought her! | |
| 20 | Alas, not much! And yet the best | |
| 21 | She could, within the too short time | |
| 22 | Granted her prime.' | |
(Hardy, 724) |
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Content/Meaning of the Poem:
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✦✼✦✼✦✼✦✼✦✼✦✼✦✼✦✼✦✼✦✼✦✼✦✼✦✼✦✼✦✼✦✼✦✼✦
✦✼✦✼✦✼✦✼✦✼✦✼✦✼✦✼✦✼✦✼✦✼✦✼✦✼✦✼✦✼✦✼✦✼✦
Musical Analysis
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Publisher: Boosey & Hawkes - Distributed by Hal Leonard Corporation
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Pedagogical Considerations for Voice Students and Instructors:
✦✼✦✼✦✼✦✼✦✼✦✼✦✼✦✼✦✼✦✼✦✼✦✼✦✼✦✼✦✼✦✼✦✼✦
✦✼✦✼✦✼✦✼✦✼✦✼✦✼✦✼✦✼✦✼✦✼✦✼✦✼✦✼✦✼✦✼✦✼✦
| Pitch Analysis | ||||||
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| pitch | stanza 1 |
stanza 2 |
stanza 3 |
stanza 4 |
total | |
highest |
A |
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G |
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F |
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E |
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D |
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middle C |
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B |
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A |
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G |
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F |
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lowest |
E |
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| Rhythm Duration Analysis of Vocal Line | |||||
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| stanza 1 | stanza 2 | stanza 3 | stanza 4 | total | |
16th note |
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8th note |
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dotted 8th |
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quarter note |
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dotted quarter |
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triplet |
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half note |
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dotted half |
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stanza total |
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✦✼✦✼✦✼✦✼✦✼✦✼✦✼✦✼✦✼✦✼✦✼✦✼✦✼✦✼✦✼✦✼✦✼✦
Audio Recordings
To a Poet |
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The Songs of Gerald Finzi to Words by Thomas Hardy
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Gerald Finzi |
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The English Song Series - 12 |
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The following are comments by Chia-wei Lee regarding the song The Too-Short Time. 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 86 and concludes on page 88.
The preceding were comments by Chia-wei Lee regarding the song The Too-Short Time. 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 86 and concluded pn page 88.
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.
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Unpublished Analysis Excerpts
The following is an analysis of The Too Short Time 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 sixty-two and concludes on page sixty-three.
The Best She Could |
||
|---|---|---|
Finzi's title: The Too Short Time |
||
| Nine leaves a minute | ||
| Swim down shakily; | ||
| Each one fain would spin it | ||
| Straight to earth; but, see, | ||
| How the sharp airs win it | ||
| Slantwise away! - Hear it say, | ||
| 'Now we have finished our summer show | ||
| Of what we knew the way to do" | ||
| Alas, not much! But, as things go, | ||
| As fair as any. And night-time calls, | ||
| And the curtain falls!' | ||
| Sunlight goes on shining | ||
| As if no frost were here, | ||
| Blackbirds seem designing | ||
| Where to build next year; | ||
| Yet is warmth declining: | ||
| And still the day seems to say, | ||
| 'Saw you how Dame Summer drest? | ||
| Of all God taught her she bethought her! | ||
| Alas, not much! And yet the best | ||
| She could, within the too short time | ||
| Granted her prime.' | ||
(Hardy, 724) |
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Hardy's reverence for nature is apparent in this reassurance of the continuation of the seasons and the acknowledgement that Dame Summer did the best she knew how. Finzi, who composed his setting around 1949, begins with a pictorial figure in the piano, representing the falling of the leaves, nine per minute (example 27).
The leaves continue their descent until they reach the level of the vocal line, which enters mimicking their descent (example 28).
The first verse continues in an arioso fashion, reaching the falling of the curtain and a brief suspension of time on the tied half note in the vocal line. The second verse, which is more aria-like, begins with a steadily curving eighth note figure in the right hand over a walking bass (example 29).
Finzi uses similar material for the final lines of both verses, "Alas, not much!" being reinforced by the refrain-like treatment. The second statement achieves an increased measure of acceptance however, as the thought reaches resolution with a cadence in D Major. This change of key, like the others that have been seen, shows again that Finzi used tonality for expressive reasons and not necessarily for any idea of form or function.
The preceding was an analysis of The Too Short Time 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 sixty-two and concluded on page sixty-three.