Choral ~ General ~ A Cappella
“Devouring Time”
(An original setting of the Shakespeare sonnet)
SOUND CLIP / WATCH VIDEO ON VIMEO / SCORE SAMPLE
SCORING: SATB a cappella (frequent divisi)
DURATION: ca. 3:20 — DIFFICULTY: 3/5 — PAGES IN PDF SCORE: 10
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NOTES:
♦ This is song #2 in “Three Shakespeare Songs for Choir a Cappella.”
♦ You can perform this piece individually, or as part of the complete set.
♦ If you purchase the complete set, the PDF price is $60, saving you $75!
DESCRIPTION
In Sonnet 19, Shakespeare laments the effects of Time on all creation, and my music reflects this sense of sadness and resignation.
Leading into the third verse (“But I forbid thee one most hateful crime: O, carve not with thy hours my love's fair brow”), the music shifts to the major key briefly, expressing hope that perhaps Time will not destroy our physical beauty.
Although Time wins in the end, Shakespeare is nonetheless hopeful that his beloved youth will be granted immortality through the sonnet itself, so the music ends on a hopeful note with the words “Despite thy wrong, My love shall in my verse ever live young!”
TEXT INFO
Devouring Time
Sonnet 19 by William Shakespeare
You can read a helpful analysis of the sonnet here.
Complete text:
Devouring Time, blunt thou the lion's paws,
And make the earth devour her own sweet brood.
Pluck the keen teeth from the fierce tiger's jaws,
And burn the long-lived phoenix in her blood.
Make glad and sorry seasons as thou fleet'st, [“sorry” = miserable]
And do whate'er thou wilt, swift-footed Time,
To the wide world and all her fading sweets.
But I forbid thee one most hateful crime:
O, carve not with thy hours my love's fair brow,
Nor draw no lines there with thine antique pen.
Him in thy course untainted do allow
For beauty's pattern to succeeding men.
Yet, do thy worst, old Time: Despite thy wrong,
My love shall in my verse ever live young!
