Old Sir Faulk

Three Songs, for voice and piano(arranged from Façade)

III. Fox trot - Old Sir Faulk

Old
Sir Faulk,
Tall as a stork,
Before the honeyed fruits of dawn
were ripe, would walk,
And stalk with a gun
The reynard-coloured sun,
Among the pheasant-feathered corn
the unicorn has torn, forlorn
the
Smock-faced sheep
Sit
and
sleep;
Periwigged as William and Mary, weep...
"Sally, Mary, Mattie, what's the
matter, why cry?"
The huntsman and the reynard-
coloured sun and I sigh;
"Oh, the nursery-maid Meg
With a leg like a peg
Chased the feathered dreams like
hens, And when they laid an egg
In the sheepskin
Meadows
Where
The serene King James would steer
Horse and hounds, then he
From the shade of a tree
Picked it up as spoil to boil for
nursery tea", said the mourners.
In the
Corn, towers strain,
Feathered tall as a crane,
And whistling down the feathered
rain, Old Noah goes again -
An old dull mome
With a head like a pome,
Seeing the world as a bare egg,
Laid by the feathered air: Meg
Would beg three of these
For the nursery teas
Of Japhet, Shem and Ham,
she gave it
Underneath the trees,
Where the boiling
Water,
Hissed,
Like the goose-king's feathered
daughter-kissed,
Pot and pan and copper kettle
Put upon their proper mettle,
Lest the Flood - the Flood - The
Flood begin again through these!

Category:

Music

Tags:

• Kevin
• J.
• Miller
• Kelley
• Kimball
• William
• Walton
• Edith
• Sitwell
• voice
• piano

[tigerfishgirl]

more classically? i dunno about that. i happen to think these performers have captured the humour of this song just marvelously!

[austerity101]

@ladyfuchsia I'm not entirely sure where you're getting the idea for this song being "supposed" to be sung more classically. I've not found any specific performance notes from Walton about this.  Do you have more insight about this?

[ladyfuchsia]

Well done. Immensely difficult piece! Clearly, two very talented performers. The vocal line is supposed to be sung more "classically", however; that's kind of the in-joke with this piece. I think Walton must've had a wicked sense of humour.