Sitwell and Walton -- Facade with Edith Sitwell and Peter Pears

Facade, An Entertainment-- poems by Edith Sitwell (first picture), music by William Walton (second picture); Edith Sitwell and Peter Pears, reciters; Anthony Collins conducting The English Opera Group Ensemble; a British Decca recording, made in 1953, issued in the United States on London long-play disc A4104.
The selections presented here are--
Orchestral Fanfare;
Poem 3, Mariner Man ("What are you staring at, mariner man..."), recited by Sitwell;
Poem 6, Tango-Pasodoble ("When Don Pasquito arrived at the seaside..."), recited by Pears;
Poem 7, Lullaby For Jumbo ("Jumbo asleep! Grey leaves thick-furred as his ears..."), recited by Sitwell;
Poem 16, Valse ("Daisy and Lily, lazy and silly, walk by the shore..."), recited by Sitwell;
Poem 21, Sir Beelzebub ("When Sir Beelzebub called for his syllabub in the hotel in Hell..."), recited by Pears.
The work was created by Edith Sitwell and William Walton during the time Walton was sharing a house with Edith's brothers, Osbert and Sacheverell; the poems were not set to music for singing, but rather intended for recitation accompanied by music. The premiere took place in the drawing room of the house in 1922, the public premiere in 1923. The poetry and the music were changed over the years, Dame Edith's final choice of poems, numbering 21, being established in 1942, and the final score published in 1951, from the music of which Sir William composed purely orchestral suites.
The poems, Dame Edith states, "are abstract poems-- that is, they are patterns in sound... experiments... enquiries into the effect on rhythm, and on speed, of the use of rhymes, assonances and dissonances, placed outwardly and inwardly (at different places in the line) and in most elaborate patterns." Undeterred, there are those who determinedly demand an answer to the question "But what do the poems mean?" and who, psycho-cartographically, attempt to map the sweeping terrain of Dame Edith's mind (see 'Facade, Edith Sitwell, With An Interpretation By Pamela Hunter [an actress who portrayed the poet on stage and television]', Duckworth, 1987).
I prefer to take the poet at her word, the simpler, if possibly naive, approach suggested by her own commentary and expanded upon in an essay on the Web site of The Guardian (UK) newspaper-- Dame Edith as a word-playing rapper! Perhaps the very earliest, and certainly among the very best.
While contemporary rap began in New York City during the late 1970s as social-protest verses-- and versus-- accentuated with percussion, much of it is now word-play, and some-- the more creative and clean-- seemingly the sort of thing Dame Edith had in mind. "The words to [her] poems were chosen for their sound, colour and rhythm, and make very little sense. [T]hey conjure up a sense of wonderment and weirdness..." (see 'Strictly Old Skool!' by John Moore, in Music, guardian.co.uk, posted 30 January 2007). So, "Rap music was invented in England by Dame Edith Sitwell in 1922...." And that is the end of the news, from London.

Category:

Entertainment

Tags:

• Sitwell
• Walton
• Facade
• rap
• rapper
• poems
• poetry
• 1922
• 1923

[8cccpeevostokzempf]

Walton did with/for Dame Edith as Thompson did for/with Gert Stein.

Surrealisme at its absolute finest. and most beautiful.

[johneunson]

this was the recording that introduced me to facade. all other recordings came as an anti climax. noel coward slated this after attending the first performance. i cant understand that,

[Juicelee777ssj]

this is my first time ever hearing this and being a rapper myself to hear this is actually quite amazing

[Gideondreyer]

O thank you so much.

[julesthemadman]

My literary education always caused me to regard Sitwell as crap. However, I find her fascinating, also her youngest brother Sacheverell.

[PhillipLWilcher]

Edith Sitwell : "Why not be one's self? That is the whole secret of a successful appearance. If one is a greyhound, why try to look like a pekingese....I am as highly stylised as it is possible to be."

She was one of the most musical of poets.

[prothalamium]

Fabulous

[IAMLFO]

Agreed with 8ccc. Although Sitwell's poetry stands on its own it does not come to life fully until coupled with Walton's incredible score. This recording of Sitwell and Pears has no equal. Genius.

[GrezH]

Blimey. These recordings are the same ones that I was obsessed by at the age of 15/16 all those years ago. Still fresh as a daisy and fantastic to listen to - lovely collages of cascading words read beautifully by Edith Sitwell and Peter Pears.

This is superb. Any chance of Tarantella and Popular Song too?

:-)

[Nijmegen1955]

SmilingPessimist... THANX SO MUCH for uploading this wonder !

Dame Edith and Peter Pears.

A lucky listener here...

[omegaman59]

Well Noel Coward could be wrong !, So much of what his sycophant cronies applauded as his "celebrated wit" , was in reality often vulgar and spiteful sarcasm......

[everinchoiring]

was 'Daphne' ever recited?