1845 Publication Of The May Queen By Alfred Tennyson Put To Music By William Dempster Cantata In 3 Rare

The May Queen, Cantata in Three Parts. Poetry by Alfred Tennyson, Music Composed and most Cordially Dedicated to His Friend Lewi Gaylord Clark Esq. of New York by William R. Dempster. Boston Published by Oliver Ditson 1845. Disbound but holding with water stains running through the top left-hand corner. Ink and pencil notations. Generally clean and lightly toned with some spotting on the front and back pages. 18 pages numbered for each section individually. Pencil signature top right: E. B. Russel.

The first partial publication or writing of The May Queen was in 1833. Revised and updated, it was published in 1843.

No Copies Found for Sale.

Measures: 13 by 10 inches

Reference: 206-137

Estimate: $125-$150

The May Queen:
cantata in three parts /

William R Dempster; Alfred Tennyson, Baron
1845

English Musical Score Musical Score: Printed music: Cantatas 1 score (3 v.) ; 34 cm.
Boston (115 Washington St., Boston): Oliver Ditson,

Libraries worldwide that own item: 13
Title: The May Queen:
cantata in three parts /
Author(s): Dempster, William R. 1809-1871. (William Richardson),
Tennyson, Alfred Tennyson, Baron, 1809-1892.
Publication: Boston (115 Washington St., Boston): Oliver Ditson,
Year: 1845
Description: 1 score (3 v.); 34 cm.
Language: English
Music Type: Cantatas

SUBJECT(S)
Descriptor: Solo cantatas, Secular.
Named Person: Tennyson, Alfred Tennyson, Baron, 1809-1892 -- Musical settings.
Note(s): For voice and piano.
Class Descriptors: LC: M1533.D4
Responsibility: poetry by Alfred Tennyson; music composed and most cordially dedicated to his friend Lewis Gaylord Clark Esq. of New York by William R. Dempster.
Document Type: Score
Entry: 19871209
Update: 20080828
Accession No: OCLC: 17698571
Database: WorldCat

YOUNG GAOL-BIRDS. By CHARLES E. B. RUSSELL, M.A.
Crown 8vo. 33. 6d. net.

WORKING LADS' CLUBS. By CHARLES E. B. RUSSELL,
M.A., and L. M. RIGBY. Illustrated. Crown 8vo. 5s. net.

THE MAKING OF THE CRIMINAL. By CHARLES E. B.
RUSSELL, M.A., and L. M. RIGBY. Crown 8vo. 33. 6d. net.



Alfred Tennyson, 1st Baron Tennyson, FRS (6 August 1809 6 October 1892) was Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom during much of Queen Victoria's reign and remains one of the most popular poets in the English language.

Tennyson excelled at penning short lyrics, such as "In the Valley of Carterets", "Break, Break, Break", "The Charge of the Light Brigade", "Tears, Idle Tears" and "Crossing the Bar". Much of his verse was based on classical mythological themes, such as Ulysses, although In Memoriam A.H.H. was written to commemorate his best friend Arthur Hallam, a fellow poet and fellow student at Trinity College, Cambridge, who was engaged to Tennyson's sister, but died from a brain hemorrhage before they could marry. Tennyson also wrote some notable blank verse including Idylls of the King, "Ulysses," and "Tithonus." During his career, Tennyson attempted drama, but his plays enjoyed little success.

A number of phrases from Tennyson's work have become commonplaces of the English language, including "Nature, red in tooth and claw", "'Tis better to have loved and lost / Than never to have loved at all", "Theirs not to reason why, / Theirs but to do and die", "My strength is as the strength of ten, / Because my heart is pure", "Knowledge comes, but Wisdom lingers", and "The old order changeth, yielding place to new". He is the ninth most frequently quoted writer in The Oxford Dictionary of Quotations.

Early life

Tennyson was born in Somersby, Lincolnshire, a rector's son and fourth of 12 children. He derived from a middle-class line of Tennysons, but also had noble and royal ancestry.

His father, George Clayton Tennyson (1778 1831), was rector of Somersby (1807 1831), also rector of Benniworth and Bag Enderby, and vicar of Grimsby (1815). The rector was the elder of two sons but was disinherited at an early age by his father, the landowner George Tennyson (1750 1835) (owner of Bayons Manor and Usselby Hall), in favour of his younger brother Charles, who later took the name Charles Tennyson d'Eyncourt. Rev. George Clayton Tennyson raised a large family and "was a man of superior abilities and varied attainments, who tried his hand with fair success in architecture, painting, music, and poetry. He was comfortably well off for a country clergyman and his shrewd money management enabled the family to spend summers at Mablethorpe and Skegness, on the eastern coast of England." Alfred Tennyson's mother, Elizabeth Fytche (1781 1865), was the daughter of Stephen Fytche (1734 1799), vicar of St. James Church, Louth (1764) and rector of Withcall (1780), a small village between Horncastle and Louth. Tennyson's father "carefully attended to the education and training of his children."

Tennyson and two of his elder brothers were writing poetry in their teens, and a collection of poems by all three were published locally when Alfred was only 17. One of those brothers, Charles Tennyson Turner, later married Louisa Sellwood, the younger sister of Alfred's future wife; the other was Frederick Tennyson. Another of Tennyson's brothers, Edward Tennyson, was institutionalized at a private asylum, where he died.

Education and first publication

Tennyson was first a student at Louth Grammar School for four years (1816 1820) and then attended Scaitcliffe School, Englefield Green and King Edward VI Grammar School, Louth. He entered Trinity College, Cambridge in 1827, where he joined a secret society called the Cambridge Apostles. At Cambridge Tennyson met Arthur Henry Hallam, who became his closest friend. His first publication was a collection of "his boyish rhymes and those of his elder brother Charles" entitled Poems by Two Brothers published in 1827.

In 1829 he was awarded the Chancellor's Gold Medal at Cambridge for one of his first pieces, "Timbuctoo".[5][6] Reportedly, "it was thought to be no slight honour for a young man of twenty to win the chancellor's gold medal."[3] He published his first solo collection of poems, Poems Chiefly Lyrical in 1830. "Claribel" and "Mariana", which later took their place among Tennyson's most celebrated poems, were included in this volume. Although decried by some critics as overly sentimental, his verse soon proved popular and brought Tennyson to the attention of well-known writers of the day, including Samuel Taylor Coleridge.

Return to Lincolnshire and second publication.
Tennyson with his wife Emily (1813 1896) and his sons Hallam (1852 1928) and Lionel (1854 1886).

In the spring of 1831 Tennyson's father died, requiring him to leave Cambridge before taking his degree. He returned to the rectory, where he was permitted to live for another six years, and shared responsibility for his widowed mother and the family. Arthur Hallam came to stay with his family during the summer and became engaged to Tennyson's sister, Emilia Tennyson.

In 1833, Tennyson published his second book of poetry, which included his well-known poem, The Lady of Shalott. The volume met heavy criticism, which so discouraged Tennyson that he did not publish again for 10 years, although he continued to write. That same year, Hallam died suddenly and unexpectedly after suffering a cerebral hemorrhage while on vacation in Vienna. Hallam's sudden and unexpected death in 1833 had a profound impact on Tennyson, and inspired several masterpieces, including "In the Valley of Cauteretz" and In Memoriam A.H.H., a long poem detailing the 'Way of the Soul'.

Poet Laureate
Lord Tennyson.

After Wordsworth's death in 1850, and Samuel Rogers' refusal, Tennyson was appointed to the position of Poet Laureate, which he held until his own death in 1892, by far the longest tenure of any laureate before or since. He fulfilled the requirements of this position by turning out appropriate but often uninspired verse, such as a poem of greeting to Alexandra of Denmark when she arrived in Britain to marry the future King Edward VII. In 1855, Tennyson produced one of his best-known works, "The Charge of the Light Brigade", a dramatic tribute to the British cavalrymen involved in an ill-advised charge on 25 October 1854, during the Crimean War. Other esteemed works written in the post of Poet Laureate include Ode on the Death of the Duke of Wellington and Ode Sung at the Opening of the International Exhibition.

Queen Victoria was an ardent admirer of Tennyson's work, and in 1884 created him Baron Tennyson, of Aldworth in the County of Sussex and of Freshwater in the Isle of Wight. Tennyson initially declined a baronetcy in 1865 and 1868 (when tendered by Disraeli), finally accepting a peerage in 1883 at Gladstone's earnest solicitation. He took his seat in the House of Lords on 11 March 1884.

The words:

You must wake and call me early, call me ear-ly, mother dear;
To-morrow'll be the happiest time of all the glad New-year;
of all the glad New-year, mother, the maddest, merriest day;
For I'm to be Queen o'the May, mother, I'm to be Queen o'the May.

May I sleep so sound all night, mother, that I shall never a-wake, If you do not call me lound when the day begins to break;
But I must gather knots of flowers, and buds and garlands gay, For I'm to be Queen o'th May, Mother, I'm to be Queen o'the May.

Littl Effie shall go with m to-morrow t the green, And you'll be ther too, mother, to see me made the Queen;
The shepherd lads on eve-ry side 'll come from far a-way, And I'm to be Queen o'the May, mother, I'm to be Queen o'th May.

All the valley, mother will be fresh, and green, and still, And the cowslip and the crow- foot are o-ver all the hill, The riv-u-let in flowe-ry dale will merrily glance and play, For I'm to be Queen o'the May, mother, I'm to be Queen o'the May.

The Night winds come and go, mother, upon the meadow grass, And the happy stars above them seem to brighten as they pass;
There will not be a drop o'rain the whole o'the livelong day, Ani I'm to be Queen o' the May, mother, I'm to Queen o'the May.

So you must wake and call me early, call me early, mother dear,
To-morrow'll be the happiest time of all the glad New-year;
To-morrow'l be of all the year the maddest, merriest, day,
For I'm to be Queen of the May, mother, I'm to be Queen o' the May.

If you're waking call me early, call me early, mother dear, for I would see the sun rise up-on the glad New-year. It is the last New-yer that I shall ever see,
Then you may lay me low i'the mould and think no more of me.
To-night I saw the sun set: he set and left he-hind The goo old year, the dear old time, and all my peace of mind;
And the New-yer's coming up, mother, but I shall never see
The blossom on the black - thorn, the leaf upon the tree.
There's not a flower on all the hills: the frost is on the pane:
I only wish to live till the snow-drops come a gain;
I wish the snow would melt
and the sun come out on high:
I long to see a flower so be-fore the day I die.
The building rook 'll caw from the windy, tall elm tree,
And the tufted plover pipe a-long the fallow lea,
And the swallow will come back again with summer o'er the wave,
But I shall lie a-lone, mother with-in the mould'ring grave.

Upon the chancel casement and upon that grave of mine,
In the early early morning the summer sun'll shine,
Before the red cock crows from the farm upon the hill,
When you are warm asleep, mother, and all the world is still.

When the flowers come again, mother, beneath the waning light,
You'll never see me more in the long, gray fields at night;
When from the dry, dark wold the summer airs blow cool
On the oat-grass and the sword-gras, and the bulrsh in the pool.

You'll bury me, my mother, just beneath the hawthorn shade,
An you'll come sometimes and see me where I am lowly laid.
I shll not forget you, mother, I shall hear you when you pass,
With your feet above my head in the long and pleasant grass.

I have been wild and wayward, but you'll forgive me now;
You'll kiss me, my own mother, upon my cheek and brow;
Nay, nay, you must not weep, nor let your grief be wild
You should not fret for me, mother, you have another child.

If you can I'll come again, mother, from out my resting-place;
Though you'll not see me, mother, I shall look upon your face;
Though I cannot speak a word, I shall hearken what you say,
And be often, often with when you think I'm far away.

Good-ngight, good-night, whin I shave said good-night for ever-more,
And you see me carried out from the threshold of the door
Don't let Effie come to see me till my grave be growing green;
She'll be a better child to you than I have ev-er been.

Goo-night, sweet mother; call me be-fore the day is born;
All nitght I lie a-wake, but I fall a-sleep at morn;
But I would see the sun rise up-on the glad New-year,
So, if you're waking, call me, call me ear-ly, mother dear.

I thought to pass a-way before, and yet a-live I am;
And in the fields all round I hear the bleating of the lamb.
How sad=ly, I re-member, rose the morning of the year!
To die before the snowdrop came, and now the vio-let's here.
Oh sweet is the new vi-o-let, that comes beneath the skies,
And sweeter is the young lamb's voice to me that cannot rise
And sweeit si all the land about, and all the flowers that blow,
And sweeter far is death than life to me that long to go.
I did not hear the dog howl, mother, or the death-watch beat,
There came a sweeter to-ken when the night and morning meet:
But sit beside my bed, mother, and put your hand in mine,
And Effie on the other side and I will tell the sign.
All in the wild March-morning I heard the an-gels call;
It was when the moon was setting, and the dark was o-ver all;
The trees be-gan to whisper, and the wind began to roll,
And in the wild march-morn-ing I heard them call my soul.
For ly-ing broad a-wak I though of you and Effie dear;
I saw you sitting in the house, and no long-er here;
With all my strength I pray'd for both and so I felt re-sign'd,
An up the valley came a swell of music on the wind.
I thought that it was fancy, and I listen'd in my bed,
And then did something speak to me---I know not what was said;
For great delight and shuddering took hold of all my mind,
And up the valley came a-gain the music on the wind
But you were sleeping, and I said, "It's not for them: it's mine."
And if it comes three times, I thought, I take it for a sign.
And once a-gain it came, and close be-side my win-dow-bars,
Then seem'd to go right up to heaven, and die among the stars.
So now I think my time is near.
I trust it is, I only know The blessed music went that way my soul will have to go.
And for myself, indeed, I care not if I go to-day.
But, Effie, you must comfort her when I am passed a-way.
O look! the sun be-gins to rise, the heavens are in a glow;
He shines upon a hundred fields, and all of them I know.
And there I move no lon-ger now, and there his light may shine---
Wild flowers in the val-ley for other hands than mine.
O sweet and strange it seems to me, that ere this day is done
The voice, that now is speaking, may be be-yon the sun--
For ever and for ever with those just souls and true---
And what is life, that we should moan? why make we such a-do?
For ev-er and for ev-er, all in a blessed home---
And there to wait a little while till you and Effie come---
To lie within the light of God as I lie upon your breast---
And the wicked cease from trougling, and the weary are at rest.

For joy in you hear my mother, sing joy to heavens above,
For I am to be Queen o' the May, mother, I'm to be Queen o'the May in love!

Notes: Stained from a water exposure but light throughout the entire upper left hand corner of the piece. Ink and pencil notations, some light fox, disbound but holding.

$125 - $150

13" x 0.25" x 10"

Music & Musical Instruments, Other

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Richard Gabriel | (781) 883-6639 | gabriel@calixbooks.com

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