Songs of Farewell

Quick Facts

• Songs of Farewell is a set of six acapella choral motets mostly written between 1914-15:
  1. My soul, there is a country – text by Henry Vaughan
  2. I know my soul hath power to know all things – text by Sir John Davies
  3. Never weather-beaten sail – text by Thomas Campion
  4. There is an old belief – text by John Gibson Lockhart
  5. At the round earth’s imagined corners – text by John Donne
  6. Lord, let me know mine end – text from The King James Bible, Psalm 39: 5-8, 13, 15¹
• The first performance of the complete set took place in 1919 in the chapel of Exeter College, Oxford, as part of a memorial service for the composer. Parry was an alumnus of the college.

About the Piece

• The set of choral motets began with a commission in 1907 for a memorial service at the Royal Mausoleum, Frogmore, in the Home Park of Windsor Castle. Parry produced “There is an old belief” for the occasion.
• Given the historical context, mainly WWI and the consequent loss of so much life, including many of Parry’s past and present students at the RCM such as George Butterworth, a poignant heaviness is instilled in these choral works.²

1. Jeremy Dibble, “Parry, Sir (Charles) Hubert,” Grove Music Online (2001), accessed March 23, 2023,  https://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/grovemusic/view/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.001.0001/omo-9781561592630-e-0000020949.
2. Clare Stevens, “Building a Library: Songs of Farewell,” BBC Music Magazine Vol. 29, No. 9 (2021): 90-91.