The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #4051   Message #1695393
Posted By: GUEST,Guest: Warsik
16-Mar-06 - 02:46 PM
Thread Name: Lyr Req: Holst 2nd Suite in F
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Holst 2nd Suite in F / I'll Love My Love
Holst arranged a choral piece entitled "I Love My Love." It uses the same tune as the second movement of 2nd Suite in F (I've performed both), so I would assume that it is the same song as his "Song without words." It does indeed use the words also known as "Maid in Bedlam" posted above. This folk song was "collected" from the countryside by G.B. Gardiner.

A note on lyrics: Since folksongs were not traditionally written down, there are regional variants. This would account for the difference in number of verses and wording in the versions other people here have posted. The variant that Gardiner collected and that Holst used is as valid as the many other versions of the folksong.

The album that GUEST:SARS recommended is also recommended by my resource book: This Have I Done for My True Love by The Holst Singers, Stephen Layton, conductor. (Hyperion CDH55171).

~Information on "I Love My Love" paraphrased from "Repertoire Resource Guide- Teaching Music through Performance in Choir: Volume 1"

Hope this was helpful, or at least not a hindrance.
~warsik