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For more access to this piece, some choirs have opted Hanging in the shadowy air
for piano accompaniment, which also works effective- Like a picture rich and rare.
ly for performance. An impactful introduction to the It was a climate where, they say,
piece in rehearsal could be the section, “Remember the The night is more belov’d than day.
children of Edom, O Lord,” featuring unison passages But who that beauteous Boy beguil’d,

on a repeated F . The rhythmic inflection, with its stir- That beauteous Boy to linger here?
ring triplets and dotted eighth-sixteenth notes, creates Alone, by night, a little child,
an excellent foundation for teaching rhythms and pro- In place so silent and so wild –
moting dramatic textual expression. Has he no friend, no loving mother near?

J. Christine Le, DMA * Encincture: / ɛnˈsɪŋk tʃər / verb (used with object): to
Associate Director of Choral Activities gird or encompass with or as with a belt or girdle.
Texas State University
Coleridge-Taylor offers a moderately challenging
part-song for treble choir that showcases his ability
to write soaring, memorable melodies that are deftly
Encinctured With a Twine of Leaves
Samuel Coleridge-Taylor paired with a harmonic structure that is both satisfy-
Part-song ing and surprising. Each voice part gets a chance at
SSA, piano the melody (with opportunities for a potential soloist),
Novell, 1908 (3:30) as the composer has skillfully woven the mystery and
beauty of the poetry into his music. The piano accom-
paniment carries the weight of a Schubert art song, yet
it assists the choir as the piece moves through multiple
keys.

A two-measure piano introduction utilizes both a C

and G outside of the key signature to introduce a haunt-
ingly beautiful melodic motif that recurs throughout
the piece. The sopranos enter in measure three with an
eight-measure unison phrase that covers the first four
lines of poetry. There is a clear rise-and-fall contour
Encinctured With a Twine of Leaves was part of a collec- to the melody, which is reinforced by Coleridge-Tay-
tion of trios and quartets for female voices. It is one in lor’s dynamic markings and tempo alterations at the
a handful of instances where Coleridge-Taylor set the ends of phrases. Text painting plays a significant role
work of English poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1772– as the melody wraps around the listener, mirroring the
1834) to music. Taylor Coleridge’s poem appears on leafy belt worn by the subject of our poem. It could be
page 169 in the 1906 publication The Golden Book of highly effective to assign these opening eight measures
Coleridge and reads as follows: to a soloist. This same melody is used in setting lines
five through seven of the poem, except now the lower
*
Encinctured with a twine of leaves, two parts sing in harmony. Here the composer utilizes
That leafy twine his only dress! both subtle rhythmic changes in each part, as well as
A lovely Boy was plucking fruits, borrowed chords, which help sustain the listener’s in-
By moonlight, in a wilderness. terest while building intensity. Interestingly, the melody
The moon was bright, the air was free, from this point on will be through-composed; we will
And fruits and flowers together grew not hear the opening melody again until the final eight
On many a shrub and many a tree: measures, at which point it makes a brief appearance
And all put on a gentle hue, in the piano accompaniment.

CHORAL JOURNAL June/July 2025 Volume 65 Number 9 25