Dover beach, Op 3

Available for over a year

Written by American composer Samuel Barber in 1931 with text taken from a 19th Century poem by Matthew Arnold, the song equates the ebb and flow of the sea to the highs and lows of the human experience. There's a deep uneasiness in the song, right from the opening bars where the first violin grates over the steady pulse of the second. You can feel the darkness of the sea bringing in (as the baritone sings it) "the eternal note of sadness". Composer: Samuel Barber Performers: Elias Quartet Performer: Henk Neven (Baritone) Recording date: 22 February 2010 Date of broadcast: 14 September 2010