The Blue Bird (Stanford)

The Blue Bird is one of Stanford's most famous partsongs. Partsongs are often strophic, written for multiple voices in a homophonic texture with occasional rhythmic variation between the upper and lower voices.[1] The form first became influential in England when partsongs by Felix Mendelssohn were translated into English, and the genre grew in part due to the popularity of early 19th century choral societies.[2][3] Before composing The Blue Bird, Stanford had already established himself as an accomplished writer of partsongs. He began by writing three collections of Elizabethan-style partsongs, the first of which (Op. 47, 1892) was praised by the Musical Times as being among the best of their kind. He then turned to setting arrangements of Irish folk songs, followed by Op. 119 and Op. 127, which include poetry by Mary Elizabeth Coleridge. The Blue Bird comes from the first of these collections.[4]

First page of "The Blue Bird"

The work, in the key of G-flat major, is scored for an ensemble in five parts: soprano, divided contraltos, tenor, and bass. However, as the setting is homophonic in structure, and the first contralto part falls within the soprano range, it can be performed using a solo or small number of sopranos, with a balanced SATB chorus underlying the melody.

The single word "blue" appears frequently in the text, describing the lake, the sky, and the bird's wings. Stanford further emphasizes this repetition by repeatedly setting the word in isolation, always on an E-flat. Otherwise, the soprano and main chorus share in the verbal setting.

The harmonic treatment of the two stanzas is similar, with small changes in the voicing that reflect the different verbal contexts. The harmonies rarely rest on a tonic chord, other than at the close of the first stanza, and many seventh chords are used. The final chord is a seventh based on the supertonic (A-flat), while the soprano's "blue" is held ppp quasi niente beyond the chorus's cut-off.

A typical performance lasts around four minutes.

In his biography of Stanford, musicologist Paul Rodmell compares The Blue Bird within the context of Eight Partsongs (Op. 119), remarking that while most of the Eight Partsongs are "inconsequential", The Blue Bird stands out as an exception and is "deserving of its renown".[5]

According to the musician and writer Walter Bitner, "the poem's great beauty lies in its direct expression of natural beauty and its power to evoke a strong impression in the imagination of the reader...The poet carefully identifies the subject of the poem as 'I' so that as each of us reads or hears it, we see this image in our mind's eye as if we ourselves are the witness of the event...It is pure impressionism."[6]

In Grove's Dictionary of Music and Musicians, Frederick Hudson notes that Stanford's partsongs "reached near perfection both in melodic invention and capturing the mood of the poem."[7]

Coleridge's poem was originally published in 1897 under the pseudonym "Anodos", with the French title L'Oiseau Bleu.[8] It was one of many published posthumously under her own name in 1908.[9]

The song is usually included in an album of part-songs from different composers, or a collection of Stanford's music.

• There is Sweet Music (Collegium Records COLCD 104, 1986; CSCD 505, 2002) – English choral songs 1890–1950, performed by the Cambridge Singers (John Rutter)[10]
• Choral Music - English Madrigals and Songs from Henry VIII to the 20th Century (Naxos 8.553088, 1996) – Oxford Camerata, Jeremy Summerly. This includes all eight songs of op. 119.[11]
• Sir Charles Villiers Stanford (The British Music Collection, Decca 470 384-2, 2006) – Choir of New College Oxford[12]
• In Paradisum (Aparté Music AP228, 2020) – Schola Cantorum of the Cardinal Vaughan Memorial School[13]

• 8 Part-Songs, Op.119: as part of Op 119 at the International Music Score Library Project
• Free scores of The Blue Bird in the Choral Public Domain Library (ChoralWiki)