As in Honeycomb — and, indeed, as through much of the rest of Pilgrimage, Richardson’s mentions of music in The Tunnel are usually indirect or in passing, often merely a few words from a lyric. So, to help with following along between the book and the playlist, this list will now include both the page from the 1967 Dent/Knopf and the Virago Modern Classics editions (both use identical paginations) and the relevant text.
You can find the playlist on YouTube at the link below:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=75KopCWAoJw&list=PLEuwqhzbsAguI5B9LKlTRrzv6Q4RP3FDF
- 15 — “… the sound of an unaccompanied violin”
- Probably refers to the Gluck violin obligato played by Margaret Wedderburn in Backwater, Gluck’s “Dance of the Blessed Spirits” from Act II of Orfeo et Euridice
- 27 — “Mendelssohn … Songs without Words“
- Felix Mendelssohn, Songs Without Words, Opus 38, No. 1
- 28 — “Duetto”
- Mendelssohn, Songs without Words, Opus 38, No. 6
- 84 —”Es ist bestimmt, in Gottes Rath.“
- Mendelssohn, Opus 47, No. 4
- 97 — “spring is co-ming a-and the swa-llows—have come back to te-ell me so.”
- “The Swallows,” Music by Frederic H. Cowen, words by Clifton Bingham
- 124 — “Es war ein König im Thule“
- Liszt, “Es war ein König in Thule,” S. 278
- 125 — “the demoralizing chromatics of Gounod”
- As an example, “Chanson de printemps” by Charles Gounod
- 125 — “descriptive passion pieces of Chaminade” Cécile Louise Stéphanie
- Cécile Louise Stéphanie Chaminade (1857-1944), a French composer who wrote graceful songs and piano pieces. An example is “Valse d’automne“, Opus 169.
- 131 — “Schubert’s Ave Maria“
- Although best known as a vocal, piano versions of Ave Maria were popular at the time of The Tunnel.
- 149 — “Why not, asthore”
- Reference to the song “Asthore,” Music by Henry Trotère, words by Clifton Bingham, which has the refrain, “Are you thinking of me, Asthore?”
- 165 — “Just as we are, without one –“
- “Just as I am, without one plea,” a hymn by Charlotte Elliott (1787-1871), music by William B. Bradbury, (No. 349 in Hymns Ancient and Modern (1875), a collection that probably was familiar in the Henderson home).
- 175 — “When shall we meet — refined and free, amongst the moorland brack-en …”
- From “The Mermaid’s Song,” by James Hogg (1770-1835), “Scotland’s shepherd poet.” Unfortunately, there is no version of this tune on YouTube.
- 212 — “a heart at leisure from itself to soothe and sympathize”
- From “Father I know that all my life,” by Ann Letitia Waring (1823-1910).
- 212 — “oh for a man, oh for a man—sion in the skies”
- This refers to a joke among church-goers, in which choirs broke up words or phrases in popular hymns to bring out unintended meanings. So, in this case, the line “Oh, for a mansion in the skies” would be sung, “Oh, for a man- — oh, for a man- — oh, for a man-sion in the skies.” Ironically, there doesn’t appear to be any actual hymn with the line, “Oh, for a mansion in the skies.”
- 214 — “Rosalie the Prairie Flower“
- A sentimental ballad of 1855 by George Frederick Root (1820-1895).
- 215 — “I drempt that I dwelt in Marble Halls”
- A song from the opera The Bohemian Girl (1843) by Michael William Balfe (1808-1870).
- 224 — “The Artist’s Model and The Geisha and the Strand Musicals still lay about…”
- The first two were musical plays with text by Owen Hall (pseud. of James Davis, 1849-1907), lyrics by H. Greenbank, and music by Sidney Jones. The Artist’s Model opened in 1895, The Geisha on 25 April 1896. The Strand Musical Magazine was a monthly that included piano transcriptions of current songs from musicals and revues.
- 229 — “Je-ru-sa-lem the Gol-den, with-milk-and-hun-ny — blest”
- “Jerusalem the Golden,” a twelfth century hymn by Bernard of Cluny, translated from the Latin by John M. Neale (1818-1866); music by Henry Thomas Smart (1813-1879). It was No. 228 in Hymns Ancient and Modern.
- 229 — “hark hark my soul angelic songs are swelling”
- “Hark! hark, my soul!” hymn by Frederick William Faber (1814-1863), music by Henry Thomas Smart.
- 236 — “Veilchen, unter Gras versteckt” [Translation: A violet, hidden under grass]
- The lyrics are from a poem by Hoffman von Fallersleben (1798-1874). A version by Otto Sondermann, with English and German words was issued by a London sheet music company. Unfortunately, there are no performances available on YouTube. This is not the better-known “Veilchen,” a song by Mozart set to words by Goethe.
- 256 — “Du, Heilige, rufe dein Kind zurück, ich habe genossen das irdische Glück; ich habe geliebt und gelebet.” [Translation: You, holy one, call back your child, I have enjoyed this earthly happiness; I have loved and lived.]
- From “Des Mädchens Klage,” a poem by Friedrich Schiller set to music by Felix Mendelssohn and Schubert. The Schubert version is included on the playlist.