Cherry-Ripe, I Cry

Here is a new song that will be part of a song cycle entitled, To Julia.
All the texts are based of Robert Herrick's poems to Julia.

Here is the text:

CHERRY-RIPE.

CHERRY-RIPE, ripe, ripe, I cry,
Full and fair ones ; come and buy.
If so be you ask me where
They do grow, I answer : There,
Where my Julia's lips do smile ;
There's the land, or cherry-isle,
Whose plantations fully show
All the year where cherries grow.
- Robert Herrick

Some of you may remember Julia's Voice., which will also be part of the cycle and kind of got the idea of a cycle of Julia in my head.

Enjoy! Comments are always welcome!

-Scott.

Audio: Cherry Ripe I Cry - Putfile.com

Have you seen the movie Victor/Victoria? I'm assuming not. The opening of your song is extremely similar to the opening of the song "Cherry Ripe" that Julie Andrews sings in the movie. I just played the movie track side by side with yours, and the two go in completely different directions, but the opening few bars are almost identical. I don't know if Henry Mancini composed "Cherry Ripe" in the movie. Actually, from what I remember, I believe it actually was an old English folk song that Julie Andrews used to sing.

In that film, Julie Andrews sings an arrangement of the traditional English tune that goes with that text, which goes back a long way.

Tenor, this is a nice setting. I couldn't get the audio to work on my Mac for some reason, but I sang the song from the score you provided. It's simple and light as befits the text. How many songs to have ready for the cycle?

Thank you both. Yes tune for the first few bars in that folk song but as you can tell the rest is totally different.

J. Lee, the cycle in the end will be a total of 11 Songs. And this is the second to be completed.

Okay, I wasn't sure if that was intentional or not. I really liked the way the rest of the setting acknowledges the rhymes but doesn't punch them the way a traditional folk song (like the original) would.

It was unitentonal, I had that idea stuck in my head and was like wow!!!
Then I relized that was the motif. O well, it works.

I'm glad that you enjoyed it.

Looking forward to seeing the progress of this cycle. That's an ambitious project.

Another beautiful song, Scott! But I wonder if you could push your singer a bit more? This one stays in the middle range the whole way through - if this is for tenor I'd suggest some Fs and Gs and maybe a big high note?

Originally Posted by J. Lee Graham

Looking forward to seeing the progress of this cycle. That's an ambitious project.

Im excited to see where it ends up as well!!
Its kind of ambitious, its only 9 more songs... haha and its not as ambitious as a Symphony or something!

Oingo

Thanks for the lovely compliment.
I plan to pace the singer more as I continue the cycle, and its not for tenor, its for baritone, So its right in the sweet spot!

Thanks again.

Hey Scott

Why are Tenors like pirates?

They are both murder on the high C's


Dumb, I know, but I thought you might get a kick out of it.

Another beautiful piece for being for those dreaded voices!

Only 9 more for me to suffer thru.

Just kidding, Scott, Keep 'em coming
]
Ron