This edition was prepared by David Anderson — free to download, print, rehearse and perform.
Come away, death
Staff Notation • Secular, Partsongs
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2 editions of this piece
Different typesettings and voicings of the same work. This page shows the main edition; the others are below.
SATTB · James Gibb
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Come away, death by George Alexander Macfarren — Lyrics
Come away, come away, death,
And in sad cypress let me be laid.
Fly away, fly away, breath;
I am slain by a fair cruel maid.
My shroud of white, stuck all with yew,
O, prepare it!
My part of death, no one so true
Did share it.
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About Come away, death
George Alexander Macfarren sets a poignant Shakespearean text with sensitive SATTB voicings. The music opens with a sense of gentle resignation, the voices weaving together to create a rich, melancholic texture. The composer’s setting reflects the sorrow of the text, where the speaker, slain by a cruel beauty, longs for the quiet peace of death and the anonymity of his grave. The ebb and flow of the vocal lines mirror the speaker's melancholic contemplation, building to moments of intense feeling before subsiding into hushed acceptance. This is a deeply expressive secular part-song, ideal for a choir seeking to convey profound emotional depth through nuanced vocal writing.
