This edition was prepared by Adrian Wall — free to download, print, rehearse and perform.
Disdaine that so doth fill me
Staff Notation • Secular, Consort songs
Preview
0
0
Subscribed as
Want Sunday picks sent to another address too?
Free weekly email
Your choir should not be left out in what's trending
Sunday mass selections, psalms, and trending songs in your area — straight to your inbox.
Disdaine that so doth fill me by Martin Peerson — Lyrics
Disdain that so doth fill me,
hath surely sworn to kill mee,
and I must die.
Desire that still doth burn me
to life again will turn me,
and live must I.
O kill me then disdain
that I may live again.
Thy looks are life unto me
and yet those looks undo me:
O death and life.
Thy smile some rest doth show me,
Read full lyrics
About Disdaine that so doth fill me
This SATB setting of an English text by Martin Peerson opens with a restless, imitative texture that reflects the singer's inner turmoil. The music traces the contradictory emotions of the text, a secular lament that explores the paradox of a love that simultaneously promises life and delivers death. The interplay between the voices captures the oscillation between disdain and desire, hope and despair, as the speaker pleads for a resolution to their conflicting feelings. Peerson masterfully depicts the speaker's predicament, moving from declarations of impending death to a yearning for life, only to find both states inextricably bound. The piece concludes with the hope that despair may fade, allowing desire to subside.
