Triptych
(1959) for tenor & orchestra
Duration: 11'
Tenor; 1+pic.1+ca.11/3200/3perc/pf(cel).hp/str
Commissioned by the Saltire Society

World Premiere:
14 September 1960
Duncan Robertson, tenor
London Symphony Orchestra
Meredith Davies, conductor

Publisher:  Chester Music Ltd

Critical acclaim:

...the differing moods of the three poems have been captured; the first impetuous lyrical outbreaks checked and tempered by the verse form; the second increasingly insistent; the third light and, with the vocal line played out over a pattern tinkle accompaniment. But the moto is not perpetuo; a brief episode for the brass alone is engaging in effect...
Complex though her ensemble may be, it is clear that Miss Musgrave in her score sets down sounds, not paper ideas. She has a fascinating mind and personality: the short Triptych is an imaginative piece which has thoroughly succeeded.
— The Financial Times

Probably the best of the three songs, certainly the subtlest is the first...
— The Guardian

...Because of its easily heard repetitions and its well-defined emotional atmosphere, the second movement came across the most directly.
— The Observer

...the third (movement), a humorous scherzo, is much the most successful.
— The Sunday Times

Composer's Note:

The first sketches for the Triptych were made in the summer of 1958 in response to a commission from the Saltire Music Group and the work was completed just over a year later.

Though the work as a whole obviously had to follow the form of the Chaucer poem, the organization of the musical details provided a stimulating problem: it was necessary to find a musical design which would not obscure the strong effect made by the repeated lines of each of the three poems. To avoid spoiling the effect of this repetition I decided not to repeat lines or phrases except when called for by the text. However the mood and also the musical form is different in each of the songs.

The first song has clearly contrasting sections and makes use of musical repetition. It is easy to detect a return to the first idea each time it returns, even though it is somewhat varied.

The second song contains identical repetitions of the opening musical idea — a phrase for orchestra introducing a theme for the voice with slow, heavy repeated notes. At the end these repeated notes are taken up chordally by the orchestra and with a gradual crescendo and accelerando form a big climax.

The last song has no musical repetition in this sense. A short, fast, scherzo-like movement, it has an almost unbroken background of semiquavers (16th notes), divided between harp, celeste, vibraphone, pizzicato violas and bongos, which accompany a light rhythmical vocal line. Another feature of this movement is the number of sudden pauses. There are no ritardandi, not even at the end; here, instead, there is a gradual diminuendo as the semiquavers fade away into the distance.

Text:

                              I.
Your yën two wol slee me sodenly;
I may the beautë of hem non sustene,
So woundeth hit throughout my hertë kene
And but your word wol helen hastily
My hertës woundë, whyle that his is grene.

Your yën two wol slee me sodenly;
I may the beautë of hem non sustene.
Upon my trouthe I sey yow feithfully,
That ye ben of my lyf and deeth the quene;
For with my deeth the troughë shal be sene.

Your yën two wol slee me sodenly;
I may the beautë of hem non sustene,
So woundeth hit throughout my hertë kene.

                              II.
So hath your beautë fro your herë chaced
Pitee, that me ne availeth not to pleyne;
For Daunger halt your mercy in his cheyne.
Giltles my deeth thus han ye me purchased;
I sey you sooth, me nedeth not to feyne.

So hath your beautë fro your herë chaced
Pitee, that me ne availeth not to pleyne;
Allas! That nature hath in you compassed
So greet beautë, that no man may atteyne
To mercy, though he stervë for the peyne.

So hath your beautë fro your herë chaced
Pitee, that me ne availeth not to pleyne;
For Daunger halt your mercy in his cheyne.

                              III.
Sin I fro Love escapëd am so fat,
I never thenk to ben in his prison lene;
Sin I am free, I counte him not a bene.
He may answere, and sëye this or that;
I do no fors, I speke right as I mene.

Sin I fro Love escapëd am so fat,
I never thenk to ben in his prison lene.
Love hath my name ystrike out of his sclat,
And he is strike out of my bökes clene
For evermo; ther is non other mene.

Sin I for Love escapëd am so fat,
I never thenk to ben in his prison lene.
Sin I am free, I counte him not a bene.

Recording:

Triptych for tenor and orchestra
Scottish National Orchestra
Alexander Gibson, conductor
Duncan Robertson, tenor
LP HMV ASD 2279

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