Thursday 3 February 2011
Tune of the Day: I Have a Song to Sing, O!
from “The Yeoman of the Guard”, arranged for Flute and Piano
This famous duet is taken from Act I of Gilbert and Sullivan's opera The Yeoman of the Guard, where it is sung by Jack Point, a strolling jester, and Elsie, a singer.
According to critic William Archer's book Real Conversations, Sullivan had trouble setting this song to music, due to the increasing length of each stanza. He asked Gilbert if he had anything in mind when he had written it. Gilbert hummed a few lines from a sea shanty, and Sullivan knew what to do.
The famous folk-singing trio Peter, Paul and Mary included a rendition of this song in their 1969 children's album, Peter, Paul and Mommy.