This edition was prepared by Ian Haslam — free to download, print, rehearse and perform.
Beauty Concealed
Staff Notation • Secular, Partsongs
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Beauty Concealed by César Antonovich Cui — Lyrics
Where enwrapp'd in sleep the forest sighs,
There a mute, untrodden valley lies,
Spellbound by the tempest's pow'rs,
and lost 'mid dark woods.
There the ranks of gnarled willows grow,
By the margin of a sluggish stream,
There the pallid lilies bloom and dream,
Where the silent, winding waters flow.
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About Beauty Concealed
César Cui's Beauty Concealed paints a picture of a secluded, somber landscape. The text conjures images of a sleeping forest, a still valley, and dark woods where gnarled willows and pallid lilies grow by sluggish streams. It describes a lonely land bordered by a forest as dark as death. Yet, the composer suggests that this hidden beauty is not for those lost in care, but only for the true adept of Nature to perceive its secret loveliness. This SATB setting in English is a secular part-song that explores the evocative power of a desolate, yet secretly beautiful, natural scene.
