Music and Texts of GARY BACHLUND
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Stephano's Song - (1989)
William Shakespeare
from "The Tempest"
for tenor and piano
Stephano: The master, the swabber,
the boatswain, and I,
the gunner and his mate
loved Moll, Meg, and Marian, and Marjorie,
but none of us cared for Kate.
For she had a tongue with a tang,
would cry to a sailor, 'Go hang!'
She loved not the savour of tar nor of pitch,
yet a tailor might scratch her where'er she did itch.
Then to see boys and let her go hang!
The master, the swabber,
the boatswain, and I,
the gunner and his mate
loved Moll, Meg, and Marian, and Marjorie,
but none of us cared for Kate.[ 2 pages, circa 1' 00" ]
A comic character in this wondrous tale of love, magic and retribution, the drunken sailor; Stephano, tells us of the one woman who no sailor would fancy. The song form's middle section is a triple dance rhythm, in a l'istesso tempo relation to the beginning section, describes Kate, while the outer sections are lists of the men and other women who populate this brief peek into Stephano's world.
The score is available as a free PDF download, though any major commercial performance or recording of the work is prohibited without prior arrangement with the composer. Click on the graphic below for this piano-vocal score.
