Famine Song
F.164
An austere dirge for solo alto, SATB choir, and drum, setting Nicolson’s unflinching poem of famine, death, and desperate love in colonial India. Bare unisons and open fifths build through polyphonic intensity before dissolving back into solitary grief.
Listen
Perusal Score
Program Notes
Written as a funeral dirge, Famine Song tells a story of disease, death, and love in late 19th century India. The lyrics are excerpted from Adela Florence Nicolson’s poem of the same name from her book India’s Love Lyrics.
Famine Song is part of a cycle of choral pieces based on Nicolson’s poetry entitled India’s Love Lyrics, which includes Golden Stars (F. 150), Wistful Wind (F. 152), The Plains (F. 154), Lost Delight (F. 157), Famine Song (F. 164), and Reminiscence (F. 166).
Performance Notes
Modal harmony, moderate ranges, and straightforward rhythmic vocabulary place Famine Song at Level 2 (Easy). The solo alto and brief polyphonic writing add interpretive depth suited to developing ensembles.
Notes for Directors
- The piece follows a clear textural arc: tenors and basses open in bare unison, the alto soloist enters alone, then full SATB builds to a four-voice polyphonic section before converging back to unisons and octaves.
- The polyphonic section (mm. 17–25) is the most complex passage, with four independent vocal lines carrying different rhythmic patterns simultaneously to depict “pattering rain”.
- The solo alto carries the refrain three times (“But I shall sleep in your arms tonight”)—requiring a confident singer with secure intonation. Although written for alto, the solo may be sung by any voice.
- Staggered crescendo/diminuendo across parts in mm. 23–32 creates a wave-like dynamic effect requiring ensemble sensitivity.
- The harmonic language is austere throughout: open fifths, bare unisons, and root-position triads. Several convergences on D unisons serve as structural anchors.
- The drum is marked “l.v. sempre” (let vibrate throughout).
The Text
Famine Song (as set)
Death and famine on every side
and never a sign of rain—
The bones of those who have starved and died
unburied upon the plain.
What care have I that the bone bleach white?
Tomorrow they may be mine.
But I shall sleep in your arms tonight,
and drink your lips like wine.
I hear the sound of a thousand tears,
like softly pattering rain,
I see the fever, folly, and fears
fulfilling man’s tale of pain.
What care have I that the bone bleach white?
Tomorrow they may be mine.
But I shall sleep in your arms tonight,
and drink your lips like wine.
So we work on, in the blazing sun,
to bury what dead we may,
But glad, oh, glad, when the day is done
and night fall round us grey.
Would those we covered away from sight
had a rest as sweet as mine!
For I shall sleep in your arms tonight…
—excerpted from Famine Song by Adela Florence Nicolson (1865–1904)
Original Poem
Death and Famine on every side
And never a sign of rain,
The bones of those who have starved and died
Unburied upon the plain.
What care have I that the bones bleach white?
To-morrow they may be mine,
But I shall sleep in your arms to-night
And drink your lips like wine!
…
I hear the sound of a thousand tears,
Like softly pattering rain,
I see the fever, folly, and fears
Fulfilling man’s tale of pain.
But for the moment your star is bright,
I revel beneath its shine,
For I shall sleep in your arms to-night
And feel your lips on mine!
…
So on I work, in the blazing sun,
To bury what dead we may,
But glad, oh, glad, when the day is done
And the night falls round us grey.
Would those we covered away from sight
Had a rest as sweet as mine!
For I shall sleep in your arms to-night
And drink your lips like wine!
—excerpted from Famine Song by Adela Florence Nicolson (1865–1904)