The Lost Chord

- Composer: Sir Arthur Seymour Sullivan MVO (13 May 1842 -- 22 November 1900) - Performers: Webster Booth (tenor), Herbert Dawson (organ) - Year of recording: 1939 The Lost Chord, song for voice & piano, written in 1877. Arthur Sullivan's setting of The Lost Chord, by Adelaide Procter, is one of the very few non-theatrical works by the composer that one might hear today. Two versions of the ballad's origins exist, both stemming from Sullivan. The first of these claims The Lost Chord was composed, "in sorrow at my brother's death"; the other reports that Sullivan wrote the ballad while at the bedside of his dying brother, Frederic. Whatever the case may have been, the intensity and solemnity of the piece are undeniable. When Sullivan set Procter's poem to music, her works were very popular both in England and abroad; they were published in the United States and also translated into German. In 1877, her poems were in greater demand in England than those of any living writer except Tennyson. The theme of The Lost Chord is ancient, something precious and magical that may only be discovered by chance. A person seated at the organ fumbling over the keys accidentally plays a chord that feels "Like the sound of a great Amen." The poem goes on to describe the effect of this chord, which "flooded the crimson twilight," "quieted pain and sorrow," and "linked all perplexed meanings." The high point of the poem, and of Sullivan's setting, is the penultimate verse, from which the poem derives its name: "I have sought, but I seek it vainly / That one lost chord divine, / Which came from the soul of the organ / And entered into mine." In the final verse, the organist muses that he will hear this "lost chord" again "only in heaven." Sullivan's setting of The Lost Chord is appropriately sober. Repeated notes at the opening are similar to solemn passages in Patience, The Prodigal Son, and In Memoriam. Musically, The Lost Chord follows an AA1BA2 pattern, with the first stanza's melody (A) given a new accompaniment for its repeat (A1), which is then contrasted with new material (B). Yet another altered version of the stanza closes the ballad. Sullivan spices the piece with an unexpected harmonic change near the end of the first stanza. The ballad became associated with Mrs. Mary Frances ("Fanny") Ronalds. Rumor has it the Prince of Wales once stated he would travel the length of Great Britain to hear Ronalds sing The Lost Chord. Fanny Ronalds and Arthur Sullivan carried on a clandestine relationship for over 20 years. Overexposure to The Lost Chord provoked parodies and earnest mockery from the public and critics alike. In 1960, a commentator wrote: "It is to be hoped that Adelaide Procter's elusive Chord has how been lost forever." Posterity has tended to look upon The Lost Chord and other songs such as Sad Memories, Looking Back and Once Again, as examples of "the depths to which Sullivan could fall" when he tried to make money. In the late 1970s, however, Nich