Work
Ode to a Nightingale
for solo soprano (or tenor) and strings
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About
The poem Ode to a Nightingale was written in 1819 by John Keats (1795-1821) and published in 1820. Keats' friend Charles Brown relates that a nightingale had nested near his house in Hampstead (now known as Keats House), and that one morning Keats sat under a plum tree in the garden composing his Ode on 'some scraps of paper'. The poem is a meditation on the immortal beauty of the nightingale's song and the sadness of the observer, who must in the end accept sorrow and mortality.
The first performance of Ode to a Nightingale was given in the church of St Michael and All Angels, Beaconsfield, on 3rd October 1998 by Georgina Colwell with Jordans String Orchestra with conductor David Roseveare.
Text note
Text by John Keats (1795-1821)
Performance history
03 Oct 1998: Performed by Georgina Colwell with Jordans String Orchestra with conductor David Roseweare at the Church of St Michael and All Angels in Beaconsfield.