I Love My Love

In his use of authentic Englsh folksongs, Gnostic texts and Vedic hymns, one can discern Holst’s search for a compositional Voice beyond the constraints of the European canon in the early 1900’s. In 1916 hepublishedSix Choral Folk Songs, of which Cornish folk tune I Love My Love is the fifth number.The song is a tale of a girl ‘in Bedlam’ who awaits her love’s return from the sea. It moves into Dorian mode and outagain witha particularly effective sighing motif in the middle section. Gustav Holst has earned a place among the most revered of late 19th and early 20th century composers and is best known for his enduring Orchestral suite ThePlanets.