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Opus 17
Break, break, break

Written in 1906 by the composer Cyril Bradley Rootham (CBR), this song sets an elegy by Lord Tennyson written after the death of Arthur Hallam. The work is scored for men's voices unaccompanied (TTBB).

About this work

Op.17 "Break, break, break" is a slow and thoughtful part-song for unaccompanied men's voices (TTBB), displaying many of CBR's characteristic vocal harmonies. We have no information about the work's previous performance history, but its original publication only in Sol-fa notation must have limited its appeal and circulation.

The words by Alfred, Lord Tennyson are an elegy written on the death of his close friend Arthur Hallam at the age of just 22. The elegy is shown on the right.

W E F Britten's illustration for Break, break, break

Illustration to "Break, break, break" by W. E. F. Britten
From Wikipedia, Public Domain
 

 

Publication status

Long out of print, the sheet music for this part-song was originally published by Weekes & Co. in 1906 as No. 35 of "Weekes & Co.'s Series of Anthems and Part Songs in the Tonic Sol-fa notation". However the 1906 edition was available only in the Tonic Sol-fa notation, so this new online edition offers the first opportunity to view the score in traditional staff notation.

 

About this recording

This synthesized playback was created by the free MuseScore notation software. Until we have a performance recording, we are providing this feature so that researchers can follow the score.