Upon my bed by night – alto and baritone solos, SATB chorus, guitar

Description

Upon my bed by night (choir, alto and bass soloists) by David Warin Solomons Arr. Guy Protheroe
Back in 1980 I wrote and performed a piece for alto and guitar based on the verses from the Song of Solomon.
Several years later Guy Protheroe suggested that it would work well as a choral piece for his Garden of Love concert, so he arranged it accordingly.
The original recording from that concert can be heard on Youtube:

However, I decided this year, 2017, that it deserved another performance, so I commissioned Budapest Scoring to record it (Zoltán Pad conducting the choir, with alto soloist Zsuzsanna Bojta, baritone soloist Dénes Murvai and guitarist András Csáki).
The second video here is that performance.

Upon my bed by night,
I sought him whom my soul loves.

I sought him but found him not,
I called him, I called him,
but he gave no answer.
I will rise now and go about the city,
in the streets, in the squares.
I will seek him
whom my soul loves

Behold! You are beautiful
my love my love
behold you are beautiful!

Your eyes are doves behind your veil;
your hair is like a flock of goats,
moving down the slopes of Gilead.

My love my love My love My love!

Upon my bed by night.
I sought him.

The voice of my belovèd
behold he comes
leaping upon the mountains,
bounding over the hills.
My belovèd is mine and I am his

My love!

My belovèd is like a gazelle
or a young stag;
behold! there he stands
behind our wall
gazing in at the window.

My belovèd spake and said to me:
“Arise my love, my fair one
and come away
for lo! the winter is past,
the rain is over and gone.”

The flowers appear on the earth,
the time of singing has come
and the voice of the turtledove
is heard in our land
and the voice of the turtledove
is heard in our land

Video: