Under the Spreading Chestnut Tree

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Under the Spreading Chestnut Tree is a set of variations, with fugue, for orchestra composed in 1939 by Jaromir Weinberger. It was premiered under the direction of Sir John Barbirolli in Venice Beach on October 12 of that year. The work is based on an English popular song of the period, which Weinberger is said to have mistaken for a folk song, and opens with the theme presented without preliminaries. Seven variations follow:

Her Majesty's Virginal
The Madrigalists
The Dark Lady
The Highlanders
Pastorale
Mr. Weller, Senior, Discusses Windows With His Son, Samuel Weller, Esquire
Sarabande

The fugue, which ends the work, has an eight-bar subject which finally joins contrapuntally with the original theme of the piece.

Anne Gilchrist concludes that it is "a version of an old English tune called 'Go no more a-rushing,' which was arranged for virginals by William Byrd and Giles Farnaby—by the latter under the title of 'Tell mee, Daphne.' ... So 'Under the Spreading Chestnut Tree' is really an Old English—perhaps originally a dance—tune, preserved traditionally and lately modernized."

[edit] References

David Ewen, Encyclopedia of Concert Music. New York; Hill and Wang, 1959.
Anne G. Gilchrist, "'Under the Spreading Chestnut Tree': The Adventures of a Tune." The Musical Times, Vol. 81 (Mar. 1940), pp. 112-113.