Four Last Songs (Vaughan Williams) - I. Procris

I. Procris

Piero di Cosimo’s painting A Satyr Mourning Over a Nymph or The Death of Procris stirred Ursula Vaughan Williams to write her poem “Procris.” In ancient mythology, Procris, suspecting her husband Cephalus of having a secret lover, sneaks up on him while he hunts in the woods. Startled by noises behind him, he turns and shoots Procris with his bow. The song is written in a duple meter (6/8) and contains many shifts in tonality. While written in the key of G Major, the two beginning eleven-note descending motifs are more reminiscent of a g minor scale. The song also contains many hemiola rhythms and chromaticisms.