The Cherry Tree is prefixed with the last stanza from The Loveliest of Trees, the second poem in the famous A Shropshire Lad volume written by A.E. Housman:
“And since to look at things in bloom
Fifty springs are little room,
About the woodlands I will go
To see the cherry hung with snow.”
The piece is very rich in colour and tone and is in a very resonant D major all the way through, except for the central section that is not key-signatured. The tempo marking is quaver = c.120, though it is common practice to slow this down to 104-108, allowing a more comfortable ride but losing none of the richness.
The notes lie comfortably under the hands (a common characteristic with much of Ireland’s piano works - for example, his Piano Concerto in Eb Major is an ideal work for the gifted pianist with smaller hands) once one becomes used to the colourful harmonies.
This is a popular piece amongst pianists due to the opportunities to show a personal response to the music. Good legato fingering and confident flutter pedalling is required to bring out the tones, and a good balance between the voices must be adhered to.
The piece carries a dedication to Herbert S. Brown and appeared in the 1999-2000 Associated Board Grade 8 syllabus for the piano.
Read more about this topic: Greenways (Ireland)
Famous quotes containing the words cherry and/or tree:
“The cherry orchard is now mine!... I bought the estate on which my grandfather and father were slaves, where they were not even permitted in the kitchen.”
—Anton Pavlovich Chekhov (1860–1904)
“I have come to the conclusion that the closer people are to what may be called the front lines of government ... the easier it is to see the immediate underbrush, the individual tree trunks of the moment, and to forget the nobility the usefulness and the wide extent of the forest itself.... They forget that politics after all is only an instrument through which to achieve Government.”
—Franklin D. Roosevelt (1882–1945)