Gill: Eternal Love Doth Never Fade for mixed choir (SATB) a cappella, for mixed choir (SATB) a cappella

This is certainly the most famous in the sequence of Shakespeare’s sonnets; it may be the most famous lyric poem in English. This is not to say that it is the best or most interesting or most beautiful of the sonnets; but the simplicity and loveliness of its praise of the beloved has guaranteed its place in literature.

Musically this setting has a simple four bar structure until the thirteenth and fourteenth lines of the sonnet which are expanded to seven bars. Melodically the ideas for the entire piece grow out of the opening four bars, a simple rising melody which is gradually expanded from the interval of a fourth to an octave. This melody is passed between the sopranos and altos of the choir while the tenors and basses very much provide a foundation. The piece reaches a climax over a repeated melody based on lines nine to twelve of the sonnet with a hypnotic solo soprano descant adding interest on the words “Thy eternal”. The last seven bars begin with just a tutti bass line based on the opening melody now covering a range of an octave and a final radiant cadence on a D major chord.