Beyond the Sunset (And God Is Overhead)

Lyricist. Holman Quinn

Publisher. M. Witmark and Sons

Date. 1911

Key/Range. E Minor (d' -- f#")

COMMENTARY

One of Tours’ most dramatic settings, M. Witmark & Sons published it in four keys covering an interval of a fifth. Herbert Witherspoon, an operatic bass, was an early interpreter as indicated on the cover, demonstrating that it is a good song for low voice, despite featuring several sustained notes in the high register. The text by Holman Quinn subtly and convincingly conflates the romantic and religious, and enhances its sacred tone by borrowing from the “Old Waits Carol” (“The life of man is but a span”). The only Tours song that was published with both English and German lyrics. The melody is constructed in four-measure periods in an overall A-B-A’ scheme. Modulation to ♭VI begins with a pivot chord in the parallel major of the tonic. The planing chords in the Aeolian mode that color the opening of both A sections have a mystical quality, particularly with the blurring effect caused by the damper pedal being held over the entire measure. The damper pedal should be released with the harmony changes at all other times.