No Voice But Yours

(No Hope, No Love, Save That in Your Dear Eyes)

Lyricist. Edward Teschemacher

Publisher. M. Witmark & Sons

Date. 1917

Key/Range. D Major (f#' -- a" [b” ossia])

COMMENTARY

The lyric by Edward Teschemacher was designed to be set to music. The romantic aspiration of the protagonist is made clear in the line “if you are ever mine,” despite the poetic language obscuring its specific meaning to some extent. The phrase is elliptical, but its meaning should be understood as “if you are forever mine” rather than “if you ever become mine.” This connotation corresponds to the stage of courtship that precedes engagement during which the lover has experienced the things described in the poem and wishes that they continue for a lifetime. Tours was in the midst of his own courtship of Helen Clarke at the time he set this lyric and so it probably had a greater personal meaning for him than many of the earlier romantic ballads he composed. The two verses are set in binary form with a variation in the second half of the eight-measure period and a climactic five-measure extension at the end. The vocal line is unusually high (including an ossia b”) and sits in the passaggi during large portions of the song, presenting technical challenges for the singer, especially in the forte passages.