These four early songs show Duarte trying out different styles of word-setting and accompaniments. Cradle Song Op. 16 was written in 1950 and dedicated to the Brazilian singer-guitarist, Olga Coelho. The text is by the Irish poet, Padraic Colum (1881-1972) and taken from his collection Wild Earth (1907). In Duarte’s unpublished autobiography he comments, “My first song, Cradle song, Op.16 (1950) was dedicated to Olga Coelho and she still believes it was intended to celebrate the birth of her son, at about that time. If I had known of it then, it would have been, but I did not!”
Grown-Up Op. 20, No. 1, written in 1955, was planned to be the first of a series of songs with easy guitar accompaniment. However, this is the only surviving song. The text is by Edna St. Vincent Millay (1892-1950) and is taken from her collection A Few Figs from Thistles (1920). The text reflects Duarte’s liking for short, pithy settings.
The Two Songs Op. 23 (Sister, Awake! and Airly Beacon) were written in 1957 for a student singer and John Williams, who both studied at the Royal College of Music, London. These settings are more vigorous and technically challenging, with wide-ranging leaps for the singer and added interest for the guitar.
The texts Duarte uses differ slightly from the poets’ originals. Where this happens, I have put Duarte’s text in brackets, above the relevant words in the score.
