|
Amelia Woodforde-Finden
Heighes' youngest son, Revd John Woodforde, sometime rector of North Curry in Somerset, married Rebecca Hamilton and had five children. Their eldest son was Dr Robert Woodforde who married Sarah Wright. Their eldest son, Dr John Woodforde of Bridgwater, also in Somerset, had four children of whom the youngest was Melliora Woodforde. She married George Corfield Finden sometime of Gloucester Terrace, Hyde Park, London. She was one of nine children. Their only son was Lt Col Woodford Woodforde-Finden (1846-1916), a brigadier and surgeon, who married Amy Ward. He served with the 11 Bengal Cavalry, the 2nd Gurkhas. He died on 27 April 1916 after which her mother relocated Amy and the family back to London. Around that time Amy displayed a skill for composition and became a student of Carl Schloesser and Amy Horrocks. Her early work, published as Amy Ward, though promising was received only tepidly. Amy is known as a prolific composer of `eastern ditties,' which
effectively captured the mood and morals of the period. The Indian Love Lyrics were originally self-published in 1902 but because of its popularity and the influence of Hamilton Earle, were eventually published by Boosey & Co. The popularity of Kashmiri Songs and kept her in the good graces of her publishing house and in the hearts of her audience. Her songs are noted for their sentimentality, their romantic fluidity and how they blend a particularly British, middle class sensibility with an Asian pastiche. In the years that followed the success of Kashmiri Songs Amy composed On Jhelum River, The Pagoda of Flowers and Stars of the Desert. The year 1916 was a bittersweet one for Amy, she lost her husband in April and her work was featured in the film Less Than Dust.. This is just the first of her work to be showcased in film. In 1943 Kashmiri Songs would be used in the film Hers To Hold. |
|||
|
KASHMIRI SONG
Pale hands I loved beside the Shalimar, Where are you now? Who lies beneath your spell? Whom do you lead on Rapture's roadway, far, Before you agonise them in farewell? Pale hands, pink-tipped, like lotus-buds that float On those cool waters where we used to dwell, I would have rather felt you round my throat Crushing out life than waving me farewell! Pale hands I loved beside the Shalimar, Where are you now? Where are you now? Pale hands, pink-tipped, like Lotus buds that float On those cool waters where we used to dwell, I would have rather felt you round my throat Crushing out life, than waving me farewell! Pale hands I loved beside the Shalimar, Where are you now? Where are you now?
|
|||
 |
 |
||
|
Adela Florence (Violet) Nicolson aka Lawrence Hope (1865-1904) |
|||
|
‘As
a composer, Amy Woodforde-Finden was something of a mina [sic] bird,
metaphorically speaking,’ write Michael R. Turner and Anthony Miall in
The Edwardian Song Book (1982). ‘She seems to have been able to
slip into a sari or a kimono as the subject required and to draw on a
great wealth of half-remembered musical phrases to suit the poetry she
was setting.’
Amy Woodforde-Finden lived on until 1919 and, according to Turner and Miall, ‘died—still composing—at the piano in her London flat and was buried at Hampsthwaite in Yorkshire, where her memorial, a recumbent figure in white marble, is `something to behold’. The memorial (below) can be seen in the context of the church and area by visiting this site.
|
|||
| Pale Hands I Loved Beside the
Shalimar is a beautiful Edwardian love song obviously inspired by
time spent in India by the composers, Lawrence Hope and Amy
Woodforde-Finden. At the beginning of the 20th Century, with British Rule, the adventure and exotic romance of India, and Edward VII ascending the throne, there was a love affair between England and Eastern poetry and music. |
|||
 |
 |
||
|
Amy's songs are still in demand, and many are on CD recordings on current release. A music reviewer, Anne Ozorio, recently wrote of Amy's music: "Amy Woodforde-Finden typified the Englishwoman Abroad, living in the colonies, but as a privileged observer from outside. Eroticism is "safe" if the cultural context is alien and Empire is unchallenged. Her If in the great bazaars is pastiche Arabic, complete with a chorus of "la, la, la" imitating an Arabic call. The subject may be Moorish but the perspective is unwaveringly Home Counties middle class."
|
|||
 |
 |
||
| The lyric of this song was taken from a particularly beautiful piece of poetry in a collection written by Laurence Hope. The song was immensely popular in Edwardian England. Quite a scandal followed the publishing of these volumes of poetry when it was revealed that Lawrence Hope was the pseudonym for Adela Florence Cory, the wife of an Indian Army General. It is thought that the two women never met. | |||
|
Amy's Musicography Four Indian Love Lyrics. The words from "The Garden of Karma" by Laurence Hope Stars of the Desert. Four more Indian Love Lyrics by Laurence Hope The Pagoda of Flowers. A Burmese story in song, written by Frederick John Fraser Aziza. Three oriental songs. The words by Frederick John Fraser A Dream of Egypt. Song cycle. The words by Charles Hanson Towne The Magic Casement. Song Cycle. The words by Charles Hanson Towne The Myrtles of Damascus. A set of five songs, the words by Charles Hanson Towne A Lover in Damascus. A set of six songs, he words by Charles Hanson Towne Five Little Japanese Songs. The words by Charles Hanson Towne On Jhelum River. A Kashmiri Love Story written by Frederick John Fraser Golden Hours. A set of four songs, the words by Gilbert Parker Three Little Mexican Songs. Founded on old Mexican Airs. The words by Harold Simpson
|
|||
Comments and
contributions to this site are welcome.
Text and design © Stephen Butt 2004 - rev
14/03/11
"The legacy Amy Woodforde-Finden leaves is one of bridging cultures with music and words. She interpreted the sounds and motives of Asian-South Asian music to an American-European audience and transported the listener to a world of romance and the exotic." |
|||
