The Parting Before the Battle

THE PARTING BEFORE THE BATTLE was written by Thomas Moore (1779-1852) an Irish writer, poet and lyricist celebrated for his Irish Melodies. He is best remembered for the lyrics of The Minstrel Boy and The Last Rose of Summer and one of the first recognized champions of freedom in Ireland. As an impressionable young man with a "quick Irish temper," the execution of a close college friend during the United Irishmen's Rebellion aroused in Moore a patriotic fervor that provided his greatest literary inspiration. Thomas Moore's best known work included a brilliant biographical masterpiece taken from the confidential memoirs of Lord Byron. His own Memoirs, Journal, and Correspondence are an invaluable social record of life in England and Ireland during the first half of the nineteenth century. James W. Knox, composer, depicts a battle of the brave Irish men and women who have courageously fought against those who seek destruction. The chorus should sing with great boldness and display a sense of honorable pride. To create a dramatic affect, James also used Erse or Gaelic with an ancient proverb, "Ni neart go cur le cheile." (There is no strength without unity.) This text is used throughout the piece in addition to the poem. The proverb is set to the melody of "Dies irae" , which is a famous Gregorian chant dating back to the 13th century and is found as part of the Latin sequence in the Requiem.