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The Worlds of Gilbert and Sullivan

This tune is based on the theme from Alexander Borodin's String Quartet Number 2, from Nocturne.

This exquisite nocturne became the subject of one of the loveliest Love Songs in Kismet. Here are some of the words to: And This is My Beloved, by Robert Wright and George Forrest, to whet your appetite. They don't quite fit with Alexander's tune, but you get the beautiful idea. 

The show song in Act Two is a complex number involving The Poet, his daughter Marsinah, The Caliph (in love with Marsinah) and The Wazir. The song was also published as a solo which very quickly became top of the pops:

Dawn's promising skies,
Petals in a pool drifting,
Imagine these in one pair of eyes,
And this is my beloved . . .

Strange spice from the South,
Honey from the comb sifting.
Imagine these on one eager mouth,
And this is my beloved . . .

And when she(he) speaks
And when she(he) talks to me
Music, Mystery
And when she(he) moves
And when she(he) walks with me
Paradise suddenly near!

All that can stir,
All that can stun,
All that's for the heart lifting;
Imagine these in one perfect one,
And this is my beloved,
And this is my beloved.

We hope you have enjoyed two minutes of absolute musical bliss with  Alexander's Nocturne. We have used an orchestral harp (used extensively in Kismet) in our MusicSmiles arrangement, and that other 'instrument of the gods', a violin, as our main solo instrument. 

Now is the time for you to obtain and hear the full string quartet, or to get a disc of Kismet and hear the love song sung. Better still, see a live performance of one or other. Either way you won't be disappointed.

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