If I had words

When I heard Camille Saint-Saëns Symphony No. 3 (Finale) played over at ABC Classics this morning, I found myself filled with emotions, further aggravated by a chilly winter morning and a bit downcast from some unwelcome body aches.

For a long time I've loved Camille Saint-Saëns Symphony No. 3 in C minor "Symphony with Organ", written in 1886. Then came the film Babe, with its theme song, "If I had words", a short but with beautiful heartwarming lyrics. It became even more significant when my memory drifted to one of my recent years' concert with  Sydney Philharmonia Choirs, "Music from the Movies", conducted by our warm-hearted conductor Liz Scott. Babe's song was included.

Brief history of the song: "If I had words" was first recorded in 1978, sung by Scott Fitzgerald as a duet with Yvonne Keeley. The lyrics and arrangement were by Jonathan Hodge, a prolific writer of TV jingles and movie themes, who also produced the single. The backing was by the St Thomas More Roman Catholic School Choir in Chelsea, London. I have no idea, but wonderfully strange enough, the music was adapted from the finale movement of Camille Saint-Saëns Symphony No. 3 in C minor.

The lyrics are indeed too short and simple, but my God, they're deeply profound to me, alongside Saint-Saëns's "organ symphony" music.

Link: "If I had Words" - Here. Sung by Yvonne Keeley and Scott Fitzgerald.

If I Had Words

If I had words
To make a day for you
I sing you a morning golden and new
I would make this day

Last for all time
Give you a night
Deep in moonshine.

If I Had Words lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Music & Media Int'l, Inc

Video:  
Camille Saint-Saëns: Symphony No. 3 “Organ Symphony” (Finale), performed by the Auckland Symphony Orchestra conducted by Peter Thomas, with Timothy Noon on the Organ. From the concert "Organ Symphony" recorded November 2012 at the Auckland Town Hall. YouTube, accessed July 5, 2020.





Resource:

If I Had Words. en.wikipedia.org. 


(c) July 5, 2020. Tel. Leaves from my Musings. All rights reserved.