Duration: 6:30
ABOUT THE COMPOSITION
Lord Byron conveys a depth of emotion through his use of imagery in his poem, “She Walks In Beauty.” An important part of that imagery is his use of antithesis to describe the all-encompassing depth of the subjects inner and outer beauty Phrases such as “dark and bright” or “one shade the more one ray the less” are two examples of this antithesis. To me, the use of such contrasting extremes captures a perfect balance, mysteriousness, and an unworldly beauty found within the subject
The imagery of this poem is, in my opinion, one of the reasons this poem is such a challenge to set musically Before I began to compose, I knew that the musical language had to fit that idea of antitheses and perfection. It needed to be complex, simple, delicate, powerful, heavy, light, dark, and bright.
I could enumerate the various ways in which I attempted to capture the various feelings I sought to capture, but I will distill that list to a couple of items. First, I felt the melody had to be pure and buoyant to capture the grace and virtue of the subject. For that reason, I felt it was important to base the pitch collection of my melody around the fifth of a chord. Tonic always feels grounded to me, and the fifth would allow the music to feel a little mysterious and ethereal. Instrumentally, I wanted to include metallic percussion to capture the shimmering quality of light and the majesty found within the second stanza. Coincidentally, I also appreciate that in French, “Belle” translates for beauty.
For years I attempted to set music to this poem, but always failed. In my opinion, this poem is about sincere admiration rather than lust. Love is such a deep, complex, and profound word. I always thought I knew what it meant, but it wasn’t until I met my wife that I truly began to understand what “love” meant. The depth of appreciation one has for every facet of someone’s personality is indescribable. The light, the dark, the all-encompassing gratitude one can have for another human being is unimaginable If it wasn’t for my wife, I don’t know if I could have begun to scratch the surface of this beautiful poem.
-Zachary Moore
SHE WALKS IN BEAUTY
She walks in beauty, like the night Of cloudless climes and starry skies; And all that’s best of dark and bright Meet in her aspect and her eyes; Thus mellowed to that tender light Which heaven to gaudy day denies.
One shade the more, one ray the less, Had half impaired the nameless grace Which waves in every raven tress, Or softly lightens o’er her face; Where thoughts serenely sweet express, How pure, how dear their dwelling-place
And on that cheek, and o’er that brow, So soft, so calm, yet eloquent, The smiles that win, the tints that glow, But tell of days in goodness spent, A mind at peace with all below, A heart whose love is innocent!
-Lord Byron (1788-1824)
To Dr. Frank A. Watkins and the Master Singers in celebration of their 32nd Season! May the gift of music, forever bind us together Dedicated to my loving wife, Courtney Moore.
She Walks In Beauty
for SATB, piano and opt. perc. Duration: ca. 6:30
Words by: LORD BYRON (1788 - 1824)
Etherial and pure (
= ca. 65)
Shewalksinbeauty.
Music by: ZACHARY J. MOORE ©2025 by Zachary J. Moore zacharyjmoore.com
nightofcloudlessclimes
Soprano
Piano
Somber and Sweet ( = ca. 40)
Somber and Sweet ( = ca. 40)
Expresive and sincere (
smiles that win, the
tints that
smiles that win, the
smiles that win, the
tints that glow,
smiles that win the
good ness spent,
mind
good ness spent,
good ness spent,
good ness spent,
heart
heart
heart
heart
Music by: ZACHARY J. MOORE Words by: LORD BYRON (1788-1824)