“Rarely, if ever, have the words and music of this folk song been so beautifully merged that both love and despair are both heard and felt. A wonderful baritone solo opens and closes the piece, and the accompaniment has a storytelling effect to complement the choral parts. Teaching opportunities in the areas of dynamics, phrase shaping, and blend and balance abound in this arrangement.”

Black is the Color

About the Piece

The Text

Black is the color of my true love’s hair,
Her lips are something wondrous fair.
The prettiest face and the daintiest hands,
I love the grass whereon she stands.

I love my love, and well she knows,
I love the grass whereon she goes.
If she on earth no more I see,
My life will quickly heed ye.

I’ll go to troublesome to mourn, to weep,
But satisfied, I ne’er shall sleep.
I’ll write her a note in a few little lines,
And suffer death ten thousand times.

Black is the color of my true love’s hair,
Her lips are something wondrous fair.
The prettiest face and the daintiest hands,
I love the grass whereon she stands.

- Traditional Scottish Folksong