‘I Dreamt I Dwelt In Marble Halls’ is an aria from the 1843 Opera ‘The
Bohemian Girl’ by Michael William Balfe and Alfred Bunn and was very popular in
Victorian times when it was sung (around the piano) in the parlour.
I first came across it when I was a East 15 in the late eighties, when
one of the students sang it as a ‘Foyer Song’. East 15 had a ‘Foyer Songs’
session every term where everyone was required to sing a solo (or sometimes a
‘duet’) in the Foyer in front of all of the other students regardless of one’s
singing ability. A further twist was that you had to sing a song you found
difficult (maybe the notes were a trifle too high or the breathing required a
little tricky) so that it would not be an ‘easy ride’ for those who were good
at singing and just breezed in, did a song they could do well and then breezed
out again following rapturous applause.
Having heard this song it quickly became one of my favourites and I was
thrilled to discover a version by Enya on her ‘Shepherd Moon’s’ album.
This version is a modern recording but true to the original.
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