Introduction

Piping down the valleys wild,
  Piping songs of pleasant glee,
On a cloud I saw a child,
  And he laughing said to me:

"Pipe a song about a lamb."
  So I piped with merry chear.
"Piper, pipe that song again."
  So I piped: he wept to hear.

"Drop thy pipe, thy happy pipe;
  Sing thy songs of happy chear."
So I sang the same again,
  While he wept with joy to hear.

"Piper, sit thee down and write
  In a book, that all may read."
So he vanished from my sight;
  And I pluck'd a hollow reed.

And I made a rural pen,
  And I stain'd the water clear,
And I wrote my happy songs
  Every child may joy to hear.

by William Blake (1757-1827) , "Introduction", from Songs of Innocence and Experience, in Songs of Innocence, no. 1, published 1789

Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive)

by Jean Mary Anderson (1939-) , "Reeds of Innocence", 1997, from Two Songs for Alto & Organ, no. 1.
by Phillip Thomas Bezanson (1916-1975) , "The piper", published 1959, from Songs of Innocence, no. 1.
by William Bolcom (1938-) , "Introduction", 1956-81 [soloists, madrigal group, chorus, orchestra], from Songs of Innocence, no. 1.
by Rutland Boughton (1878-1960) , "Piper's Song", op. 34b no. 1, published c1912. [two-part song for treble voices]
by Grace Bell Branning (1912-) , "Piping down the Valleys Wild"
by (William) Havergal Brian (1876-1972) , "Piping down the valleys wild", published c1929. [unison song with piano]
by George Frederick Broadhead (1883-?) , "The piper", published 1936. [unison song]
by Christopher Roland Brown (1943-) , "Piping down the valleys wild", 1962 [soprano, clarinet and piano], from Three Songs of Innocence, no. 1.
by Mary Grant Carmichael (1851-1935) , "Introduction to the Songs of Innocence", published 1876.
by Stephen Chatman (1950-) , "Piping down the valleys wild", 1984 [SATB choir and oboe (or flute, or violin, or clarinet)], from There is sweet music here, no. 4.
by Grace (Cotton) Clough-Leighter (1885-) , "The piper", published c1914. [three-part song for women's voices with piano acc.]
by Dulcie Cohen , "Piping down the valleys wild", published c1934. [two-part song for women's voices with piano acc.]
by Arnold Atkinson Cooke (1906-2005) , "Piping down the valleys wild", 1956, published 1960 [soprano, clarinet in A, piano], from Three Songs of Innocence, no. 1.
by Felix Corbett (1861-1940) , "Piping down the valleys wild", published 1889. [high voice, piano]
by Jean Coulthard (1908-2000) , "Piping down the valleys wild", 1917. [high voice, piano]
by John Charlton Crawford (1931-) , "Introd. (Piping down the valleys wild)", published 1965 [soprano, piano], from Songs of Innocence, no. 1.
by Geoffrey Gwyther , "Piping down the valleys wild", published 1917 [medium voice and piano], from Seven Poems from Blake's "Songs of Innocence", no. 1, London, The Poetry Bookshop
by Paul A. Irby , "The piper", published c1928 [voice and piano], from Three Songs of Innocence, no. 3, London, Wellington Music Publ. Co.
by (John) Michael Jacques (1944-) , "The piper", 1966 [soprano voices and piano with optional accompaniment for strings, two clarinets, and piano], from Six Songs of Innocence, no. 1.
by (Thomas) Timothy Lenk (1952-) , "Introduction (Piping down the valleys wild)", c1977 [tenor, bass-baritone, flute (piccolo), clarinet, bass clarinet, and violin], from Songs of Innocence and Experience, no. 1.
by Franco Leoni (1864-1949) , "The happy piper", published 1923 [voice and piano], from Songs of the Happy Piper: Five Little Songs, no. 1, London, J. H. Larway
by Mary Alice Lippincott (1919-) , "The piper", <<1947, published c1950 [medium voice and piano], Northbrook, IL, Opus Music
by Oskar Morawetz (1917-) , "Piping down the valleys"
by Gardner Read (1913-) , "Piping down the valleys wild", op. 76 no. 3, published 1950.
by Arthur Shepherd (1880-1958) , "The piper", alternate title: "Reeds of Innocence", published c1916 [voice and piano], Boston, C. C. Birchard
by Dmitri Nikolaevich Smirnov (1948-) , "Introduction", op. 132 no. 1 (2001) [speaker and tape], from The Innocence of Experience, no. 1.
by Sir Arthur Somervell (1863-1937) , "Piping down the valleys wild", published 1894 [voice and piano], from Five Songs of Innocence (formerly Four Songs of Innocence), no. 5, London, Stanley Lucas & Co.
by David Evan Thomas (1958-) , "Piping down the valleys wild", 2004. [medium voice, piano]
by Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872-1958) , "The piper", 1957, published 1958 [voice and oboe], from Ten Blake Songs, no. 3.

RUS Russian [singable] (Dmitri Nikolaevich Smirnov)

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