1968
Solitary Hotel (op. 41, no. 4)
Composed by 
Samuel Barber
Samuel Barber Text by 
James Joyce
James Joyce Despite and Still, Op. 41 Song Collection
“Solitary Hotel” is the fourth song in Samuel Barber’s cycle Despite and Still, Op. 41. It is based on a passage from James Joyce’s Ulysses. Barber sets a “love-at-first-sight” encounter by juxtaposing a punctuated melodic line against the passionate tango-like accompaniment.
Text
Text by James Joyce
from his work Ulysses
Solitary hotel in a mountain pass.
Autumn. Twilight. Fire lit.
In dark corner young man seated.
Young woman enters.
Restless. Solitary. She sits.
She goes to window. She stands.
She sits. Twilight. She thinks.
On solitary hotel paper she writes.
She thinks. She writes. She sighs.
Wheels and hoofs. She hurries out.
He comes from his dark corner.
He seizes solitary paper.
He holds it towards fire. Twilight.
He reads. Solitary. What?
In sloping, upright and backhands:
Queen’s hotel, Queen’s hotel, Queen’s ho . . .
Related Information
The Hampsong Foundation
hampsongfoundation.org/samuel-barber-song-texts/#solitaryhotelSheet Music
Video