From: The Battle Cry / A Tragedy
Category: Choral Music / Vocal Ensemble
Instrumentation: SA voices, piano
Duration: 3 minutes
Difficulty: Easy voices; intermediate piano
Text / Source: Poem by Thomas Hardy

My Love’s Gone A-Fightin’ opens with a dramatic piano introduction before giving way to a folk-like song of striking simplicity. The words depict a young woman whose lover has gone off to fight in a war, giving the movement a sweet, naïve quality touched by the shadow of loss.

Written in A-B-A form, the song contrasts direct melodic expression with the darker implications of its subject. Within The Battle Cry, it introduces the personal cost of war through the voice of someone left behind.

This movement is suitable for easy vocal forces with an intermediate piano part. The singers should preserve the song’s folk-like directness and innocence, while the pianist shapes the introduction with a stronger dramatic character.