Lost Chord

The Lost Chord is a song composed by Arthur Sullivan during the time his brother Fred was seriously sick. “The text is a poem by Adelaide Proctor, which was published in The English Woman’s Journal in 1860.” ¹ Arthur finished this song in January 1877, just five days before his brother died. ²

The song was an immediate success. Today, this well-known hymn is part of the fixed repertoire at church concerts.³

At first, the song seems religious and sentimental, but looking at it more closely it also is seen as a feminist poem “describing the sentiments of Victorian women who suffered a discordant life because of gender inequality, and expressing the feeling that harmony would only be achieved in the afterlife.” ⁴

Lyrics: https://saraleeetter.com/2016/07/27/sullivans-the-lost-chord/

Interpretation of the The Lost Chord regarding the short story “A Cup of Cold Water”

“She [Miss Talcott] was looking for some one, and meant the some one to know it: he knew that Lost Chord look in her eyes.” ⁵

This term can be understood as an expression for Miss Talcott's awakened awareness of her discordant life. She has an inner conflict, trying to please everyone but herself, trying to live up to the expectations around her, set by her parents and society. At that point she knows that she has to resign herself to do what is expected of her and to let go of Woburn, a man she seemed happy to marry. Her hope is to be in charge of her own life, even if might be in her afterlife.

Or it is the other way round. The Lost Chord look can be seen as Woburn's interpretation. He now has to cut off all stings of his old life to be at peace, to set himself free.