Today’s Video of the Day is a performance of the James Joyce poem ‘Silently, She’s Combing’ to music composed by Desmond Earley, performed by the Choral Scholars of University College Dublin.

The track appears on James Joyce: Chamber Music Volume 1 which was released on September 20 on Signum Classics. The album consists of world premiere recordings of works written to accompany poems by James Joyce from his 1907 collection ‘Chamber Music.’ Joyce wrote a letter to his brother expressing the hope that ‘Chamber Music’ would one day be set to music.

The piece captures the ethereal imagery of a woman silently combing her hair. Accompanied by an arrangement for voices and small ensemble, the music mirrors the introspective themes of distance and indifference. The Choral Scholars of University College Dublin are the first Irish choral ensemble to wrap James Joyce’s suite of songs in Irish choral voice. Joyce attended University College Dublin himself.