Has anybody ever found "The lost Chord"?

Question

Are they still looking?

Answer 1

You will have to ask Sir Arthur Sullivan - he is the only seeker after this truth that I know.

Answer 2

Sir Athur Sullivan wrote a piece about finding the lost chord. One of the few pieces he wrote without W.S. Gilbert.
Here are the lyrics (Not to worry, it's Public Domain)

Seated one day at the organ,
I was weary and ill at ease,
And my fingers wandered idly
Over the noisy keys;
I know not what I was playing,
Or what I was dreaming then,
But I struck one chord of music,
Like the sound of a great Amen,
Like the sound of a great Amen.

It flooded the crimson twilight,
Like the close of an angel’s psalm,
And it lay on my fevered spirit,
With a touch of infinite calm,
It quieted pain and sorrow,
Like love overcoming strife,
It seemed the harmonious echo
From our discordant life,
It linked all the perplexed meanings
Into one perfect peace,
And trembled away into silence,
As if it were loth to cease;

I have sought but I seek it vainly,
That one lost chord divine,
Which came from the soul of the organ,
And entered into mine.

It may be that death’s bright angel
Will speak in that chord again;
It may be that only in Heav’n
I shall hear that great Amen.
It may be that death’s bright angel
Will speak in that chord again;
It may be that only in Heav’n
I shall hear that great Amen.

Answer 3

And further to the first answer, since he is now (we hope|) in heaven he may well have rediscovered it - but he didn't actually write the poem - that was the work of one Adelaide Anne Proctor


'Seated one day at the organ,
I was weary and ill at ease,
And my fingers wandered idly
Over the noisy keys;
I know not what I was playing
Or what I was dreaming then,
But I struck one chord of music,
Like the sound of a great Amen,
Like the sound of a great Amen.

It quieted pain and sorrow,
Like love overcoming strife,
It seem�d the harmonious echo
From our discordant life.
It link�d all perplexed meanings,
Into one perfect peace,
And trembled away into silence,
As if it were loth to cease;


have sought but I seek it vainly,
That one lost chord divine,
Which came from the soul of the organ,
And enter�d into mine.

It may be that Death�s bright Angel,
Will speak in that chord again;
It may be that only in Heav�n,
I shall hear that grand Amen.
It may be that Death�s bright Angel,
Will speak in that chord again;
It may be that only in Heav�n,
I shall hear that grand Amen.'


Later: I have to scotch the myth repeated here that Sullivan wrote little music apart from when he collaborated with Gilbert. Quite wrong. He wrote quite a large corpus of music including overtures, ballet music, choral music and even a symphony ('The Irish)

Answer 4

The "lost chord" and the "secret chord" of the previous answer - they're the same thing?

Answer 5

Probably sounds similar to the one "...that David played and it pleased the Lord" from Cohen's "Hallelujah" - it's definitely NOT a French augmented sixth ;)

Answer 6

i do not know. but there are a few chords which ought to be lost.

Answer 7

Yes. At the same time I found Jesus! He was behind the sofa the whole time.