This incorporates an attempt to follow up any kind of musical allusion in the play texts and stage directions which relate to dance and other musical forms. The examples chosen to represent musical forms are mainly by Elizabethan and Jacobean Court composers, often anonymous settings, here singled out for such qualities as concision and memorability. It should not prove a hindrance to their performance that pieces in this repertoire based on tunes and motifs from the popular music of the time for the most part was written for virginals, a gentle instrument unsuited to the stage and certainly inappropriate in open air performances. Much of this fine repertoire has been adapted for consorts of recorders or other instruments, and selection of titles for inclusion in this survey has often been related to the material drawn to my attention by the enthusiasm of the compilers of anthologies.
Works cited where a composer is not given are anonymous; in general, it is such pieces, especially those from the lute books, which will often prove most apt for use as stage music.
Full bibliographical citations (together with an incipit in musical notation) including those for related music in alternative settings are to be found in the preceding play survey within the serial number sequence 1-417. If a music suggestion has not been allocated to a particular point in a play, bibliographical information is given here in the NOTES, and if there is more than one numerical reference, see under the serial number in bold type within square brackets.
Included here also are various types of signals that may be encountered, as for instance those which might lend themselves to distinguish one particular faction or ‘house’ from another as they occur in the course of the plays.
see under word following the asterisk for detailed entry in these NOTES.
L
| lament (dirge; knell; funeral music) | see also *consort songs *dead march; *goodnight, *processional; | |
| Some of the most affecting expressions of regret are in the form of part-songs from the Court of Henry VIII, especially those by CORNYSH including ‘Ah! the syghes’; | (370a, 813) 1000 | |
| ‘My love she mourneth,’ a canon, both à 3 (TTB) MB xviii 25; | 1001 | |
| and ‘Adew mes amours,’ à 4 MB xviii 8; ۞Ln6. (The introduction to MB edition, p. xx, notes its ‘barbarous Anglo-French’, ‘clearly an imitation of a contemporary French chanson’ (NOHM ii 347); | 1002 | |
| By HENRY VIII himself is another part-song, ‘Adew Madam et ma maistres’ à 4 likewise with text is in barbarous Anglo-French’ (MB xviii, p. xx) (RA9: f17v-18) ATTB MB xix 9; rSATB TE1; ۞Al 24/ ۞Go 4:2/ ۞Mt24/ ۞Si 21; | 1003 | |
| and ‘Hélas Madame’ à 4 which he passed off as his own, but was actually by Hayne van GHIZEGHEM à 3 with a part added by the King MB xviii 10; ۞Go4 iii b/ ۞Si8; this piece is also given as a *basse danse by Mabel Dolmetsch DF32-4 | 1004 | |
| Another lament by Ghizeghem is the beautiful ‘Alles regretz’ ۞Ad 17 | 1004A | |
| and from a composer associated with his court is ‘Farewell my joye’ by COWPER MB xviii 63; ۞Al 25/ ۞MnF6 iii | 1005 | |
| A truly uplifting example is the PRAETORIUS Sarabande à 5 P33 | 1006 (1050) | |
| For consort there is a BYRD In nomine no 5 à 5, whose opening gently falling phrase could have led to Duke Orsino’s exclamation ‘That strain again! It had a dying fall…’ TN I i 4-7 | (336 i) 1007 | |
| Other consort music includes the reflective rather extended piece by HOLBORNE ‘The (Countess of Pembroke’s) Funerals’ *pavan [J59], together with its galliard which have been dated 1586; | (40a ii) 1008 | |
| and his ‘Noels *galliard’ [J97]; | (336d) 1009 | |
| and DOWLAND ‘Sir Henry Umpton’s funeral’ pavan DA9; ۞CmD vi 21/ ۞DoL14/ ۞Ex9/ ۞FD9/ ۞FG i 6/ ۞RoC23; rSATTB DAb 4; which has also been played on the lute alone ۞CmD x 4, ۞OD v 19; | 1010 | |
| and there is an impressive short keyboard lament by BULL ‘My grief’ F190. | (985) 1011 | |
| On a smaller scale is ‘Il Lamento’ by MORLEY from his Firste Booke of Canzonets à 2 1595 S&B EMS1/ Peters; ed. D. Boalch; ۞DoH20 which when sung can sound rather bare, though on two treble recorders be most affecting; 2g I 12. | 1012 | |
| Valedictory pieces by BYRD include some fine consort songs for voice and 4 viols (ATT/BB): ‘Ye sacred muses’ a lament on the death of his devoted colleague, Tallis.1585, cw15:32/ BYb7; ۞FG i 25/ ۞RoE24/ ۞RoM 11 ۞Ta 1; an edition transposed down à 4th is BYb8 | 1013 | |
| two elegies for Mary Queen of Scots: 1587, the superbly moving ‘In angel’s weed I saw a noble queen’ cw15:31/ BYb5; ۞Eg9/ ۞FA i 11/ ۞Se20/ ۞RoR9, and | 1014 | |
| and the threnody ‘The Noble Famous Queen’ cw 15: 28; ۞BoEs 4b/ ۞RoR 10/ ۞Se19; which had originally been set to the words ‘While Phoebus used to dwell’; | 1015 | |
| and a Lament on the death of young Prince Henry (1612) ‘Fair Britain, Isle’ cw15:34/ BYb4; ۞FP18/ ۞RoR10; a fine rather extended contrapuntal piece which would perhaps rule it out for stage use | 1016 | |
| ‘Come to me grief, for ever’ (Madrigals, songs and canons ed. P. Brett S&B B351) cw 16: 27 is familiar perhaps in the madrigal setting à 5; surely a most perfectly moving lament EMS 13: 44; ۞CamQ15/ ۞FA i 7/ ۞RoM16/ ۞Ta9 | 1017 | |
| Other consort songs in this vein are by STROGERS ‘A doleful, deadly pang’ with STT/BB viols MB xxii 9/ WE iii 6 | 1018 | |
| and COBBOLD ‘Venus’ lamentation for Adonis “Ye woeful wights”’ MB xxii 14; ۞FP17. | 1019 | |
| The lute pieces (D) consorts (DA) and ayres of DOWLAND offer some remarkable treasures: the gently reflective ‘*Tarletones Riserrectione’ (sic) D59/ WY 14; ۞BaS25/ ۞BreG23/ ۞CmD xi 10/۞Ec 16/ ۞CQ 15/ ۞L25/ ۞Ld vi 21/ ۞Mf13/ ۞MgE5/ ۞MgM 10/ ۞OD iii 9/ ۞Ph 16, ۞St28/ ۞Th6; gHZ5/ NR19/ Db8/ Dk9; which Poulton describes as one of his small-scale masterpieces which commemorated the death of Shakespeare’s famous comic actor in 1588 (P163); | 1020 | |
| the fine bitterly introspective ‘Semper Dowland, semper dolens’, lute (PI 30v) PIv 8/ D9/ Dd6/ Dk7; ۞BoD14/ ۞CmD ix 7/ ۞Ld iii 21/ ۞Mf26/ ۞OD iii 21/ ۞RoC 10; consort DA8/ FD8; ۞CmD vi 18/ ۞DoL17/ ۞FG i 24 | 1021 (1253) | |
| ‘Forlorne hope,’ fancy, D2; | (779) 1022 | |
| *‘Fortune’ D62 which states the famous ‘Hanging tune’; also as ‘A complaint’ for 2 lutes D63. | (115b) 1023 | |
| Many of his ayres are the quintessence of melancholy, ‘Flow my tears’ being perhaps the most famous musical lament ever penned, with the version ‘Lachrymae antiquae’ for viols | (31a) 1024 | |
| Among Dowland’s other superbly lugubrious lute ayres is ‘In darkness let me dwell’ EL (ii 20, p.18) LS 16: 10/ Df 50/ WA i 12/ PM ii 25/ GR121-7; ۞Aw ii 2/ ۞BoEs3/ ۞BreE21/ ۞CamE5/ ۞CmD xii 10/ ۞HL9, which is described as having ‘a strange and beautiful melody which rises from the words with a sense of inevitability while the demands of the verbal rhythms override conventional bar lines’ (G6 v 596). Ian Spink has found it to be ‘one of the most profoundly moving songs ever written’ (p.533).and Peter Warlock as one of the great songs of English music (WB48-9). | 1025 | |
| Equally poignant are ‘Flow not so fast, ye fountains’ EL (i 10, p. 27) LS 3/ Df 36/ PM ii 16; ۞Aw ii 5/ ۞BoD12/ ۞CmD iii 8; voice + lute/guitar DLe 7; | 1026 | |
| ‘I saw my lady weep’ EL (ii, p. ) LS 3/ Df18 / PM ii 8/ WA i 4/ GR105/ FL iv 5; ۞Aw i 12/ ۞Bre E4/ ۞CmD ii 1/ ۞DeP6/ ۞KyE5/ ۞U23; +gDg1, one of the finest of all his songs (WB91) with its wealth of harmonic resource (WB47);; voice + lute/guitar DLe 5; | 1027 | |
| ‘Now, o now I needs must part’; | (188b) 1028 | |
| the elegant ‘Me, me, and none but me’ EL (i 10, p. 17) LS 3/ Df 29; ۞BoD11/ ۞CmD iii 5; | 1029 | |
| ‘Sorrow, sorrow, stay’ EL (i 5, p. 12) LS 3/ PM ii 15/ Df20/ WA v 14/ FL ii 8; ۞Aw i 16/ ۞BoD7/ ۞CamP8/ ۞Cc18/ ۞CmD ii 3; for which there is a setting by WIGTHORPE for M + SA/TTB viols as a consort song ‘Sorrow come, lend true repentant tears’ as M xxii: 65; ۞Bw9. An anonymous arrangement for consort is given in ۞CmD vii 24; | 1030 | |
| John Caldwell finds ‘Come, sorrow, come’ 1600 by MORLEY EL (i 16) LS 13: 12 ‘one of the most expressive examples of the whole epoch’ (CDh 437) | 1031 | |
| There is a plaintive *lute song by Robert JOHNSON ‘How wretched is the state’ EL LS 12 (ii 17) 8; ۞CamM3 /۞WS 16, a call to a sinner to repent, a fine dramatic song (PC121) | 1032 | |
| and ‘The Bells: A knell of Johnson’ à 5 is now attributed to that member of the family | (541) 1033 | |
| The repertoire of other European countries offers many fine examples in various genres: | ||
| LOBO, a moving motet ‘Versa est in luctum’ with its slow moving chordal treatment (Mapa mundi, Spanish church music, 10, 1978); | 1034 (1463) | |
| ENCINA, the verses of his powerfully moving villancico ‘Una sañosa porfia’ à 4 could be alternated with an instrumental quartet (in LPM EML145); rS/A/T/B + g RD5 | 1035 (1461) | |
| also by Encina is his ‘Triste España sin ventura’ à 3 GS26; 3 crumhorns LPM MCR3 | 1036 (1462) | |
| The lute song ‘O death rock me asleep…Ring out my doleful knell’ alluded to in 2H4 II iv 201 has a tolling bell-like treatment of the bass; Nigel Fortune attributes this very beautiful song as one used in the choirboy plays of the second half of the 16th century (NOHM iv l97) | (56a, 543) 1037 | |
| and there is a lament like piece ‘Entrée de luth’ which appeared in Diverses pièces mises sur le luth, Livre 1 published by Ballard in 1611 gNR50 | 1038 | |
| From the ex-patriot SIMPSON comes a consort ‘Male content’ 1621 SZ37/ MB ix 105 for strings and continuo | (640) 1039 | |
| lark | see King Lear IV vi 58 | |
| lavolta | see *volta | |
| Le Strange (L’Estrange), Sir Nicholas 1603-1655 | compiler of a ms. collection (GB-Lbl Add. 10444 part 2) SA52-191 which consists of 140 masque dances à 2 (nos. 113 and 122 unnumbered in the ms.); a good number of those included as suggested repertoire in this survey are extant in settings for larger ensemble. Cf. Jean Knowlton Dating the masque dances in BL Add. 10444 British Museum Quarterly 32 (1968) 99-102. See Composer index under his name | |
| ‘loud music’ | as a stage direction, implies the use of cornetts and sackbuts; oboes (*shawms); the reference in Per vii 92 implies clash of swords. See *hautboy; ‘*Music’ in stage directions | |
| lullaby | allusions occur in MND II ii 30 and T.A. II iii 27, and there have been a number of suggestions of what lute song the Boy might have intended to sing in JC IV iii 264 before he fell asleep while tuning his instrument; these include JOHNSON ‘Care-charming sleep’ which Ian Spink hails as among the best lute songs of his time, and Michael Pilkington as one of the most beautiful (PC123) | (115c) 1040 |
| another little gem (PC131) is JONES ‘Go to bed sweet muse’. | (115e) 1041 | |
| and the sweetly melancholic ‘Come heavy sleep’ of DOWLAND though sleep characterized as ‘the image of true death’ would perhaps be out of place in the nursery. | (115g) 1042 | |
| More appropriate in that part of the house would be perhaps the ‘exquisite lullaby’ (WB129), a moving consort song with STTB viols by BYRD ‘Lulla, lullaby my sweet little baby’ cw12: p172 original version cw16: 25/ S&B M1432/ EMS 14: 32; ۞FG i 11; A/T voice + r/S/AA/TTB OL226 i; kMB lv 53 | 1043 | |
| this is not to be confused with the best known piece in this genre, the anonymous ‘My little sweet darling,’ a most endearing consort song which has been attributed to BYRD: M + S/A TT/BB viols or rSSATB cw15, p. 105; MB xxii 25/ WE i 5; PE36-7; A/T voice + r/S/AA/TTB OL226 ii; arr as a solo song S&B SS11/ DLg 5; +g DS4; keyboard MB lv 53; lute arr. by Cutting tBYn l 1. | 1044 | |
| and another anonymous piece for voice and 4 viols is ‘Ah silly poor Joas’ MB xxii 24/ WE ii 3; ۞FP15/ ۞RoE22 | 1045 | |
| A popular madrigal by PILKINGTON à 4 (SATB) ‘Rest sweet nymph’ 1605 MB liii 32 S&B JP34; ۞BW24 is also set as a charming lute song EL LS 14/ PM ii 37/ GR215-7/ FL i 8; ۞BreE1/ ۞DeP10/ ۞HL7/ ۞KyE6/ ۞To 15; voice + g NR49/ CE/ RZ ii 7; rS/A+g DZ7; | 1046 (1112) | |
| the gentle and serious HOLBORNE galliard ‘Lullabie’ [J98] is available in versions for consort à 5, and also set for bandora or lute; | (201) 1047 | |
| likewise his ‘Cradle of conceits,’ pavan à 5 [J6] H5/ Hn i 1; lute HB (i 4) 9; cittern HC36 | 1048 | |
| and his ‘Cradle pavan’ much admired by Tim Crawford [J ] lute HC14; ۞Th18/ ۞W5; bandora HB19 pavan no. 14 would be superbly effective at soothing the fevered brow; recorder ensemble ۞Gt27 | 1049 | |
| and the plaintive, delicate ‘La Sarabande’ à 5 of PRAETORIUS P33/ Pm iv 3; ۞NeP 13/ ۞PaD 15; could also soothe to perfection. This is also in VS i 79 as ‘La Sarabande espanole’; | 1050 (1344, 1467) | |
| another Praetorius piece in this form well worth following up is ‘La Sarabande’ P34 à 4 | 1050A | |
| and Playford has a dance ‘Longways for as many as will’ ‘The Saraband’ RE38 vii | 1050B | |
| A Scottish example of the period is the Gaelic lullaby ‘Grigor Criodhal’ PS127 | 1051 | |
| see also under (evocation of ) *night | ||
| lute | the ‘Golden Age’ of the lute in Britain was the 1590s as Matthew Spring remarks (SP98) which he writes ‘was at least in part because it was pivotal to the mixed consort which was flourishing at the time’ (see *broken consort). | |
| The lute was often played by the singer him or her self, the usual instrument to accompany solo song on stage; in spite of its very gentle timbre which might have seemed to preclude its use in the theatre (especially in open air performances), is still favoured if a competent performer can be found though the ubiquitous guitar will certainly be an obvious alternative. See KEY for the many mss. lute books, notably Lodge, Dallis, Ballet and Pickering and modern editions for lute (and for guitar) of material from these which so effectively offer dances and other tunes popular in Shakespeare’s time. John Caldwell writes that the lute and its music are in many ways the epitome of Elizabethan and Jacobean culture and that keyboard instruments, in spite of their greater power, could not rival the expressive qualities of the lute (CDh 485, 488). Thurston Dart echoes this appraisal when he writes ‘in the golden years of the instrument, c1580-1620, many of the pieces may not unfairly be ranked among the finest compositions of their age,’ (see NOHM iv 701-4), considering Dowland’s solo lute works masterly in both technique and inspiration and with reason famous throughout Europe. | ||
| See also articles in LSJ and Lute News, especially W9-10, where, Christopher Wilson studies the significance of the lute in Shakespeare and in which he characterises the instrument as ‘a symbol of virtue and calm, happiness and fidelity in love,’ but also can be symbolically associated with sadness, especially love’s melancholy. The lute as accompanist would naturally be out of place on less formal occasions, e.g. roisterous songs sung when worse for drink. | ||
| In ToS there is continuous allusion to the instrument (e.g. II i and III i) and in II i 53 the poor instrument has to tolerate being used as a weapon and bearing the indignity of the player ‘spitting in the hole’ to ease tuning. Cf AS (1961) | ||
| The many anonymous pieces which the various lute books offer (e.g. LO, BA, DL, PI) form the basis of the less sophisticated repertoire appropriate for the theatre, including such a ballad tune as ‘Jiggy, joggy’ (GB-Cu 9 33 f77) t/k PO 4/ tune SB245; see article by David Scott LSJ ixx (1977) | 1052 | |
| ‘Row well ye mariners’ with Robinson’s adaptation of the ballad RS3; | (403b) 1053 | |
| ‘The maids in constrite’ (PI f30) Piv 8/ HT4; ۞U13; gSG53; | 1054 | |
| ‘Over the mountains’ which Diana Poulton includes in her anthology PO8; kMP (f54) 30; as a song ‘Love will find out the way’ MK87 | 1055 | |
| and ‘Orlando sleepeth’ (CH f55v) on which DOWLAND based his short lute piece D61/ DY53, p. 111/ HT8; ۞CmD x 23/ ۞EmH32/ ۞Md35; also in Board lute book lute/t (BO f 1 2) RN21; ۞Ld iii 12/ ۞Mf24/ ۞OD i 11; see note in JAMS x (1968) 17. | 1056 | |
| Searching for a collection of lute pieces which a guitarist beginner could tackle effectively for use on the stage is that of Martin Hodgson (HZ) which includes ‘Cutting’s Comfort’ BB19/ CF21/ HZ6/ CFj2 | 1057 | |
| and another collection has the cheerful ‘Robinson’s May’ (GB-Cu 9 33 f92-3) HT10/ gRZ i 8/ SG59 | 1058 | |
| See under the various musical forms, *alman, *coranto, *fancy, *galliard, *jig, *pavan, *volta. | ||
| see also *Orpheus legend, and *broken consort, where lute is employed with other plucked stringed instruments in vogue in Elizabethan times. | ||
| ‘The Golden Age’ and ‘The Lute in Consort’ comprising Chapters 5-7 of the monograph by Matthew Spring The Lute in Britain: a history of the instrument and its music, 2001 are an invaluable aid to understanding the place they held in the artistic life of the time and for a detailed assessment of the repertoire. | ||
| lute duets | earliest settings include pieces by DALZA which appear in various Lute Society editions, for instance there is a Piva and Saltarello 1508 in tLSoc C36: 2/ and another Piva in tLSoc C50: 1. | |
| Duets feature strongly in the work of John JOHNSON and the anthologies prepared by Nigel North (tNTi-ii), Robert Spencer (tST) and Stefan Lundgren (tLR; Johnson particularily well represented here) are invaluable. Transcriptions for 2 guitars are to be found in Noad (NR) and Jeffery (JG). | ||
| The Pickering lute book has some duets, including a number by John JOHNSON whose compositions in this medium are often based on Elizabethan ballads and dances ‘A Dump’; | (760) 1059 | |
| ‘Greensleeves’ (attrib.) a long set of variations; | (178) 1060 | |
| ‘New hunt is up’ (FD 3v, 40 LR8; ۞ChQ 17/ ۞L20 i; also entitled ‘The Honsok – the ground’ BV 10; | 1061 | |
| ‘The Queen’s treble,’ a *dump; | (761) 1062 | |
| ‘Sellenger’s round’ whose opening statement who be particularly effective for stage use; | (188d) 1063 | |
| ‘La Vecchia’ (‘Laveche’) *pavan and galliard. | 1064-5 (1277-8) | |
| Some anonymous examples are | ||
| ‘Drewries accords’ (PI f6r-6v/ BA46-7, pp. 48-9 as ‘A Fancy for the lutes’) LSoc C2: 1/ LR28; RY3; ۞Eg 19/ ۞EmH22/ ۞L 1; 2gSTg10/ NR27; | 1066 (1490) | |
| and the charming ‘Le Rossignol’ (PI f8 r-8v) tLSoc 22: 2/ LR27/ t(BO 6r 18); ۞Eg 1/ ۞L21; 2gNR18/ JG2; | (562) 1067 | |
| ‘A merry mood’ 2gST9; ۞L2; | 1068 | |
| by DOWLAND ‘My Lord Chamberlain, his *galliard’ (PI f11v-12r) D37/ LR40/ JG5/ LSoc 1; ۞BreD19/ ۞CmD vii 21/ ۞EmR 16/ ۞L5, subtitled ‘An invention for two to play on one lute,’! in which the players sit side by side and use both hands (PD149); | 1069 | |
| and FERRABOSCO The Spanish pavan (PI f10v-11) a set of elaborate variations tLR33 | (142a) 1070 | |
| From other sources come ‘Echo’ by PILKINGTON (Brogyntyn ms p.31) | (764) 1071 | |
| and by DOWLAND a version of ‘Rowland’ in ‘My Lord Willobes welcome home’ D66, surely one of the best settings of this once so famous tune | (203a) 1072 (1375) | |
| ROBINSON School of Musicke 1603 tkRS2 opens with a group of duets including | ||
| 1. ‘The Queen’s *Goodnight’; ۞ChQ8; | (109d, 900) 1073 | |
| 2. ‘Twenty ways upon the bells’ tNT ii 3/ LR44; ۞ChQ 7/ ۞L13/ ۞W 16/ ۞Wt20 | 1074 | |
| 6. ‘A *Plainsong’ tST6/ LR42/ RY 1/ Th 14; ۞W11; 2gSTg 5; | 1075 | |
| 8. ‘*Passemezo galyard’ (a *passmezzo antico) tNT ii 1/ LR46; ۞Th14/۞W12; which appears to be a reissue of ‘*Passameasures galliard’ (FD7: f5v-6) WM ii 150; steps SA p. 547 | 1076 | |
| 10. ‘A *Toy’ tST 1/ LR44/ RY4; ۞L 14/ ۞W10, 13; 2gNR31/ STg 1. | 1077 | |
| A thesis by Julia Craig McFeely (1994) incorporates (as Appendix 6) ‘Duet and consort music in solo lute sources’ (htp:/www.craigmcfeeely.force.co.uk/thesis.html) which clearly demonstrates the extended repertoire for these appealing instrumental groupings. | ||
| lute songs | see also *laments and funeral music, *lullaby, *night | |
| From the extensive repertoire of ayres of which almost all the repertoire is worth exploring by such as Dowland, Robert Johnson, Campion and Rosseter (see Composer index) there is a number of titles not already included among the suggestions for use in the course of the plays. These include ‘Awake ye woeful wights’ 1564, by EDWARDS which John Caldwell admires (CDh 335) for the ‘simplicity of the writing in this truly artistic lute song in its earliest phase’ | (42b) 1078 | |
| a selection of ayres by CAMPION, which Warlock alluded to as attractive little ditties (WB105): | ||
| ‘Fair if you expect admiring’ 1601 EL (i 13) LS8: 11/GR26/ FL iv 9; ۞HL2 | 1079 | |
| ‘I care not for these ladies’ 1601 EL (i 4) LS8: 3/ WA iii 11/ GR18-19; ۞Bw 16/ ۞DeP3/ ۞U6; rS/T + g DZ22, which Warlock described as an enchanting little tune in the manner of a country dance (WB105) and if sung with mock disdain can be most entertaining. There are also instrumental settings of the Campion air by Praetorius, P15; ۞PaD29 and by Joel Cohen ۞BaW17 | 1080 | |
| ‘It fell upon a summer’s day’ 1601 EL (i 4) LS8 / PM i 13; ۞Ec 18; | 1081 (1438) | |
| the delightfully haughty ‘My love that vowed’ 1601 EL LS8: 5; voice + g NR52; ۞HL4 | 1082 | |
| ‘Never weather-beaten saile’ EL LS5/ GR32-3/ K64; rS/T+ g DZ3; ۞Cc1; (or SATB vocal S&B JP21; | (642) 1083 | |
| ‘Now hath Flora robb’d her bow’rs’ 1607 MB liv 93/ EL (ii 21) 19: 1, with lute and bass viol ۞PaD2/ ۞Bw22,which has been described as a ‘a rather bland song’ (WP68); as a trio for STB and lute SA2 | 1084 | |
| ‘There is a garden in her face’1605 MB liv 51/ EL(7) LS / WA iv 5/ FL i 6/ PM I; ۞CamP14; | ||
| ‘What if a day’ also available in a DOWLAND lute version D79; | (495) 1086 | |
| and ‘Shall I come sweet love’ in which the composer is ‘seen at his best in half serious tender grace mingled with a rather wistful vein of sentiment’ (WB106). | (242b) 1087 | |
| By DOWLAND himself, a difficult selection to make from so many masterpieces. Peter Warlock declared that he never failed to ‘recreate the full beauty of the poet’s thought in music’(WB51): | ||
| ‘Awake sweet love’ 1597 EL (i 1, p.17) LS1/ DI 3/ Df 16/ FL iii 9/ PM ii 7; gRZ i 5; ۞Aw i 1 ۞BoD4/ ۞BreE6/ ۞CmD i 19/ ۞U14; +g Dh2 of which there is also a solo lute setting by CUTTING; ۞OD iv 16; voice+lute/guitar DIe 3 | 1088 | |
| ‘Can she excuse my wrongs with virtue’s cloak’ 1597 | (353c, 879) 1089 | |
| ‘Come again, sweet love doth now invite’ 1597 EL (i 1, p.66) LS1/ Df 14/ FL ii 1/ PM ii 6/ Sm38; facsimile (BL iii f26v 22); ۞Aw i 4/ ۞BoD1/ ۞BreF17/ ۞CmD i 17/ ۞Mh5/ ۞Ta 14; voice + g Dh1; voice+lute/guitar DIe 1; as a madrigal ۞Q6; instrumental arrangement by van Eyck ۞CmD vii 22; gSG38; | 1090 | |
| ‘Come away, come sweet love’ 1597 EL (i 1, p.42) LS1/ Df 10/ PM ii 4/ GR98; ۞CamE15/ ۞CmD i 11/ ۞DeP3; which Diana Poulton describes as one of the most serene and lyrical of all Dowland’s songs (PD232) of which there is also a version for solo lute, D60; ۞CmD viii 26/ ۞Ld iv 10/ ۞OD iv 18/ ۞U24, and as a madrigal ۞Q8; | 1091 | |
| ‘Go, nightly cares’ 1612 EL (i 12-14) LS4: 9; ۞BreF14/ ۞CmD iv 9, which also exists as a consort song with viols + lute; ۞FG i 16 | 1092 | |
| ‘It was a time when silly bees’ 1603 EL (i 10) LS: / Df37/ PE88-9; ۞CamQ4/ ۞CmD iii 18 | 1093 | |
| ‘Lady, if you so spite me’ 1610 (i 16: 19) LS4: 9/ WA i 14/ RD8/ PM ii 26; ۞BoD16/ ۞CmD xii 14; Simpson included this in his Taffel-consort 1621 à 4 + continuo, merely headed ‘Aria’ SZ19/ DA26 which, as Bernard Thomas notes, follows the bass line of Dowland’s lute song; ۞Aw ii 1/ ۞CmD xii 4 | 1094 | |
| ‘My thoughts are winged with hope’ 1597 | (881) 1095 | |
| ‘Say, Love, if ever thou didst find’ 1603 EL (i 10, p. 23) LS3/ Df 30/ Dl 6; ۞Aw ii 8/ ۞BreE7/ ۞CmD iii 7/ ۞Eg 18/ ۞Ta7/ ۞U12; voice+lute/guitar DIe 8 | 1096 | |
| ‘Shall I sue, shall I seek for grace’ 1600 EL (i 6, p. 74) LS2/ Df26/ PM ii 10; ۞Aw i 15/ ۞BoD8/ ۞BreE12/ ۞Bw 11/ ۞CmD ii 19/ ۞DeP2/ ۞U22; voice+lute/guitar DIe 6 | 1097 | |
| ‘Sleep wayward thoughts’ 1597 | (208a) 1098 | |
| ‘Time stands still’ 1603 EL(i 10, p.6) LS3/ Df28/ Dl 12/ WA iii 8/ PM ii; ۞Aw ii 9/ ۞CamQ 11/ ۞CmD iii 2/ ۞Eg7; voice+lute/guitar DIe 12 | 1099 | |
| ‘Weep ye no more sad fountains’ 1603 | (115a) 1100 | |
| ‘Were every thought an eye’ 1612 EL (xii p.28) LS 4/ Df43; ۞CmD iv 6; Simpson made a version à 4 + continuo which he entitled ‘Courant’ SZ10/ DA25; ۞CmD xii 3 | 1101 | |
| ‘What if I never speed, shall I straight yield to despair?’ 1603 EL (i 10, p. 31) LS3/ Df32/ PM ii 18/ HM163b; ۞Aw ii 4/ ۞BoD10/ ۞BreE26/ ۞CmD iii 9; SATB voices in MBvi/ HM163a; +g Dg3 | 1102 | |
| ‘Who ever thinks or hopes of love’ 1597 EL (i 1-2) LS 1/ Df2; ۞CmD i 2; +rA + g Di 1 | 1103 | |
| FERRABOSCO ‘Fain I would’ 1609 EL ii 16/ WA ii 17/ PM i 41 is short and sweet, simple but not too obvious’ (PC109) | 1104 | |
| FORD ‘Since first I saw your face’ 1607 EL LS 11/ PM i 49/ GR147-8/ K60/ C313-4/ MK200-1 ۞Cc4; M + g WS7; rST Z19; arr. gRZ ii 9 | 1105 | |
| Robert JOHNSON whose ayres are noted for their simplicity and charm: | ||
| ‘As I walked forth’ EL ii 17/ G125/ MK61; ۞KyJ 4/ ۞WS3; | 1106 | |
| ‘Dear, do not your fair beauty wrong’ EL (ii 17) LS 12: 3/ PM I/ CU24; ۞CamM4; | 1107 | |
| ‘How wretched is the state’ a remarkably fine lament; and | (1032) 1108 | |
| and the justly famous (NOHM iv 218) ‘Have you seen the white lily grow’, an exquisite setting (SN55) which Anthony Rooley describes one of the most touchingly poignant songs in the theatrical repertoire (KyJ22); facsimile BL i (f17v) 29; EL (ii 17) LS 12: 24/ CU26; ۞BaS 20/ ۞BreE19/ ۞CamM9/ ۞KyJ22. | 1109 | |
| Peter Warlock described the 1605 HUME song with lyra *viol, ‘Faine would I change that note’ as ‘one of the most perfect melodies ever penned by an Englishman’ (WB 84), an appreciation echoed in SN55; facsimile BL iii (f23)39; ELS ii 21: 18/ WA iv 3/ GR158-160. | 1110 | |
| JONES ‘Beauty sat bathing’ is ‘this composer at his best, an exquisitely turned melody perfectly matched to its text’ (PC109); | (284) 1111 | |
| PILKINGTON ‘Rest sweet nymphs,’ (better known as a part song SATB) | (1046) 1112 | |
| ROSSETER ‘What is a daie’ facsimile BL iii 25; EL (i 8-9) LS 15: 18/ WA iv 13; ۞BreE22; gRZ i 2; rS + k HU5; | 1113 | |
| ‘What then is love’ EL(i 8-9) LS15 / WA i 18/ F iii 5/ PM ii ; ۞BreE7/ ۞Bw5/ ۞Cc11/ ۞DeP9; +g DS2; | 1114 | |
| ‘When Laura smiles’ 1601 EL (i 8-9) LS15: 9/ PM ii 42/ GR218-9/ WA i 13/ FL i 3; ۞BreE3/ ۞CamQ13; rS + g DZ8 which Michael Pilkington described as a ‘marvellous exercise in phrasing controlled by words rather than music, which can have almost magical results’ (PC156). | 1115 | |
| Anthony Rooley includes an anonymous setting of Sir Thomas Wyatt’s poem ‘Blame not my lute’ (as no 23 in his Penguin Book of early music 1980) based on an Italian *saltarello à 4 ‘La Gamba’, lute solo WM ii 126. | 1116 (1268, 1389) | |
| Other lute songs mentioned under various headings can be traced from the TITLE INDEX | ||
| lyra viol | see * viol |