Tag: Alastair McLachlan

Con il suo ensemble, The Broadside Band, Jeremy Barlow ha lavorato a lungo e proficuamente sulle musiche utilizzate da Johann Christoph Pepusch nell’Opera del mendicante (The Beggar’s Opera, 1728) di John Gay: la quale è l’unica ballad opera di cui si parli ancora ai nostri giorni, grazie anche al rifacimento brechtiano del 1928, Die Drei­groschenoper, che adotta però musiche originali composte da Kurt Weill. Per l’Opera del mendicante invece, com’è noto, Pepusch adattò i testi di Gay a melodie che all’epoca avevano una certa notorietà, prendendole a prestito da broadside ballads, arie d’opera, inni religiosi e canti di tradizione popolare.
Oltre a produrre un’edizione completa del lavoro di Gay e Pepusch, Barlow e la sua band hanno inciso (per Harmonia Mundi, 1982) anche un’antologia degli airs più famosi (in tutto nove brani), di ciascuno dei quali proponendo non solo la versione dell’Opera del mendicante ma anche la composizione originale e eventuali altre sue trasformazioni, varianti e parodie.
L’ultima sezione dell’antologia, che qui sottopongo alla vostra attenzione, è dedicato a Greensleeves. Comprende, nell’ordine:

1. una improvvisazione sul passamezzo antico, eseguita al liuto da George Weigand

2. Greensleeves, la più antica versione nota della melodia (dal William Ballet’s Lute Book, c1590-1603) con la più antica versione nota del testo (da A Handful of Pleasant Delights, 1584), cantata da Paul Elliott accompagnato al liuto da Weigand [1:13]

   Alas, my love, you do me wrong,
   To cast me off discourteously.
   And I have loved you so long,
   Delighting in your company.

    Greensleeves was all my joy,
    Greensleeves was my delight,
    Greensleeves was my heart of gold,
    And who but my Lady Greensleeves.

   I have been ready at your hand,
   To grant whatever you wouldst crave,
   I have both waged life and land,
   Your love and goodwill for to have.

   Well I will pray to God on high
   That thou my constancy mayst see,
   And that yet once before I die,
   Thou wilt vouchsafe to love me.

   Greensleeves, now farewell, adieu,
   God I pray to prosper thee,
   For I am still thy lover true,
   Come once again and love me.

3. Greensleeves, la versione più diffusa all’inizio del Seicento, secondo William Cobbold (1560 - 1639) e altri autori, con improvvisazioni eseguite da Weigand alla chitarra barocca e da Rosemary Thorndycraft al bass viol [4:07]

4. la versione dell’Opera del mendicante che già conosciamo, interpretata ancora da Elliott a solo [5:27]

5. un misto di tre jigs irlandesi eseguito da Barlow al flauto e da Alastair McLachlan al violino [6:03]:
   – A Basket of Oysters (da Moore’s Irish Melodies, 1834)
   – A Basket of Oysters or Paddythe Weaver (Aird’s selection, 1788)
   – Greensleeves (versione raccolta a Limerick nel 1852)

With his ensemble, The Broadside Band, Jeremy Barlow worked extensively and profitably on the music used by Johann Christoph Pepusch in John Gay’s The Beggar’s Opera (1728): it is the only ballad opera that is still talked about today, thanks also to Bertolt Brecht’s 1928 remake, Die Dreigroschenoper, which however features original music composed by Kurt Weill. The Beggar’s Opera is quite different: Pepusch adapted Gay’s texts to tunes that were already well known at the time, borrowing from popular ballads, opera arias, religious hymns and folk songs.
Barlow and his band recorded a complete edition of Gay and Pepusch’s work, as well as an anthology of its most famous arias (nine pieces in all), included not only the version from The Beggar’s Opera, but also the original composition and some of its variants and parodies.
The last track in that anthology, the one I’m submitting to you here, is dedicated to Greensleeves. It includes, in order:

1. a lute extemporisation on passamezzo antico ground, performed by George Weigand

2. Greensleeves, earliest version of melody (from William Ballet’s Lute Book, c1590-1603) with earliest surviving words (A Handful of Pleasant Delights, 1584), sung by Paul Elliott accompanied on lute by Weigand [1:13]

   Alas, my love, you do me wrong,
   To cast me off discourteously.
   And I have loved you so long,
   Delighting in your company.

    Greensleeves was all my joy,
    Greensleeves was my delight,
    Greensleeves was my heart of gold,
    And who but my Lady Greensleeves.

   I have been ready at your hand,
   To grant whatever you wouldst crave,
   I have both waged life and land,
   Your love and goodwill for to have.

   Well I will pray to God on high
   That thou my constancy mayst see,
   And that yet once before I die,
   Thou wilt vouchsafe to love me.

   Greensleeves, now farewell, adieu,
   God I pray to prosper thee,
   For I am still thy lover true,
   Come once again and love me.

3. Greensleeves, the most widespread version at the beginning of the seventeenth century, according to William Cobbold (1560 - 1639) and other authors, with improvisations performed by Weigand on baroque guitar and by Rosemary Thorndycraft on bass viol [4:07]

4. The Beggar’s Opera version (we already know it) sung by Elliott a solo [5:27]

5. a medley of three Irish jigs performed by Barlow on flute and Alastair McLachlan on violin [6:03]:
   – A Basket of Oysters (from Moore’s Irish Melodies, 1834)
   – A Basket of Oysters or Paddythe Weaver (Aird’s selection, 1788)
   – Greensleeves (collected Limerick 1852).