Philip Rosseter (1567 o 1568 - 5 maggio 1623): What then is love but mourning?, ayre (1601). Alfred Deller, haute-contre, e Desmond Dupré, liuto.
What then is love but mourning?
What desire but a selfburning?
Till she that hates doth love return,
Thus will I mourn,
Thus will I sing,
Come away, come away my darling.
Beauty is but a blooming,
Youth in his glory entombing,
Time hath a while which none can stay,
Then come away,
While thus I sing,
Come away, come away my darling.
Summer in winter fadeth,
Gloomy night heav’nly light shadeth,
Like to the mourn are Venus’ flowers,
Such are her hours,
Then will I sing,
Come away, come away my darling.
Giulio Caccini, detto Giulio Romano (c1550 - 1618): Amarilli, mia bella, madrigale su testo di Battista Guarini (pubblicato nella raccolta Le nuove musiche, 1602, n. 8). Alfred Deller, haute-contre; Desmond Dupré, liuto.
Amarilli, mia bella,
non credi, o del mio cor dolce desio,
d’esser tu l’amor mio?
Credilo pur, e se timor t’assale,
prendi questo mio strale,
aprimi il petto e vedrai scritto in core:
Amarilli, Amarilli, Amarilli è il mio amore.
Anonymous (second half of the sixteenth century, British): Greensleeves. Alfred Deller, countertenor; Desmond Dupre, lute.
Deller’s interpretation gives us the opportunity to hear both the oldest known version of Greensleeves tune and some stanzas taken from the first known edition of the lyrics, a 1584 collection entitled A Handful of Pleasant Delites. Here is the full text (italicized stanzas are omitted by Deller):
Alas, my love, you do me wrong
To cast me off discourteously,
For I have loved you well and 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 would crave;
I have both waged life and land,
Your love and good-will for to have.
I bought three kerchers to thy head,
That were wrought fine and gallantly;
I kept them both at board and bed,
Which cost my purse well-favour’dly.
I bought thee petticoats of the best,
The cloth so fine as fine might be:
I gave thee jewels for thy chest;
And all this cost I spent on thee.
Thy smock of silk both fair and white,
With gold embroidered gorgeously;
Thy petticoat of sendall right;
And this I bought thee gladly.
Thy girdle of gold so red,
With pearls bedecked sumptously,
The like no other lasses had;
And yet you do not love me!
Thy purse, and eke thy gay gilt knives,
Thy pin-case, gallant to the eye;
No better wore the burgess’ wives;
And yet thou wouldst not love me!
Thy gown was of the grassy green,
The sleeves of satin hanging by;
Which made thee be our harvest queen;
And yet thou wouldst not love me!
Thy garters fringed with the gold,
And silver aglets hanging by;
Which made thee blithe for to behold;
And yet thou wouldst not love me!
My gayest gelding thee I gave,
To ride wherever liked thee;
No lady ever was so brave;
And yet thou wouldst not love me!
My men were clothed all in green,
And they did ever wait on thee;
All this was gallant to be seen;
And yet thou wouldst not love me!
They set thee up, they took thee down,
They served thee with humility;
Thy foot might not once touch the ground;
And yet thou wouldst not love me!
For every morning, when thou rose,
I sent thee dainties, orderly,
To cheer thy stomach from all woes;
And yet thou wouldst not love me!
Thou couldst desire no earthly thing,
But still thou hadst it readily,
Thy music still to play and sing;
And yet thou wouldst not love me!
And who did pay for all this gear,
That thou didst spend when pleased thee?
Even I that am rejected here,
And thou disdainst to love me!
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!
From a reprint, dated 1878, of A Handful of Pleasant Delites
Greensleeves cannot be missing from an anthology of Shakespearean music: the ballad of the beautiful green-sleeved lady is in fact mentioned twice in the comedy The Merry Wives of Windsor (first published in 1602, though believed to have been written in or before 1597). Its plot is well known: the pot-bellied and cash-strapped knight John Falstaff awkwardly tries to seduce two ladies, Mistress Ford and Mistress Page, married to wealthy merchants living in Windsor (in Berkshire); by gaining their favour, Sir John hopes to fix his financial woe, but is quickly unmasked: the wives find he sent them identical love letters and take revenge by playing tricks on Falstaff.
When the hoax comes to light, Mistress Ford comments on the fact with these words (act 2, scene 1):
I shall think the worse of fat men, as long as I have an eye to make difference of men’s liking: and yet he would not swear; praised women’s modesty; and gave such orderly and well-behaved reproof to all uncomeliness, that I would have sworn his disposition would have gone to the truth of his words; but they do no more adhere and keep place together than the Hundredth Psalm to the tune of Green Sleeves.
It’s true: Psalm 100 does not adhere to Greensleeves; but it must be said that this is a purely metrical matter — the verses of the psalm («O be joyful in the Lord, all ye lands» according to the Great Bible, 1539) do not fit at all to the tune of the ballad — and not a sort of moral prohibition. Adapting a sacred text to a familiar secular melody (this is called contrafactum) has never been a problem, and we have already seen (click here) that Greensleeves itself has given its tune to a religious chant.
The last prank against Falstaff takes place in the forest of Windsor, where he is invited to go, dressed as a hunter, for a love rendezvous (act 5, scene 5). «Sir John!» says Mistress Ford, «Art thou there, my deer? my male deer?»; Falstaff replies by stating that «a tempest of provocation» will not be able to distract him from her, even if the sky thunders «to the tune of Green Sleeves»:
My doe with the black scut! Let the sky rain potatoes; let it thunder to the tune of Green Sleeves, hail kissing-comfits and snow eringoes; let there come a tempest of provocation, I will shelter me here.
(A few brief explanations:
– potatoes: when the potato was introduced to Europe, precisely at the time of Shakespeare, it was considered an aphrodisiac;
– kissing-comfits: perfumed sugar sweets, used to freshen the breath;
– eringoes: does not refer to the herbaceous plants of this name, but to the pleurotus eryngii, called king trumpet or king oyster mushroom, considered an aphrodisiac since ancient times.)
Anonimo inglese della seconda metà del Cinquecento: Greensleeves. Alfred Deller, controtenore; Desmond Dupré, liuto.
L’interpretazione di Deller e Dupré ci dà modo di ascoltare la più antica versione conosciuta della melodia e, insieme, alcune strofe tratte dalla prima edizione nota del testo, una raccolta del 1584 intitolata A Handful of Pleasant Delites. Ecco il testo completo (le parti in corsivo sono omesse da Deller):
Alas, my love, you do me wrong
To cast me off discourteously,
For I have loved you well and 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 would crave;
I have both waged life and land,
Your love and good-will for to have.
I bought three kerchers to thy head,
That were wrought fine and gallantly;
I kept them both at board and bed,
Which cost my purse well-favour’dly.
I bought thee petticoats of the best,
The cloth so fine as fine might be:
I gave thee jewels for thy chest;
And all this cost I spent on thee.
Thy smock of silk both fair and white,
With gold embroidered gorgeously;
Thy petticoat of sendall right;
And this I bought thee gladly.
Thy girdle of gold so red,
With pearls bedecked sumptously,
The like no other lasses had;
And yet you do not love me!
Thy purse, and eke thy gay gilt knives,
Thy pin-case, gallant to the eye;
No better wore the burgess’ wives;
And yet thou wouldst not love me!
Thy gown was of the grassy green,
The sleeves of satin hanging by;
Which made thee be our harvest queen;
And yet thou wouldst not love me!
Thy garters fringed with the gold,
And silver aglets hanging by;
Which made thee blithe for to behold;
And yet thou wouldst not love me!
My gayest gelding thee I gave,
To ride wherever liked thee;
No lady ever was so brave;
And yet thou wouldst not love me!
My men were clothed all in green,
And they did ever wait on thee;
All this was gallant to be seen;
And yet thou wouldst not love me!
They set thee up, they took thee down,
They served thee with humility;
Thy foot might not once touch the ground;
And yet thou wouldst not love me!
For every morning, when thou rose,
I sent thee dainties, orderly,
To cheer thy stomach from all woes;
And yet thou wouldst not love me!
Thou couldst desire no earthly thing,
But still thou hadst it readily,
Thy music still to play and sing;
And yet thou wouldst not love me!
And who did pay for all this gear,
That thou didst spend when pleased thee?
Even I that am rejected here,
And thou disdainst to love me!
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!
Da una ristampa, datata 1878, di A Handful of Pleasant Delites
In una antologia di «musica scespiriana», Greensleeves non può mancare: la canzone della bella signora dalle maniche verdi è infatti menzionata nella commedia The Merry Wives of Windsor (pubblicata per la prima volta nel 1602, ma si ritiene sia stata scritta prima del 1597). La trama è nota: il panciuto e squattrinato cavaliere John Falstaff tenta maldestramente di sedurre due signore, Mistress Ford e Mistress Page, sposate a ricchi borghesi di Windsor (nel Berkshire); ottenendo i loro favori sir John spera di sistemare le proprie finanze, ma viene subito smascherato: le due donne si accorgono di aver ricevuto lettere d’amore identiche, perciò decidono di vendicarsi e ordiscono alcune perfide burle ai danni di Falstaff.
Quando l’imbroglio viene scoperto, questo è il commento di Mistress Ford (atto II, scena 1ª):
I shall think the worse of fat men, as long as I have an eye to make difference of men’s liking: and yet he would not swear; praised women’s modesty; and gave such orderly and well-behaved reproof to all uncomeliness, that I would have sworn his disposition would have gone to the truth of his words; but they do no more adhere and keep place together than the Hundredth Psalm to the tune of Green Sleeves.
È vero, Greensleeves non va d’accordo con il Salmo 100: ma è un impedimento di carattere puramente metrico – i versi («Acclamate il Signore, voi tutti della terra»; nella versione della Great Bible, 1539: «O be joyful in the Lord, all ye lands») non combaciano affatto con la melodia – e non una sorta di divieto morale. L’adattamento di un testo sacro a una melodia profana («travestimento spirituale») non ha mai costituito un problema, e del resto abbiamo già visto (qui) che, nel corso della sua storia pluricentenaria, la stessa Greensleeves ha prestato la propria melodia a un canto religioso.
L’ultima burla ai danni di Falstaff ha luogo nella foresta di Windsor, dove egli viene invitato a recarsi, vestito da cacciatore, per un incontro amoroso (atto V, scena 5ª). «Sir John!», lo apostrofa Mistress Ford, «Art thou there, my deer? my male deer?»; Falstaff risponde affermando che nemmeno una «tempesta di amorose provocazioni», fra le quali la melodia di Greensleeves, riuscirà a distoglierlo da lei:
My doe with the black scut! Let the sky rain potatoes; let it thunder to the tune of Green Sleeves, hail kissing-comfits and snow eringoes; let there come a tempest of provocation, I will shelter me here.
(Qualche breve spiegazione:
– potatoes: quando la patata fu introdotta in Europa, appunto all’epoca di Shakespeare, era considerata afrodisiaca;
– kissing-comfits: dolcetti di zucchero profumati, usati per rinfrescare l’alito;
– eringoes: non si riferisce alle piante erbacee in Italia chiamate calcatreppole, bensì al fungo da noi comunemente noto come cardoncello, nome scientifico pleurotus eryngii, fin dall’Antichità considerato afrodisiaco.)
Anonymous (16th century): How should I your true love know, song of Ophelia from Shakespeare’s play Hamlet, act 4, scene 5. Alfred Deller, countertenor; Desmond Dupré, lute.
How should I your true-love know
From another one?
By his cockle bat and staff
And his sandal shoon.
He is dead and gone, lady,
He is dead and gone;
At his head a grass-green turf,
At his heels a stone.
White his shroud as the mountain snow,
Larded with sweet flowers.
Which bewept to the grave did go
With true-love showers.
When as I view your comely grace
Calleno custure me,
Your golden hairs, your angel’s face,
Calleno custure me.
Your azure veins much like the skies
Your silver teeth, your crystal eyes.
Your coral lips, your crimson cheeks
That gods and men both love and leeks.
My soul with silence moving sense
Doth wish of God with reverence.
Long life and virtue you possess
To match the gifts of worthiness.
The recurring line (chorus) which gives the song its title is probably an adaptation to the English pronunciation of the Irish Cailín ó chois tSiúre mé, i.e. « I am a girl from the Suir-side » (Suir is a river in Ireland that flows into the Atlantic Ocean near Waterford): a harp composition with this title is mentioned in a seventeenth-century Irish poetic text.
The earliest known source for the tune (no text) is William Ballet’s Lute Book, a composite volume containing lute tablature dating back to the late 16th century and owned by the Library of Trinity College, Dublin. Here the piece is performed by Dorothy Linell:
On this tune William Byrd (c1540 - 1623) composed a short but flavorful set of variations for keyboard instrument, preserved in the Fitzwilliam Virginal Book under the title Callino Casturame (n. [CLVIII]). YouTube offers various performances: I chose those of David Clark Little on the virginal and Lorenzo Cipriani on the organ.
Calleno custure me often appears in anthologies of Shakespearean music: it is in fact mentioned in Henry V (act 4, scene 4) within a pun that sounds a bit silly today, but which bears witness to the song’s popularity in Shakespeare’s time.
The scene takes place before the battle of Azincourt: Pistol, the king’s old party companion, surprises a French soldier, Le Fer, who has infiltrated the English lines. Fearing that Pistol wants to kill him, the Frenchman tries to cajole him, however speaking to him in his own language:
« Je pense que vous êtes gentilhomme de bonne qualité. »
Unable to understand even a syllable, Pistol replies by mimicking Le Fer’s speech, the sound of whose words evidently reminds him of our song:
« Qualtitie calmie custure me! »
In short, he mimics it with a kind of “meh, meh, meh” but more elegant 🙂
Then Le Fer agrees with Pistol, who frees him for the price of two hundred crowns.
Anonimo del XVI secolo: Calleno custure me. Alfred Deller, controtenore; Desmond Dupré, liuto.
When as I view your comely grace
Calleno custure me,
Your golden hairs, your angel’s face,
Calleno custure me.
Your azure veins much like the skies
Your silver teeth, your crystal eyes.
Your coral lips, your crimson cheeks
That gods and men both love and leeks.
My soul with silence moving sense
Doth wish of God with reverence.
Long life and virtue you possess
To match the gifts of worthiness.
Il verso ricorrente che dà titolo alla composizione è probabilmente un adattamento alla pronuncia inglese della frase in gaelico irlandese Cailín ó chois tSiúre mé, ossia « Sono una ragazza delle rive del Suir » (fiume che sfocia nell’Atlantico in prossimità di Waterford): la frase compare quale titolo di una composizione per arpa in un testo poetico irlandese del XVII secolo.
La più antica fonte nota della melodia (priva di testo) è il William Ballet’s Lute Book, una raccolta manoscritta di composizioni intavolate per liuto, risalente al tardo Cinquecento e conservata nella Biblioteca del Trinity College di Dublino. Qui il brano è interpretato da Dorothy Linell:
La melodia è stata rielaborata da William Byrd (c1540 - 4 luglio 1623) in una breve ma saporita serie di variazioni per strumento a tastiera, tramandataci dal Fitzwilliam Virginal Book con il titolo Callino Casturame (n. [CLVIII]). YouTube ne offre numerose interpretazioni: ho scelto quelle di David Clark Little al virginale e Lorenzo Cipriani all’organo.
Resta da segnalare che Caleno custure me figura spesso nelle antologie di musiche scespiriane: è infatti citata nell’Enrico V (atto IV, scena 4a) in un gioco di parole che oggi suona alquanto insulso, ma che testimonia la popolarità della canzone all’epoca del Bardo.
La scena si svolge prima della battaglia di Azincourt: Pistol, vecchio compagno di bagordi del re, sorprende un soldato francese, Le Fer, infiltratosi fra le linee inglesi. Temendo che l’altro voglia ammazzarlo, il francese tenta di blandirlo, parlandogli però nella propria lingua:
« Je pense que vous êtes gentilhomme de bonne qualité. »
Non riuscendo a comprendere nemmeno una sillaba, Pistol risponde scimmiottando la parlata di Le Fer, il suono delle cui parole evidentemente gli rammenta il titolo della nostra canzone:
« Qualtitie calmie custure me! »
Gli fa insomma il verso, una specie di “gnegnegné” ma più raffinato 🙂
Le Fer poi si accorda con Pistol, che in cambio di duecento scudi lo lascia libero.
Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872 - 1958): Fantasia on Greensleeves for flute, harp and strings. Philadelphia Orchestra; conductor: Eugene Ormandy.
La Fantasia on Greensleeves è in realtà un arrangiamento, realizzato nel 1934 da Ralph Greaves con l’approvazione di Vaughan Williams, di un brano dell’opera Sir John in Love (1929), basata sulla commedia di Shakespeare Le allegre comari di Windsor. Utilizza non solo il ballad cui si allude nel titolo, ma anche una melodia tradizionale intitolata Lovely Joan, che Vaughan Williams aveva ascoltato nel Suffolk.
The Fantasia on Greensleeves is actually an arrangement, made in 1934 by Ralph Greaves with the approval of Vaughan Williams, of a piece from the opera Sir John in Love (1929), based on Shakespeare’s play The Merry Wives of Windsor. It uses not only the ballad alluded to in the title, but also a traditional tune called Lovely Joan, which Vaughan Williams heard in Suffolk.
Due brani cantati da Ariele nella Tempesta (1610-11) di William Shakespeare:
– Full fathom five (atto I, scena 2a)
– Where the bee sucks (atto V, scena 1a)
La musica è di Robert Johnson (c1583 - 1633), il quale collaborò con Shakespeare scrivendo brani per i suoi ultimi drammi. Canta Alfred Deller, accompagnato al liuto da Desmond Dupré.
Two pieces sung by Ariel in Shakespeare’s The Tempest (1610-11):
– Full fathom five (act I, 2nd scene)
– Where the bee sucks (act V, 1st scene)
Music is by Robert Johnson (c1583-1633), who worked with Shakespeare providing music for his later plays. Alfred Deller, haute-contre; Desmond Dupré, lute.
Full fathom five thy father lies,
Of his bones are coral made,
Those are pearls that were his eyes:
Nothing of him that doth fade,
But doth suffer a sea-change
Into something rich and strange.
Sea-nymphs hourly ring his knell:
Hark! now I hear them:
Ding-dong, bell.
Where the bee sucks, there suck I,
In a cowslip’s bell I lie,
There I couch when owls do cry,
On the bat’s back I do fly
After summer merrily.
Merrily, merrily shall I live now
Under the blossom that hangs on the bough.
Anonimo (sec. XVI-XVII): When that I was, canzone di Feste che conclude La dodicesima notte (1599-1601) di William Shakespeare. Alfred Deller, haute-contre.
When that I was and a little tiny boy,
With hey, ho, the wind and the rain,
A foolish thing was but a toy,
For the rain it raineth every day.
But when I came to man’s estate,
’Gainst knaves and thieves men shut their gate.
But when I came, alas!, to wive,
By swaggering I could never thrive.
[But when I came unto my beds,
With toss-pots still had drunken heads.]
A great while ago the world begun,
With hey, ho, the wind and the rain,
But that’s all one, our play is done,
And we’ll strive to please you every day.
Thomas Morley (c1557 - 1602): It was a lover and his lass, ayre (pubblicato nel First Book of Ayres or Little Short Songs, 1600, n. 6) su testo di William Shakespeare (da Come vi piace, atto V, scena 3ª). Alfred Deller, haute-contre; Desmond Dupré, liuto.
It was a lover and his lass,
With a hey, and a ho, and a hey-nonny-no,
That o’er the green corn-field did pass
In spring-time, the only pretty ring-time,
When birds do sing, hey ding-a-ding ding:
Sweet lovers love the spring.
Between the acres of the rye,
These pretty country folks would lie.
This carol they began that hour,
How that a life was but a flower.
And therefore take the present time,
For love is crowned with the prime.
Thomas Morley è uno dei più importanti compositori di musica profana dell’Inghilterra elisabettiana; insieme con Robert Johnson (c1583-c1634) è autore delle uniche composizioni coeve su versi di Shakespeare che ci siano pervenute. Morley è ricordato, oltre che per le sue composizioni, per aver pubblicato un trattato musicale (A Plain and Easie Introduction to Practicall Musicke, 1597) che ebbe vasta popolarità per oltre duecento anni e che tuttora è considerato fondamentale perché contiene preziose informazioni sulla musica dell’epoca.
Thomas Morley is one of the most important composers of secular music in Elizabethan England; he and Robert Johnson (c1583-c1634) are the authors of the only surviving contemporary musical settings on lyrics by Shakespeare. Morley is remembered, as well as for his compositions, for a musical treatise (A Plain and Easie Introduction to Practicall Musicke, 1597) which had large popularity for almost two centuries and even today is an important reference for information about sixteenth century music.
Thomas Campian (o Campion; 1567 - 1° marzo 1620): I care not for these ladies, ayre (pubblicato in A Booke of Ayres, 1601). Alfred Deller, controtenore; Desmond Dupré, liuto.
I care not for these ladies
That must be wooed and prayed:
Give me kind Amaryllis,
The wanton country maid.
Nature art disdaineth,
Her beauty is her own.
Her when we court and kiss,
She cries, “Forsooth, let go!”
But when we come where comfort is,
She never will say no.
If I love Amaryllis,
She gives me fruit and flowers:
But if we love these ladies,
We must give golden showers.
Give them gold, that sell love,
Give me the nut-brown lass,
Who, when we court and kiss,
She cries, “Forsooth, let go!”
But when we come where comfort is,
She never will say no.
These ladies must have pillows,
And beds by strangers wrought;
Give me a bower of willows,
Of moss and leaves unbought,
And fresh Amaryllis,
With milk and honey fed;
Who, when we court and kiss,
She cries, “Forsooth, let go!”
But when we come where comfort is,
She never will say no.
Alcuni catches (canoni) a 3 e a 4 voci di Henry Purcell (10 settembre 1659 - 1695) interpretati da Alfred Deller con il suo Consort.
Come, let us drink,
’Tis in vain to think
Like fools on grief or sadness:
Let our money fly,
And our sorrows dye,
All worldly care is madness.
But wine and good cheer
Will in spight of our fear
Inspire our hearts with mirth, boys;
The time we live
To wine let us give,
Since all must turn to Earth, boys.
Hand about the bowl
The delight of my soul,
And to my hand commend it;
A fig for chink
’Twas made to buy drink,
And before we go hence we’ll spend it.
Prithee hen’t so sad and serious,
Nothing’s got by grief or cares;
Melancholy’s too imperious,
When it comes, still domineers.
But if bus’ness, love or sorrow
That possesses thus thy mind,
Bid ’em come again tomorrow,
We are now to mirth inclin’d.
Let the glass run its round
And each good fellow keep his ground,
And if there be any flincher found
We’ll have his soul new coin’d.
I gave her cakes and I gave her ale,
I gave her sack and sherry;
I kiss’d her once and I kiss’d her twice,
And we were wondrous merry.
I gave her beads and bracelets fine,
I gave her dold down-derry;
I thought she was a-fear’d till she strok’d my beard,
And we were wondrous merry.
Merry my heart, merry my cocks,
Merry my sprites, hey down-derry;
I kiss’d her once and I kiss’d her twice,
And we were wondrous merry.
’Tis women makes us love,
’Tis love that makes us sad,
’Tis sadness makes us drink,
And drinking makes us mad.
Segnalo che anche Enzo Martinelli ha voluto ricordare Henry Purcell nel suo genetliaco 🙂
Anonimo: She Moved through the Fair, canzone tradizionale irlandese. Alfred Deller, controtenore; Desmond Dupré, liuto.
My young love said to me: My mother won’t mind,
And my father won’t slight you for your lack of kine.
And she stepped away from me and this she did say:
It will not be long, love, ‘til our wedding day.
She stepped away from me and she moved through the fair,
And fondly I watched her move here and move there,
And then she went homeward with one star awake,
As the swan in the evening moves over the lake.
Last night she came to me, she came softly in.
So softly she came that her feet made no din,
And she laid her hand on me, and this she did say:
It will not be long, love, ‘til our wedding day.
La melodia, diffusa in Irlanda e in Scozia, risale probabilmente al basso Medioevo. Il testo è stato pubblicato per la prima volta nella raccolta Irish Country Songs (1909), curata da Herbert Hughes.
Anonimo: Bushes and Briars, canto tradizionale inglese. Alfred Deller, controtenore; Desmond Dupré, liuto.
La «scoperta» di questo brano si deve a Ralph Vaughan Williams, che l’udì cantare da un pastore nell’Essex e ne pubblicò un arrangiamento per coro maschile a 4 voci a cappella nel 1908.
Through bushes and through briars,
I lately took my way;
All for to hear the small birds sing,
And the lambs to skip and play.
I overheard my own true love,
Her voice it was so clear;
Long time I have been waiting
For the coming of my dear.
Sometimes I am uneasy
And troubled in my mind;
Sometimes I think I’ll go to my love
And tell to him my mind.
And if I should go to my love,
My love he will say «Nay»;
If I show to him my boldness,
He’ll ne’er love me again.
L’arrangiamento di Vaughan Williams eseguito da The Gentlemen of St. John’s.
Anonimo: The Water is Wide ovvero Waly, waly, canto di origine scozzese che risale probabilmente all’inizio del XVIII secolo; la versione pubblicata da Cecil Sharp nel volume Folk Songs From Somerset (1906) è quella più frequentemente eseguita. Gli interpreti sono Alfred Deller (controtenore) e Desmond Dupré (liuto).
The water is wide, I cannot get o’er
And neither have I wings to fly,
O give me a boat that will carry two
And both can row, my love and I.
O down in the meadows the other day
A-gathering flow’rs, both fine and gay,
A-gathering flow’rs, both red and blue,
I little thought what love can do.
I lean’d my back up against some oak,
Thinking that he was a trusty tree.
But first he bended and then he broke,
And so did my false love to me.
A ship there is and she sails the sea,
She’s loaded deep as deep can be,
But not so deep as the love I’m in.
I know not if I sink or swim.
O love is handsome and love is fine,
And love’s a jewel while it is new;
But when it is old it groweth cold
And fades away like morning dew.
Thomas Campion (o Campian; 1567 - 1620): Shall I come, sweet Love, to thee, ayre (pubblicato nel Third Booke of Ayres, 1617, n. 8). Alfred Deller, controtenore; Robert Spencer, liuto.
Deller morì a Bologna il 16 luglio 1979.
Shall I come, sweet Love, to thee
When the evening beams are set?
Shall I not excluded be,
Will you find no feigned let?
Let me not, for pity, more
Tell the long hours at your door.
Who can tell what thief or foe,
In the covert of the night,
For his prey will work my woe,
Or through wicked foul despite?
So may I die unredressed
Ere my long love be possesed.
But to let such dangers pass,
Which a lover’s thoughts disdain,
’Tis enough in such a place
To attend love’s joys in vain:
Do not mock me in thy bed,
While these cold nights freeze me dead.
Herbert Hughes (1882 - 1937): Down by the Salley Gardens, melodia tradizionale irlandese (Maids of Mourne Shore) adattata a un testo di William Butler Yeats (da The Wanderings of Oisin and Other Poems, 1889). Alfred Deller, controtenore; Desmond Dupré, liuto.
Down by the salley gardens my love and I did meet;
She passed the salley gardens with little snow-white feet.
She bid me take love easy, as the leaves grow on the tree;
But I, being young and foolish, with her would not agree.
In a field by the river my love and I did stand,
And on my leaning shoulder she laid her snow-white hand.
She bid me take life easy, as the grass grows on the weirs;
But I was young and foolish, and now am full of tears.
Thomas Ravenscroft (c1582 - c1633): We be souldiers three, partsong a 3 voci (pubblicato nella raccolta Deuteromelia, 1609, n. 3). Deller Consort, dir. Alfred Deller.
We be souldiers three, Pardona moy ie vous an pree,
Lately come forth of the low country,
With never a penny of mony.
Here, Good fellow, I’ll drinke to thee,
To all good Fellowes where ever they be.
And he that will not pledge me this
Payes for the shot what ever it is.
Charge it againe boy, charge it againe,
As long as there is [you have] any incke in thy [your] pen.
Ecco un’altra armonizzazione a tre voci di Ravenscroft, moderna e elegante quanto rozzo e grossolano, per contrasto, è il testo. Quest’ultimo fa con tutta probabilità riferimento alle disavventure di tre soldati che hanno combattuto nei Paesi bassi allora sotto la dominazione spagnola, in quella che fu poi chiamata guerra degli ottant’anni (1568-1648): riparati in terra britannica senza il becco di un quattrino, i nostri prodi sono costretti a elemosinare da bere. Alcune parole del testo, come charge e shot, sono ambivalenti: in un campo di battaglia hanno un certo significato, un altro assai diverso in una taverna.
Anonimo (secolo XVI): The oak and the ash, ovvero The Northern Lasse’s Lamentation. Alfred Deller, controtenore; Desmond Dupré, liuto.
A North Country maid up to London had strayed
Although with her nature it did not agree,
She wept, and she sighed, and she bitterly cried:
I wish once again in the North I could be.
Oh the oak and the ash and the bonnie ivy tree,
They flourish at home in my own country.
While sadly I roam, I regret my dear home
Where lads and young lasses are making the hay,
The merry bells ring and the birds sweetly sing,
And maidens and meadows are pleasant and gay.
Oh the oak and the ash and the bonnie ivy tree,
They flourish at home in my own country.
No doubt, did I please, I could marry with ease,
Where maidens are fair many lovers will come.
But he whom I wed must be North Country bred,
And carry me back to my North Country home.
Oh the oak and the ash and the bonny ivy tree,
They flourish at home in my own country.
Una serie di variazioni sulla melodia di The Oak and the Ash, opera di Giles Farnaby (c1563 - 1640), si trova con il titolo Quodlings Delight nel Fitzwilliam Virginal Book (n. [CXIV]). Qui la composizione di Farnaby è interpretata al clavicembalo da Pieter-Jan Belder:
La medesima melodia ha inoltre dato origine a diverse danze popolari, fra cui una contraddanza pubblicata con il numero 52 nella fortunata raccolta The English Dancing Master (16511) di John Playford: il brano reca il suggestivo titolo di Goddesses, probabilmente ispirato da quello di un masque, The Vision of the Twelve Goddesses, scritto da Samuel Daniel e rappresentato nel 1604. Ecco Goddesses in un arrangiamento di Bernard Thomas interpretato dal bravissimo Nicolas Fendt, che suona chitarra rinascimentale, liuto-chitarra, flauto dolce soprano, contralto, tenore e basso, e percussioni:
Thomas Ravenscroft (c1582 - c1635): The three ravens. Versione per 1 voce e liuto: Alfred Deller e Desmond Dupré; versione per 4 voci e viol consort: Theatre of Voices diretto da Paul Hillier (voce solista Else Torp) e Fretwork.
Nell’interpretazione di Deller, le strofe sono accorpate a due a due.
There were three ravens sat on a tree,
down a down, hay down, hay down,
There were three ravens sat on a tree,
with a down,
There were three ravens sat on a tree,
They were as black as black could be,
with a down, derry, derry, derry, down, down.
And one of them said to his mate:
Where shall we our breakfast take?
Down, [down] in yonder green field,
There lies a knight slain with his shield.
His hounds they lie down at his feet,
So well they their master keep.
His hawks they fly so eagerly,
There’s no fowl dare him come nie.
Down there comes a fallow doe,
As great with young as she might go.
She lift up his bloody head,
And kissed his wounds that were so red.
She got him up upon her back,
And carried him to earthen lake.
She buried him before the prime.
She was dead herself ere even-song time.
God send every gentleman
Such hawks, such hounds, and such a leman.
Non si hanno molte notizie su Ravenscroft, che però fu molto ammirato e stimato dai musicisti suoi contemporanei. Più che per le sue composizioni originali, è noto per un cospicuo numero di raffinati arrangiamenti di melodie tradizionali — qual è appunto The three ravens — che Ravenscroft pubblicò in tre diverse raccolte: Pammelia (1609), Deuteromelia: or The Second part of Musicks melodie (1609) e Melismata (1611).
Il nome di Ravenscroft comparirà spesso in questo blog 😉
Edward Frederick Brewtnall (1846-1902): The Three Ravens, acquerello su carta, c1883
John Dowland (1563 - 1626): Come away, come, sweet love, ayre (pubblicato nel First Booke of Songes or Ayres, 1597, n. 11):
– versione a 4 voci con accompagnamento di liuto: The Consort of Musicke, dir. Anthony Rooley;
– versione a 1 voce con accompagnamento di liuto: Alfred Deller. controtenore; Robert Spencer, liuto.
Come away, come, sweet love,
the golden morning breaks.
All the earth, all the air
of love and pleasure speaks:
teach thine arms then to embrace
and sweet rosy lips to kiss,
and mix our souls in mutual bliss.
Eyes were made for beauty’s grace,
viewing, rueing love’s long pain
procur’d by beauty’s rude disdain.
Come away, come, sweet love,
the golden morning wastes,
while the sun from his sphere
his fiery arrows casts:
making all the shadows fly,
playing, staying in the grove,
to entertain the stealth of love.
Thither sweet love let us hie,
flying, dying in desire,
wing’d with sweet hopes and heav’nly fire.
Come away, come, sweet love,
do not in vain adorn
beauty’s grace, that should rise
like to the naked morn:
lilies on the river’s side,
and fair Cyprian flow’rs new-blown,
desire no beauties but their own.
Ornament is nurse of pride,
pleasure, measure love’s delight:
haste then sweet love our wishèd flight.
From a reprint, dated 1878, of A Handful of Pleasant Delites 
English translation: please 
La Fantasia on Greensleeves è in realtà un arrangiamento, realizzato nel 1934 da Ralph Greaves con l’approvazione di Vaughan Williams, di un brano dell’opera Sir John in Love (1929), basata sulla commedia di Shakespeare Le allegre comari di Windsor. Utilizza non solo il ballad cui si allude nel titolo, ma anche una melodia tradizionale intitolata Lovely Joan, che Vaughan Williams aveva ascoltato nel Suffolk. 
Edward Frederick Brewtnall (1846-1902): The Three Ravens, acquerello su carta, c1883
la regina gioiosa 