Tag: Robert Johnson

Shakespeariana – XXIV

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At heaven’s gate

Hark! hark! the lark, Cloten’s song in Shakespeare’s play Cymbeline, King of Britain (c1609), act 2, scene 3. Emma Kirkby, soprano; Anthony Rooley, lute.

Hark! hark! the lark at heaven’s gate sings,
And Phoebus ’gins arise,
His steeds to water at those springs
On chalic’d flowers that lies;
And winking Mary-buds begin
To ope their golden eyes;
With everything that pretty is,
My lady sweet, arise:
Arise, arise!

This setting of Hark! hark! the lark survives in a music manuscript owned by the Bodleian Library, University of Oxford (MS Don. c.57, f. 40v), and has been attributed to Robert Johnson (c1583 - 1633). Johnson became lutenist to king James I in 1604 and was closely associated with Shakespeare’s company, to which he provided songs for various plays including The Winter’s Tale (1610) and The Tempest (1611).

Shakespeariana – XIV

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Take those lips away

Take, O take those lips away,
That so sweetly were forsworn;
And those eyes, the break of day,
Lights that do mislead the morn:
But my kisses bring again
Seals of love, though seal’d in vain.

Hide, O hide those hills of snow
That thy frozen bosom bears,
On whose tops the pinks that grow
Are yet of those that April wears,
But first set my poor heart free,
Bound in those icy chains by thee.

La prima strofa si trova nella commedia di Shakespeare Misura per misura (atto IV, scena 1a), rappresentata per la prima volta nel 1604; non sappiamo su quale melodia fosse cantata. Prima e seconda strofa sono nel dramma Rollo Duke of Normandy, or The Bloody Brother, scritto in collaborazione da John Fletcher, Philip Massinger, Ben Jonson e George Chapman in data imprecisabile (comunque non prima del 1612). Non è dato di sapere se la seconda strofe sia un’aggiunta di Fletcher oppure se tanto Shakespeare quanto Fletcher si siano rifatti a una canzone popolare in voga ai loro tempi.
Il testo è stato musicato da diversi autori. Il primo in ordine cronologico fu John Wilson (1595 - 1674), il quale nel 1614 succedette a Robert Johnson quale primo compositore dei King’s Men, la compagnia teatrale cui apparteneva Shakespeare. Ascoltiamo il suo lavoro in… versione shake­speariana (ossia limitata alla sola prima strofa) interpretata da Alfred Deller (voce) e Desmond Dupré (liuto); e poi nella versione integrale cantata dal soprano Anna Dennis, accompagnata da Hanneke van Proosdij al clavicembalo, Elisabeth Reed alla viola da gamba e David Tayler all’arciliuto.

The first stanza is featured in Shakespeare’s play Measure for Measure (act 4, scene 1), first represented in 1604; we do not know to what tune it was sung. Both the stanzas feature in the play Rollo Duke of Normandy, or The Bloody Brother, co-written by John Fletcher, Philip Massinger, Ben Jonson and George Chapman and performed at an unspecified date (though not earlier than 1612). It is not known whether the second stanza is an addition by Fletcher or whether both Shakespeare and Fletcher drew on a popular song in vogue in their time.
These verses have been set to music by various composers. The first in chronological order was John Wilson (1595 - 1674), who in 1614 succeeded Robert Johnson as principal composer for the King’s Men, the theater company to which Shakespeare belonged. Let’s listen to his work in… a Shakespearean version (i.e. the first stanza only) performed by Alfred Deller (voice) and Desmond Dupré (lute); and then in the complete version sung by soprano Anna Dennis, accompanied by Hanneke van Proosdij on harpsichord, Elisabeth Reed on viola da gamba and David Tayler on archlute.


John Weldon (1676 - 1736): Take, O take those lips away per voce e continuo (c1707). Emma Kirkby, soprano; Anthony Rooley, liuto.

Robert Lucas de Pearsall (1795 - 1856), Take, O take those lips away per coro a 5 voci a cappella op. 6 (1830). Cantores Musicæ Antiquæ, dir. Jeffery Kite-Powell.

Mrs H. H. A. Beach (Amy Marcy Cheney Beach, 1867 - 1944): Take, O take those lips away per voce e pianoforte, n. 2 dei Three Shakespeare Songs op. 37 (1897). Virginia Mims, soprano.

Peter Warlock (pseudonimo di Philip Heseltine, 1894 - 1930): Take, O take those lips away per voce e pianoforte (1916-17). Benjamin Luxon, baritono; David Willison, pianoforte.

Roger Quilter (1877 - 1953): Take, O take those lips away per voce e pianoforte, n. 4 dei Five Shakespeare Songs op. 23 (1921). Philippe Sly, basso-baritono; Michael McMahon, pianoforte.

Madeleine Dring (1923 - 1977): Take, O take those lips away per voce e pianoforte (c1950). Michael Hancock-Child, tenore; Ro Hancock-Child, pianoforte.

Emma Lou Diemer (1927): Take, O take those lips away, da Three Madrigals per coro e pianoforte (1960). The Colorado Chorale, dir. Frank Eychaner.

Shakespeariana – XIII

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Something rich and strange

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.

Shakespeariana – I

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Sweet lovers love the spring

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.

it 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.

uk 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.