Shakespeare Songs and Lute Solos

Описание: 00:00 Almaine (Thomas Vautor, fl.1592-1619). A duple-time ¨German¨ dance of the period, much favored, though less so than the Pavane or Galliard.
01:00 It was a lover and his lass; from "As you like it" (Thomas Morley, c.1557-1602). Cf. Act V, Scene 3. The song was inserted after the remark of the Second Page: ¨I´faith, and both in tune, like two gypies on a horse¨.
04:13 Sing willow, willow, willow; from "Othello" (anon.). Desdemona´s song in Act IV, Scene 3.
08:34 Tarleton's resurrection (John Dowland, 1563-1626). This appears to refer to Richard Tarleton, famous comic actor, who died in 1588.
10:10 O, mistress mine; from "Twelfth night" (Morley). Sung by the Fool at the request of Sir Toby Belch, in Act II, Scene 3.
11:51 Take, o take those lips away; from "Measure for measure" (John Wilson, 1595-1674). Sung by a boy to Marianna at the start of Act II.
14:26 Fantasia (Dowland). Sometimes refered to as ¨Francie¨, this work is mentioned in ¨Henry IV¨, part 2.
20:49 Where the bee sucks; from "The tempest" (Robert Johnson, c.1583-1633). Song sung by Ariel in Act V, Scene 1.
22:03 Full fathom five; from "The tempest" (R. Johnson). Song sung by Ariel in Act I, Scene 2.
24:12 Variations on Walsingham (Francis Cutting, c.1550-1603). In ¨Hamlet¨, Act IV, Scene 5, Ophelia´s song, ¨How should I your true love know¨, is believed to be a corruption of the old ballad ¨Walsingham¨. Byrd also composed variations on this tune. Walsingham was a much-visited Shrine of Our Lady, 13-16th centuries.
27:25 Callino custore me!; from "King Henry V" (anon.). In Act IV, Scene 4, the braggart Pistol thus addresses a French soldier. The spelling of the three words is as varied, per authority, as interpretations of their meaning.
30:44 Peg-a-ramsay; from "Twelfth night" (anon.). Sung by Sir Toby Belch in Act II, Scene 3.
31:58 The shoemaker's wife (toy; Dowland). Mentioned in Act I, Scene 2, of ¨Two gentlemen of Verona¨.
33:08 Greensleeves (anon.). Referred to in Act II, Scene 1; and in Act V, Scene 5, of "The merry wives of Windsor".

Alfred Deller, counter-tenor / Desmond Dupré, lute


Elizabethan vocal music, both solo and contrapuntal, has survived more lustily than its instrumental counterpart for one simple reason - of all musical instruments, the human voice has altered least. The earliest written lute and virginal pieces in England are found in the same British Museum manuscript, dating from the early 16th century. The present collection of songs and lute solos concerns itself entirely with those works which were sung in, or have reference to, Shakespeare´s plays.

Alfred Deller, counter-tenor, who has contributed greatly to reawakened interest in the vocal music of Elizabethan England and the Renaissance, was a crack athlete and business man before taking his first professional musical post as Lay Clerk at Canterbury Cathedral in 1939. Eight years later he moved to St. Paul´s Cathedral in the same capacity. His first recording was made in 1949. Desmond Dupré is a young English musician, specialist on the lute and viola de gamba, who is often heard with Alfred Deller, and has made over 200 BBC broadcasts in addition to appearing on the concert platform and recording film sound tracks.

Angel Records (45016 / ANG. 45016) 1957