Airs and Dances (414.01)

Airs and Dances (414.01) (Programme notes: John smith his Almain Fortune 2 Dames and a Squire: the Shoemakers Wife; Mrs Vaux’s Jig; Tarleton’s Riserrectione In darkness Let Me Dwell My Lady Hunsdon’s Puffe John Dowland was a prolific and highly inventive composer as well as being internationally known as a virtuoso lutanist. Fro the age of 17 he travelled widely in Europe as a performer at court, most notable at the Danish court (1598-1603, 1605-6) before eventually attaining the high rank of lutanist at the English court in 1612. He is best known for his 84 songs and 70 pieces for lute. This selection contrasts two song transcriptions, ‘Fortune’ and ‘In Darkness let me Dwell’ with some livelier instrumental dance music. For the most part the instrumental dances are simple 16 bar pieces that were extended by written out or extemporised ornamentation rather like a set of variations. ‘John Smith his Almian’ is a stately march like movement. ‘Fortune’ is a melancholy air with variations. ‘2 Dames and a Squire’ is a group of 3 dances; the first, ‘The Shoemakers Wife’ is scored for trumpets and tuba; this is followed by ‘Mrs Vaux’s Jig’ which is for the 4 trombones; thirdly, ‘Tarleton’s Riserrectione’ is for full ensemble. ‘In Darkness let me Dwell’ is perhaps Dowland’s greatest, certainly his most ambitious song. The flugel plays the melody line while the low instruments supple the somewhat disjointed accompaniment. The morbid theme of the words, a favourite Dowland topic, tells of sorrow, darkness, weeping, and the ‘hellish jarring sounds’ of his music. It finishes, remarkably, with the accompaniment gradually dropping away to leave a sighing melodic line to the words: “In darkness let me dwell…” On a more cheerful note, the set finishes with the sprightly ‘My Lady Hunsdon’s Puffe’. This consists of 2 verses. ~The 2nd allows all players in turn to indulge in a bit of competitive virtuosity. Performance notes: The 1st trumpet will benefit from a smaller trumpet in some places. Flugels are required in the 2nd (Tpt ¾) and 4th (Tpt 4) movements. If another flugel is available it can be used where marked by the 2nd trumpet in the 2nd movement. If percussion is available a small drum may be added to the outer movements as required. Take care to choose comfortable tempos so as to attain the maximum virtuosity of performance without creating hazardous situations! If necessary some of the more rapid figuration may be simplified for ease of performance. The 4th movement should be very expressive and flexible in feel, meditative, not passionate. In the 5th movement, players may stand to accentuate the nature of the passing around of the ‘breaks’)