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From Thomas Campion and Philip Rosseter, A Booke of Ayres, 1601
Cypress trees are evergreen conifers that achieve a height of around 80 feet tall, and present in an upright conical shape. The cypress tree is an ancient symbol of mourning, with references dating to ancient Greek and Roman times. In Christian symbolism, the cypress is thought to be the tree used for the crucifixion.
In Campion's poetry, the cypress acts as a curtain (another symbol for mourning) that separates the worlds of the quick and the dead. In a typical display of Elizabethan wit, Campion (or Rosseter) weaves a direct musical quotation of the cantus of Dowland's song, “My thoughts are winged with hopes” (First Booke of Songs, 1597) into the treble of the lute accompaniment. The irony would not have passed unnoticed by the master of melancholy, Dowland, himself.
Our version is performed with a slightly sinister steady pulse, and is transposed from a rather shrill tessitura down a third to facilitate communication of the poetry, a practice which very likely approximates the original sound when we consider that the pitch standard was generally lower in 1601, and that voices always transposed to fit the tuning of the particular lute at its relative pitch.
lyrics
And ouer all a silent dewe is cast,
The weaker cares by sleepe are conquered,
But I alone with hidious griefe, agast.
In spite of Morpheus charmes a watch doe keepe
Ouer mine eies to banish carelesse sleepe.
Yet oft my trembling eyes through faintnes close,
And then the Mappe of hell before me stands,
Which Ghosts doe see, and I am one of those,
Ordain'd to pine in sorrowes endles bands,
Since from my wretched soule all hopes are reft,
And now no cause of life to me is left.
Griefe ceaze my soule, for that will still endure,
When my cras'd bodie is consum'd and gone,
Beare it to thy blacke denne, there keepe it sure,
Where thou ten thousand soules doest tyre vpon,
Yet all doe not affoord such foode to thee,
As this poore one, the worser part of mee.
credits
duo Mignarda
Donna Stewart, voice
Ron Andrico, lute
Recorded by Chris Ebbert, Lava Room Studios
Beachwood, OH, February, 2020
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Mignarda Cleveland Heights, Ohio
Mignarda specializes in thoughtful programming illuminating the vibrant mingling of renaissance music & poetry. Noted for awakening modern audiences to an appreciation for historical music, their work encompasses concertizing, teaching & recording, with 17 critically-acclaimed CDs, a series of 16 music editions, scholarly articles, reviews and the internationally-popular blog, Unquiet Thoughts. ... more
discography
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Jun 2022 -
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Nov 2020
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