My Lord Willoughby's Welcome Home
For two part choir and optional timpani
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MP3 of My Lord Willoughby's Welcome Home Stream My Lord Willoughby's Welcome Home Score of ATBarB-ATBarB version (pdf) Score of SATB-SATB version (pdf) |
Arranged and performed today, 10 June 2006, partly for love of Dowland's music and partly in order to get away from the World Cup, this is John Dowland at his most optimistic and patriotic (well, . . . possibly for the sake of his patrons!)
The choral parts are based loosely on the lute duet (My Lord Willoughby's Welcome Home) and the timpani accompaniment is entirely ad lib (i.e. they are not included in the score but they can simply improvise on the tonic, dominant and minor third of the scale where appropriate).
My performance here is for two part ATBarB-ATBarB choir in C minor, but a higher version for two part SATB-SATB choir in E minor is also available above
I have used some, but not all, of the words of the original song (it would be far too long for a modern audience otherwise!), as follows:
The fifteenth day of July, with glistening spear and shield,
A famous fight in Flanders was foughten in the field:
The most courageous officers were the English captains three,
But the bravest in the Battle was brave Lord Willoughby.
"Stand to it, noble Pikemen, and look you round about;
And shoot you right, you Bowmen, and we will keep them out;
You Musquet and Calliver men, do you prove true to me,
I'll be the foremost man in fight," says brave Lord Willoughby.
The sharp steel pointed Arrows and Bullets thick did fly;
Then did our valiant Soldiers charge on most furiously,
Which made the Spaniards waver, they thought it best to flee,
For they fear'd the stout behaviour of brave Lord Willoughby.
Then quoth the Spanish general, "Come let us march away,
I fear we shall be spoiled, if that we longer stay,
for yonder comes Lord Willoughby, with courage fierce and fell:
He will not give one inch of way for all the Devils in Hell."
And then the fearful enemy was quickly put to flight,
Our men pursued courageously and rout their forces quite,
And at last they gave a shout, which echoed through the sky,
"God and St. George for England!" the conquerors did cry.
Then courage, noble English men, and never be dismayed,
If that we be but one to ten we will not be afraid
To fight with foreign Enemies, and set our Country free,
And thus I end the bloody bout of brave Lord Willoughby.
For more information about Lord Willoughby (Bertie Peregrine Lord Willoughby de Eresby), do visit the Peerage site
For the original Dowland lute duet, here are Rowena Allen (later Rowena Sudbury), as lutenist, and David, as guitarist with (capo on 3), performing it on an amateur recording back in 1986:
Download lute and guitar version of My Lord Willoughby's Welcome Home
Stream lute and guitar version of My Lord Willoughby's Welcome Home