One part of Rondo Publishing’s output is a series called ‘Passamezzo Editions’ a spin-off of music played by the group Passamezzo and edited by their director Tamsin Lewis. Broadside ballads are a core ingredient, and Tamsin’s unrivalled knowledge of them always bears rich fruit. ‘London Mourning in Ashes’, ‘Good Morrow Valentine’ and ‘The Happy Couple’ are some of the most attractive editions I have seen, and great trouble has been taken in their presentation. The covers show apt but unfamiliar paintings of the time, while a sprinkling of woodcuts embellish many of the pieces. Sources for all these are documented, as are those of the music and texts, and Tamsin Lewis has taken care to record what she has added in her tasteful arrangements. Here, then, are interesting selections for players wishing to find subjects away from the familiar, often sacred, topics, together with appropriate extract from contemporary writings which could be added as readings.
‘London Mourning in Ashes’ the first of three ballads commemorating the Great Fire of London, is set to ‘In sad and ashy weeds’, whose cheerful melody curiously contradicts the underlying sentiments. Singers will inevitably have to adapt some rhythms to fit the text. ‘The Londoner’s Lamentation’ uses John Wilson’s setting from his Cheerful Ayres of 1659, while ‘A Recollection of the Times’ adopts the universally known melody ‘Fortune my foe’. This set comprises a simple two-part treble and bass scoring, leaving room for embellishment with lute or keyboard.
In Good Morrow Valentine Tamsin expands the scoring to three parts (Tr, Tr/A, B) and includes one dance from Playford’s Dancing Master of 1679. This is a very attractive group, with orginals derived in part from lute and virginal settings; it would create a bright interlude in concerts. Performances could be expanded to include some of the contemporary descriptions of gifts printed in the edition, or even the dance, using Playford’s instructions.
The Happy Couple is a much more substantial volume, with 25 pieces, and is the first of two planned collections devoted to wedding music. It is perhaps a bold venture to provide such an anthology, away from the more usual assemblages around Christmas or other religious festivals, but there is much to enjoy here, in a wide variety of genres. Contents are organised under three headings: ‘Preparation’, ‘Wooing and Wedding in Town and Country’ and ‘Epithalamia/The Wedding Night’. The first of these comprises four madrigals, two in six parts (East). ‘A Pleasant New Song Of the Rites and Ceremonies of Marriage’ is a complete ballad account of the wedding day, while Playford’s titles ‘The Lovely Bride’ and ‘The Happy Couple’ are an excuse to include these two dances. William Turner’s setting of Robin’s Delight’ tells of an harmonious union with Kate the dairy-maid and is the first of nine ballads making up the second section of the book – all cheerful, rustic and jolly – the last a three-part arrangement for instruments only.
The final section is the most substantial and explores more sophisticated musical settings. Weelkes’s five-part madrigal ‘Now is the Bridals of fair Choralis’ is succeeded by ‘An Epithalamium’ in music by both Robert King and Henry Purcell, three-part arrangements of Dowland’s ‘Welcome black night’ and ‘Cease these false sports’, Thomas Farmer’s ‘A marriage song’ and three 3-part ballads to conclude, one vocal and two instrumental.