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Ideal spring scenery (Ideale Frühlingslandschaft) by Arnold Böcklin (1827-1901)
Reproduced by courtesy of Schack-Galerie, Munich
Track(s) taken from CDH88011

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Sometimes there is a tension between words and music that disrupts the ‘perfect balance’ for which lute-song composers are famous. This must have been deliberate. Now, O now, I needs must part is a good example. Few at the time, and certainly no one now, could say for certain whether there was any love involved in the duc d’Alençon’s unsuccessful suit of Elizabeth I. The Frog Galliard was associated with d’Alençon’s departure, and Now, O now put words to the tune. Elizabeth’s letters show that he wasn’t entirely convinced about her age. She disliked his pockmarked appearance; and they both felt aggrieved that the blandishments of love hadn’t produced enough hard cash to cement a marriage settlement. The jaunty triple metre may be intended to parody the supposed lovers’ sense of their own tragic misfortune or to reflect a courtship that had become something of a public farce, but the words and the nostalgia of the setting are unexpectedly moving.

from notes by Elizabeth Kenny © 2008

Recording details: June 1983
St Michael's Church, Highgate, London, United Kingdom
Produced by Mark Brown
Engineered by Antony Howell
Release date: August 1989
Total duration: 4 minutes 36 seconds

Now, oh now I needs must part
composer
1597; A Firste Booke of Songes or Ayres; tune from The Frogs Galliard
author of text

Other recordings available for download
Mark Padmore (tenor), Elizabeth Kenny (lute)
The Camerata of London
James Bowman (countertenor), David Miller (lute)

Other albums featuring this work
Cover of 'Dowland: Awake, sweet love' (CDH55241)
Cover of 'Dowland: Lute Songs; Britten: Nocturnal' (CDA67648)
Cover of 'English Ayres & Duets' (CDA66003)
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