10108 3 Shakespeare Songs

Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872-1958)

arranged by Roger Harvey for 10-piece brass ensemble

Difficulty: Medium

Price: £25.00

1. Full Fathom Five
2. The Cloud-Capp'd Towers
3. Over Hill, Over Dale

Programme note

These three pieces were composed for the British Federation of Music Festivals National Competitive Festival in 1951. They are originally for S.A.T.B unaccompanied chorus but the range of colours and textures employed make them ideal for transcription for instrumental resources.

The first song, 'Full Fathom Five' from Act1 Sc 2 of The Tempest opens with dissonant bell sounds accompanying a simple, plainsong like melodic line. The central section is more homophonic with some wonderfully colourful harmony for 'sea-change' and'something rich and strange'. The bells and chant return and fade into the unsettled distance to finish the song.

The second, 'The Cloud-Capp'd Towers', also from the Tempest, Act IV Sc. 1, is almost entirely in block harmony. The shifts of harmonic centre and the rich texture of the chording amplify the picturesque text. Again the unsettled harmony of final cadence is suggestive of the insubstantial nature of our existence.

The final song, 'Over Hill, Over Dale' is from Act II Sc. 1 of 'Midsummer Night's Dream'. This is quicker and much more playful in style and uses a lighter texture to paint the picture of Puck's travel's.

1. Ding, dong, bell,
Full Fathom five thy father lies;
Of his bones are coral made;
Those are pearls that were his eyes:

Nothing of him that doth fade,
But doth suffer a sea-change
Into something rich and strange.

Sea-nymphs hourly ring his knell:
Hark! now I hear them ding dong, bell.

2. The cloud-capp'd towers, the gorgeous palaces,
The solemn temples, the great globe itself, Shall disolve,
And, like this unsubstantial pageant faded, leave not a rack behind:
We are such stuff as dreams are made on, and our little life is rounded with a sleep.

3. Over hill, over dale, thorough bush, thorough brier,
Over park, over pale, thoroughflood, thorough fire,
I do wander everywhere, swifter than the mooné's sphere;
And I servethe fairy queen, to dew her orbs upon the green.
The cowslips tall her pensioners be; in their gold coats spots yousee;
Those be rubies, fairy favours, in those freckles live their saviours:
I must go seek some dewdrops here, and hang a pearl in every cowslip's ear.

Performance note
1: Make the bell notes disappear quickly. Play the melody very legato.
2: Good balance is necessary to get the full colour of the harmonies.
3: Keep articulation very light in order to get the right mood and tempo.