12007 – 3 Shakespeare Songs

Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872-1958)

Arranged by Roger Harvey for 12 trombones

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

Difficulty: Medium

Price: £20.00

Programme notes:

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 hours but the range of colours and textures employed make them ideal for transcription for instrumental resources, in this case an ensemble of 12 trombones.

The first song, ‘Full Fathom Five’ from Act 1 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 form 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 oral made;

Those were pearls that were his eyes:

Nothing of him that doth fade,

But doth duffer 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 dissolve,

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 moone’s sphere;

And I serve the fairy queen, to dew her orbs upon the green.

The cowslips tall her pensioners be; in their gold coats spots you see;

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. Matching mutes are essential. Make the bell notes disappear quickly. Play the melody very cantabile.

2. Good balance is necessary to get the full colour of the harmony.

3. Keep articulation very light to get the right mood and tempo.