According to Diana Poulton, Edward Collard (fl c1595–1599) was an
English lutenist and composer. He was appointed one of the musicians for the lute, in place of John Johnson, on 4 June 1598, four years after Johnson's death. He appears to have received no salary until a warrant was issued on 7 June 1599 for 15 months' payment. No further entries appear in the Audit Office Declared Accounts, but whether Collard died or retired is not known.
 |
| The top 3 lines of Collard's Variations on Walsingham. The full image can me seen at https://cudl.lib.cam.ac.uk/view/MS-DD-00002-00011/188 |
This piece takes our now familiar air, and presents it in 8 variations: six of 8 bars, and the final two of 12 bars - well, that's how it sounds to me. It is as well to start to play it at a slow speed, as later variations, especially the last two, become increasingly challenging (for me, impossible). (I have set the midi version to 60 bpm.) Even in the earlier (easier) variations there are some fine and unexpected harmonies, and the piece as a whole is rhythmic and lively.
Transcription notes.
Bars 9 (top right in the image above) and 67 have partly disappeared over the centuries, so I have had a go at reconstructing them. A number of bars begin with the chord of F (on the ukulele), with a low root, which would be on our 5th string if we had one, so I have substituted a low A to maintain the rhythmic pattern of a held low note under higher lines. A number of bars, e.g. bar 3, can be played from a 3 barré on the lute, but because our tuning is slightly different on the 3rd string, we have to be a bit more nimble.
Downloads.
You can download this arrangement in the following formats:
