Dunstaple or Bedyngham: O Rosa Bella

Is the Rosa of the title an actual rose, a rose seen as a symbol of romantic interest,
or the name of a young lady?

On a whim, I thought that I'd have a look at music written earlier in the Renaissance, and the name John Dunstable (or Dunstaple) (c 1390–1453) appeared. He composed mostly liturgical music, not really appropriate for the ukulele, so I chose this song, attributed to him. However, Wikipedia states:

"The popular melody O Rosa Bella, once thought to be by Dunstaple, is now attributed to John Bedyngham (or Bedingham)".

Bedyngham was an approximate contemporary of Dunstaple, and died c. 1460. I can find no images of either composer.

O rosa bella is a plaintive lament, appropriately in a minor key, but as was usual ending on the tonic major, the Picardy third. The first 7 bars seem to be an introduction, followed by the song, which starts in common time and ends in 6/4 time. Some of the words are spread over a lot of notes (melismas), but I have made no attempt to indicate them here.

This arrangement is made from a transcription for 3 voices by Elaine Fine here. In the original – you can find performances in various formats on Youtube – the voices interweave, and the first voice is not always the highest. In the arrangement I have indicated the first voice by upward stems, and the others by downward stems.

I have tried to imagine, possibly anachronistically, that the ukulele is a Renaissance (4-string) guitar, and tried to maintain as much of the original as possible in the idiom of the instrument. The music sounds a little strange to my modern ears, but I am not familiar with the music of the period – which, after all, was my reason for making this arrangement.

You can find the transcriptions here:

• pdf (quick preview)
• pdf (auto download)
• TablEdit
• MIDI

Dowland: Piper's pavan (P8)

At last – back to my genius hero, John Dowland, and one of his most popular pavanes..

The title refers not to a woodwind musician, but to Captain Digory Piper (1559–90). He was a colourful Cornish sailor who was commissioned to harry Spanish shipping, but instead turned pirate and attacked vessels of friendly nations sailing in the English Channel. He was fortunate not to be hanged for piracy. Why Dowland dedicated this piece to him is not clear.

An Elizabethan pirate in full fig, and a dashing figure he cuts.
I can't find an image of Capn Piper, so this one (from elizabethanenglandlife.com) will have to suffice.

The pavane has three strains, of 8½, 8 and 8 bars. In the lute version, the first two strains have divisions (variations) by Dowland, the third a variation by another hand; they are challenging, and I have not transcribed them. 

I have set a stately pace of ♩= 38 bpm, which is near that of Nigel North's recorded lute performance, in which he uses a lot of arpeggiation, and adds ornaments as well. It's up to you to add your own!

If you have played other pieces by Dowland, in this blog or elsewhere, you may well notice something familiar in bars 5, 8, 11 and 24. This is what I have come to think of as the Solus cum sola motif, and I have written briefly about it here. Despite the self-plagiarism, this is an inventive piece, with unexpected turns of harmony and melody, and with some tricky timing. 

Below I summarise the harmonic changes in the ukulele transcription. The harmonies are derived from the lute originals, which are voiced more fully than is possible on a ukulele. My favourite moment is in bar 5: the Solus motif, played on the chord of B major, resolves to Am, and not to the E one might expect; thus the bass moves from B to C.

§a

Am / /  E | Am / E / | A Dm Am / | Am / / / |

B  / Am / | Am / / G | Am Dm F Dm| E  / A / | A / 𝄂

§b

C  / / /  | Bm / E / | Am / G Em | F#m / E / |

G  / / Am | E  / Em B| Em C Em B | E   / / / 𝄂

§c

C  / / G  | G  E A5 / | Am / F  / | C  F / C |

F  / G E  | Am / F  C | G  Am E / | A  / / / 𝄂

You might want to conclude the piece on an extra, full A major chord (the Picardy third).

You can find the transcriptions here:

• pdf (quick preview)
• pdf (auto download)
• TablEdit
• MIDI  (without ornament)

(A corrected version was loaded on 11/04/18)