Dowland wrote this galliard presumably as a compliment to his younger contemporary. It is described in the MS (British Library Add. 38539) as “A gallyard upon the gallyard before”, which was entitled “A gallyard by Mr Dan: Bacheler” and which, in turn, was based on Bacheler’s own song “To plead my faith”.
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| The subscription (end title) of Bacheler's original galliard. |
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| The subscription of Dowland's version. Note the penultimate note, which assumes a fourth diapaison course! Facsimilies of British Library Ms Add. 38539 from Sarge Gerbodes website here. |
I would have found making the arrangement well-nigh impossible if I had not relied completely on the transcription by Poulton & Lam. How any lute player managed to play the piece from the lute tabs, especially in manuscript, beggars belief. I am full of awe.
Dowland’s first bar is very similar to Bacheler’s, and then deviates more and more. As in the original, there are three strains, each with a variation, but Dowland has lengthened the first two from 8 to 9 bars.
The whole piece is full of invention, and surprisingly playful. In her biography of Dowland, Diana Poulton writes: “The repeat of the second strain is of exceptional interest” because bars 33 and 34 (the repeat of bars 24 and 25) are “not a division at all, but a free variation, since at this point he completely destroys the original harmonic framework”. These bars in particular have a wonderful galloping feel.
If you fancy a challenge, you can download the arrangements in various formats using the links below. Incidentally, I had given up posting Midi files as I thought it was a bit patronising, but this piece is so challenging in the timekeeping, I thought I'd include one this time.
