The second of Dowland’s battle pieces
The other battle pieces are P 20 (my last post) and P 40 (fingers crossed, my next post).
The structure is unusual, having §A of 16 bars, followed by a variation with divisions plus closing bar (§A’), and then a section (B) of 34 bars, of which the final 14 bars are repeated. You might want to avoid §A’, which is quite challenging.
Most of the piece, it being a galliard, is set in 3/4 time, but bars 33 – 37 are set in 3/2 (a hemiola?). It is fortunate for me that P & L had sorted this out in their transcription.
There is a strong feeling of horses galloping into battle in the 3/2 segment, which is reminiscent of strain C in “The King of Denmark’s Galliard, P 40”.
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| Not quite a battle, I admit, but hunting is probably the nearest some toffs got. This woodcut shows Queen Elizabeth I at the kill. |
The percussive start of §B is very similar to the opening of P 20, and probably derived from the same original.
You will notice that there are excursions up the neck, as far as the 14th fret. This is in the original lute version, and not the result of my trying to squeeze in as much music as I can.
SOURCE
Poulton D, Lam B. 1995. The collected lute music of John Dowland. Faber Music, London, pp. 117–119.
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