A piece by one of Dowland's circle
Francis Cutting (1550 – 1595) was about 13 years older than John Dowland, who admired his compositions. This piece, referred to elsewhere as “the Bray Pavan” based on a piece by William Byrd, which to my eyes it does not ressemble in the slightest. In the book it is labelled “A pavin for the lute” at the beginning, and ”A galliarde by Fr. C” at the end. It is obviously a galliard.
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| William Barley (1596) A new book of tabliture for the Lute and Opharion, London. The galliard is on pp 76 – 78 |
It is made up of three strains, each with a repeat in variation. Some bars have a 6/8 rather than 3/4 feel, and I have formatted the notes appropriately. It is a relatively easy piece, with a few challenges – good luck!
I am not happy with bar 18 (in strain A’): it should be a variation on bar 8 (in strain A), around the chord of Am, but is based mostly on the chord of Bb or Gm. Meanwhile, the rest of A’ is close to A. I prefer to play bar 8 (or an elaboration of it) rather than bar 18. My unhappiness is supported by John Dowland’s complaint that Barley had not only plagiarised his lute solos, but also that they were corrupt.
A facsimile at Royal Holloway College can be seen here: http://purl.org/rism/BI/1596/20/1.
A sometimes clearer facsimile of presumably another printing, is here: http://www.lutemusic.org/facsimiles/BarleyW/A_New_Booke_of_Tabliture_1596/f4.png
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