Quite lively for a pavan
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The first few bars of the piece in the Matthew Holmes Lute Book, Cambridge University Library, Dd.5.78.3, f. 2v. Just looking at the complexity of bar 9, the first bar of the repeat of section A, you can see why I was content to just transcribe the initial statement only. |
A surprisingly chirpy pavan, a version of which Nigel North plays at about 35 bpm. Diana Poulton describes it as a "fine, open-hearted piece". The variations to the three themes are finely wrought divisions which I have not transcribed – a challenge too far. The lower voices have necessarily had to be curtailed (Poulton & Lam detected up to four), and I have not included all the rests, just the ones needed for getting the timing right.
The piece can almost be regarded as a collection of variations on JD’s favourite cadence, touched on in my recent posts. One can detect it in bars (measures) 5, 7, 14, 21, 22 and 35. Bar 8 is particularly playful, and fun to play. Also, bars 19–20 seem to anticipate “Somewhere over the rainbow” by seversl centuries.
Two versions are free to download:
Fully voiced (as far as you can on the ukulele) HERE.
Unvoiced HERE.
Happy plucking!
