When Celia was learning
I've had this merry little catch running through my head all week, and I just had enough time to do a multitrack recording of it. There is a cheeky little message hidden inside this 17th Century song about a girl having a lesson on a spinnet. Its a baroque keyboard instrument a bit like a little harpsichord, but you can 'shake' or wiggle you finger on the keys to produce vibrato.
Its by John Isham and called "When Celia was learning on the spinet, to play"
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And I prithy hold thy peace
I found this recording on my mac today and I thought you might like to hear it. Its my own voice multitracked. I was in a performance of Twelfth Night some years ago and this one of the incidental songs which Sir Toby Belch, Sir Andrew Aguecheek and Feste sing in a night of drunken revelry. Its a simple catch (a sort of round - think 'row row row your boat') by Thomas Ravenscroft, and is almost contemporary with Twelfth Night. Ravenscroft wrote quite a bit of music to the songs in Shakespeare's plays, but they very seldom are performed with the plays. They are not masterworks but are quite pretty.
I recorded it in about 10 mins while my wife was gossiping on the phone, so don't judge me too harshly!
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Twitterings
- Mikefest drinks party where @telescoper jealously guards the last drinkable bottle - http://moby.to/wjyzxg
- Want to go home in the next 5 mins, the sunset looks beautiful.
- Nicholas Daniel is a *genius* on the oboe. Seriously gob-smackingly impressed. Previously hated that Mozart concerto... @on_radio3
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- Why the BBC is wonderfully British
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- When Celia was learning
- Gregynog Hall and students who don’t like beer
- Goodbye Bute Park, hello Howells Highway
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- dot Astronomy – Video conference proceedings
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- And I prithy hold thy peace
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