(CM112: 25 cues) Note especially Dinn Music in ‘Love’s Labour lost’ (DM), Maynard on the songs and singers in this play (ME 176-7) and ‘A note on the music’ by Caldwell in OS (1990) 242-3 App. C. who suggests music for dancing and which may be used as incidental music in the play, editions of consort music in both Paul Doe’s collection (MB xlix, xlv) and the HOLBORNE Pavanes, galliards and Almains (H).
SM20 notes that the musicians were boys, and quotes Granville-Barker on the play which is ‘never very far from the actual formalities of song and dance’. SM21 finds how music does much to enforce the rarefied atmosphere produced by the ‘courtly game’. ‘One of Moth’s chief duties is to provide music for his master (NC, 1962, 143). BR35-41 discusses the role of dance in the play. GPd ii 448 ‘Dull can do marvels with the pipe and tabor’. A useful collection is assembled by Freda Dinn ‘Music in Love’s Labours lost’, set for voice and SATB recorders sSchott edition no. RV 19 (1968)
| act | scene | line | Click here to find out more about suggested song | |
| I | i | 164-174 | […One who the music of his own vain tongue Doth ravish like enchanting harmony; … This child of fancy that Armado hight,… And I will use him for my minstrelsy.] DO135-7 ‘Eighty-eight’ set to ‘Jog on’, melody and song text; DO ii 16 | 139 (405) |
| ii | 94-101 | If she be made of white and red,… | 140 | |
| uDM 1: 1551 as ‘Nonesuch’, voice unacc.; tune E29/ Eb71/ RE22/ C444/ CW322/ RE39 ix/ SB326; rS HO8] [note variant of tune in the major as a country dance with alternative title ‘A la mode de France’ E49/ Eb2/ RE22 ii/ RE42 iii/ SB327/ SC ii / SCt iv: 5/ SCg vii 4; rSS/T Eh 22; rSSA + pe Ek 2; tune and steps DI iv 16 | ||||
| 104-9 | [Is there not a ballad, boy, of the King and the Beggar?/ The world was very guilty of such a ballad some three ages since, but I think now ’tis not to be found; or if it were, it would neither serve for the writing nor the tune.] | 141 | ||
| OS (1990) 114 relates this to the reference to the story of *King Cophetua and the beggar maid, Zenelophon, cf below IV i 65-7 & 2H4 V iii 102, R&J II i 14 and R2 V iii 79; music of ballad lost. | ||||
| DO235-9 ‘A Song of a King and a Beggar’ set to ‘The Old Almain’ ‘The King of Africa’. GPc v 38 suggests omitting the reference from the play’s text. | (320b) | |||
| 116 | [Sing, boy. My spirit grows heavy in love]. | |||
| 118 | [I say, sing.] No s.d. follows suggesting performance at this stage (cf. L67) | |||
| 165-6 | [Yet was Samson so tempted… Yet was Solomon so seduced] S219 | 142 | ||
| possible allusion to either of two popular ballads: a) and b): | ||||
| a) ‘When Samson was a tall young man’ registered in 1586 directed to be sung to the Spanish pavan (cf SB p 678-81) in various lute books including Th, BA, Straloch and German sources: C240-1/CW25 1-2/ G58/K84-5; shawms and curtal ۞Gt8 i {Note, ARBEAU tune is different: steps DI iii 17{DY58. p.112/ DL162/ CH66v} l/t CHr13/ WL 1; ۞OH 3/ ۞To 13; sopranino & soprano recorders; ATB shawms ۞YM2; k(f 22v) 77; ; (PI f10v) 2 lutes FERRABOSCO Spanish pavinge (with elaborate variations) 2 lutes tLSoc C4:2/ NT ii 7/ LR32; ۞L3; CAROSO 1581 Il Ballarino ‘Pauaniglia’; kDF 90-108 +steps and commentary NE iii; described B225-6]; 1603 ROBINSON Pavana Hispanica l/tk RS27/ WL 1; ۞N 13; VALLET Pavane d’Espagne en forme de complaint, lute Tres libros de musica en Cifra Ricordi/ VS i 57; VS ii 12 CABEZÓN 1578 f Diferencias sobre la Pavana italiana’ à 4 from Obras de mŭsica 1578 ed Kastner. Schoitt 4286 (1951) no. 2; rSATB Moeck 371; rS + k DX15; SWEELINCK ‘Pavana hispanica’ 8 variations, keyboard SWn 9/ SWm 68 (with 4 Variations by SCHEIDT (nos 2-4 & 6) ‘Paduana hispanica’ cw vi/1 58 cittern CC p.5 (f26); 1597 [J53] HOLBORNE HC14; ۞Ci 16; ۞DoP15 ii; PILKINGTON gPLj 5; kBULL F139/ MB ixx 76/ MP (f 117) 77; ۞A12; viols ۞Sk34; school performance notes Sk82-3; consort: 1612; tune SB444; PRAETORIUS (CAROUBEL) ‘Pavane de Spaigne’ à 5 P29/ Pm v 6; PaD 12; rSSATB TR16; P30 à 4; ۞BaS 16/ ۞EmP5/ ۞NeP 10 i; à 4 S/AS/TA/TB RC i 35; rS/A/T+ g R D2; 3v+vc PE70; SCHOP Pavaen de Spagne à 2 kSA349; Cf. Poulton ‘Notes on the Spanish pavan 5-16, which presents a comprehensive list of sources’ | ||||
| b) ‘Was not good King Solomon ravished…’ lst line of William Elderton ballad ‘The Pangs of Love’ uDO 245-7 set to ‘King Solomon’ tune | (350a) | |||
| c) Note also Child ballad 144 first version ‘Robin Hood was a tall young man’ | ||||
| II | i | 114 | [Did not I dance with you in Brabankt once?] | |
| III | i | 1 | [Warble, child; make passionate my sense of hearing] | |
| 2, 4 | {Sings}. Concolinel, …[Sweet air!] | 143 | ||
| L67 song text not known; see comment ME176-7 and AS (1998) 161 for possible Irish origins, ‘Can cilin gheal’ pronouned ‘Con colleen yal’; other possibilities: a French song ‘Quand Colinelle’ and (B265) possibly aural mistake for ‘Come follow me’ see e) below | ||||
| a) CM113-5: ‘Fain would I have a pretty thing’ (‘The lusty gallant’) + rSATB | (64d) | |||
| b) OS243: straight-forward * lute song, Dowland, Morley, Campion (see index) | ||||
| c) (B266): ‘Sing care away’ to tune of ‘Heart’s-ease’ C210/ CW98-9 | (281b) | |||
| d) (B266): 1595 MORLEY ‘Sing we and chant it’: arr. voice unacc. G86-7; original canzonet, SSATB EMS4:4; separately S&B M404; ۞Bw25/ ۞CwM9 as Italian madrigal ‘A lieta vita’ ۞MsE ii 4 | ||||
| e) (B265-6): ‘Come follow me’ – ‘Spanish gypsy tune’ SB440/ CW186-7/ C272-3/ E23/ Eb96/ RE16 i/ RE39 iii/ G128; (kMP f36) ۞BroA12/ ۞Du22 | ||||
| 7-21 | [Master, will you win your love with a French *brawl? [e.g. ۞BroS8]/ | 143A (568) | ||
| How meanest thou–brawling in French?/ No my complete master; but to *jig off a tune [e.g.BroS19] at the tongue’s end, *canary to it with your feet,… sigh a note and sing a note, sometime through the throat, as if you swallowed love with singing love;… and keep not too long in one tune, but a snip and away…make them men of note, –do you note me?]. | ||||
| (DLC) Branle des sabots N142 | 144 (593A) | |||
| 27-8 | [But O, but O– ‘The *hobby-horse is forgot’] allusion to ‘Kemp’s *morris’ | (39b) 145 | ||
| IV | i | 64-7 | […King Cophetua set’s eye upon the… beggar Zenelophon…] see also above I ii 108 | |
| 124-7 | {Sings} Thou canst not hit it… canst not hit it, my good man… (C239‘hit’ a dance whose title is a hunting allusion as in the ballad ‘Arthur a Bradley’ see article by John Ward in LSJ x (1968) 15-32 | 146 | ||
| a) OS244: App C exs.3a&b/ N &193/ CM116-7: (DY6, p. 84 ‘Hit’/ US-NYp Drexel MS 5609 p150) DO 88-89 melody and text; 2 voices and cittern ۞DO i 9; 1589 lute piece; lute/k CW249; gK53; kMP47; rSATB+g/k CM111 | ||||
| b) DM2: ‘Greenwood’ or ‘The Huntsman’ rSATB | (15b) | |||
| ii | 99 | {He sings} [*Ut, re, sol, la, mi, fa] the ‘natural’ hexachord C,D,G,A,E,F; here it would seem tobe satirising a musical pedagogue. cf. OS243 | 147 | |
| (DLC) FARNABY ‘His humour’ kF196/ RV21/ FAd3/ EF16c; rSATB MC5; rA + g FAf5; rSATB/T Fg7 | ||||
| 115-7 | [The eye Jove’s lightening bears…is music and sweet fire] | |||
| 122-3 | [Their purpose is to parley, court and dance.] | |||
| 137 | [TRIP AND GO, my sweet; deliver this paper…] favourite *morris dance à 4 ; ‘one of the liveliest of morris dances’ ( Mo-S50). CM313-315: 1579 ‘Trip and go’. rSATB + g; tune C131/ CW309-10/ G55/ ESI 123; ۞KnQ3 | 148 | ||
| 144 | [But shall we dance if they desire us to’t?/ No, to the death we will not move a foot.] | |||
| iii | 166 | [And profound Solomon to tune a *jig] cf. I ii 180 uDO 245-7 ‘King Solomon’ tune | (350a) | |
| 318-321 | […as sweet and musical As bright Apollo’s lute, strung with his hair; And when love speaks, the voice of all the gods Make heaven drowsy with the harmony.] W9 ‘the lute, fit for lofty sentiments and passions’ cf. Malone The plays of Shakespeare, 2nd ed. 1773 pp. 463-5 on the calming effect of music. | |||
| 348-356 | [let us devise Some entertainment in their tents./…with some strange pastime solace them, …For revels, dances, masques and merry hours Forerun fair love, strewing her way with flowers.] | |||
| V | i | 105-112 | [present the Princess…with some delightful ostentation, or show, or pageant, or antic, or firework…/Sir, you shall present the Nine Worthies before her.] | |
| 140 | [We will have…an antic] | |||
| 146-7 | [I’ll make one in a dance or so, or I will play the tabor to the Worthies, and let them dance the *hay] OS242 does not specifically require music | 149 | ||
| a) N58/ L161: (dance steps) 1588. ARBEAU Branle de la Haye | (23a) | |||
| b) N197: 1678 but of earlier provenance: An English Haye | ||||
| c) (LF79) Les *Bouffons | (106b) | |||
| ii | 115-7 | [The eye Jove’s lightening bears,…is music and sweet fire] | ||
| 122-3 | [Their purpose is to parley, to court and dance.] | |||
| 144 | [But shall we dance if they desire us to’t?/ No, to the death we will not move a foot.] | |||
| 155-6 | A trumpet sounds [within]. [The trumpet sounds, be masked; the masquers come]. | |||
| The ladies maske (B266) French tucket N&202 | 150 | |||
| 156 | Enter blackamoors with music; the King and his lords disguised as Russians [and masked] SA p597 that is with musical instruments | 151 | ||
| a) (OS 242): 1599 HOLBORNE one of the Pavanes (see 34a for editions and possible instrumentation; others are mentioned in the General index) | (34a) | |||
| b) (GPc iv 39) a French *brawl | ||||
| c) (B266): 1588 ARBEAU Pavane ‘Belle qui tiens ma vie’ à 4. 4 viols 2tr+t+b ARe 60-66: the parts and tabor rhythm; tune ARe247; ۞BroA4 i/ ۞YF 10; kDF86-8 +steps; steps together with those for a galliard DI iii 8, 14; rSATB RB35; strings or 4 flutes ArRi l; NEGRI Corrente ۞BroL7; BYRD French coranto no 1, virginals, opens similarly, but in 6/8 kF218/ MB xxvii 21a/ BYf 10/ BYd3; ۞Cap20/ ۞Mo i 3; S + k HU9; rS+ g BYd3; rSATB Ft4; rS + k DX10; version in 6/8 bc 1597 ‘La Coranto M22; ۞BaL10/ ۞BaS 30/ ۞EmR21/ ۞MgE9/ ۞MgM 15/ ۞MsE ii 12; lt(BO 43r 174). 2 lutes ۞MsE ii 12 {Note, the tune would be familiar from Warlock ‘Capriol Suite’ 2nd movt.} | ||||
| d) L68/ SA p.597/ 681: The French King’s masque’ cf Sabol, Andrew. ‘The original music for the French King’s masque in Love’s Labours Lost’ Chapter 18 in Mucciolo, John M. Shakespeare’s universe. Scolar press, 1996, with full description of the masque on p. 216 kSA231; lute/t(BO f8r 25) SA436/ ESI 145-6; as ‘The King’s maske’ (CH61r) lute/t CHr24; bc à 4 r+b-v+ci+l [Note: the King’s mask in HE5; ۞Mt23 appears to be a different piece] | ||||
| e) (B266): TOMKINS Pavana à 5 viols. In S&B his Consort music set 2, à 3-5 H344, and separately LPM EML 170/ Peters H558b; kF123; rSSATB BC ii 23; bcHN 4 | ||||
| f) (DLC): BRADE Blackamoors’ dance à 5 (BN24) ‘Der Mohren Tantz’ SA403 | ||||
| 183(-193) | [Say to her we have measured many miles To tread a *measure with her on this grass…] (with continued punning allusion to dancing) | |||
| 209-210 | [Play, music, then] {Music plays} [Nay, you must do it soon] OS242 dance music | |||
| a) L69-70/ ۞Dart 1588 ARBEAU galliard. [‘Baisons nous belle’] ‘Love let us kiss’ tune and steps ARe102-3 | 152 | |||
| b) ۞BroS30/ ۞BroL9 ‘Earl of Essex *measure’ | (105b) | |||
| 210-228 | [Not yet? – no dance! Thus change I like the moon./ Will you not dance? How came you thus estranged?…/ We will not dance/ Why take we hands then? The music plays, vouchsafe some motion to it./ Our ears vouchsafe it/ But your legs should do it,… Take hands. We will not dance…and so the measure ends./ More measure of this measure, be not nice….If you deny to dance, let’s hold more chat] | |||
| 327-8 | [he can sing A *mean most meanly] | |||
| 400, 405 | [I will wish thee never more to dance…Nor woo in rhyme, like a blind harper’s song] | |||
| 529-717 | [Here is like to be a good presence of Worthies…] L71: burlesque begins | 153 | ||
| a) N58 ARBEAU Branle de la Haye, pipe and tabor | (23a) | |||
| b) (B267) any of the 46 *pavans in the Fitzwilliam Virginal Book | ||||
| c) N55 STROGERS Pavane, lute (Cu Dd 14 24); Naylor’s arr. for 2 mandolins to approximate the sound of citterns, with piano. | ||||
| 603-4 | [What is this?/ A *cittern head] | |||
| 714, 721 | [Worthies away. The scene begins to cloud.] Exeunt the Worthies. ۞Dart first instrumental: 2 recorders and tabor, then both songs S + lute | |||
| (867–914) | L73: describes staging organized by Armado. The 3 part songs: treble allotted to Moth and Jacquenetta, tenor to Nathaniel and Costard, bass to Holofernes and Dull. SM21 also comments on the vocal group GPc iv 41 Dull does marvels with pipe and tabor. Cf Hunter, Robert G. The function of song at the end of Love’s Labour lost. SS vii (1974) 55-64 | |||
| 879-896 | [4]. SPRING {sings} When daisies pied and violets blue…The cuckoo then on every tree…thus sings he: Cuckoo! When shepherds pipe on oaten straws, And merry larks are ploughman’s clocks… GPc iv 41 Sung by Moth | 154 | ||
| a) uCM118-121: 16th c. Whittingham Fair +rSATB | ||||
| b) uL76-7 1609. BARTLET ‘Of all the birds that ever I see’ Rd7 à 3 (STB); tune K88/ CW141-2/ CM254; voice + k C75/ GR9-10/ FL i 10/ MI 90; ۞DeE3/ ۞DeP5/ ۞Du23; voice + g CE; rS/T + g DZ 1 | ||||
| c) uDM3: 1581 Millfield + rSATB | (10f) | |||
| d) OS242-3 ‘Leaves be green,’ (‘Browning,’) recommending adaptation of consort settings by STONINGS ‘Browning my dear’ à 5 LPM EML 112:1/ MB xliv 40/ rSSA Ez6; ۞EsU15/ ۞FG ii 7/ ۞KnQ6/ ۞R6/ ۞YM9; WOODCOCKE ‘Browning Fantasy’ MB xliv 41; viols AATTB ۞CaP10/ ۞Hs8/ ۞PaM3/ ۞R6; rSATTB LPM EM1; ۞MsE i 19/ rAAT, basset & B recorders ۞YM 10; other settings: BYRD ‘Browning’ consort à 5 cw 17, p39; ۞Gt26; rSAATB ed. Moore Schott 11596; [lute as ‘Nuts be brown’ (PI 14v-15r/ GB-Cu 3 18 f17v); 2 lutes LR 17; tune C18/ uCW154-5; HALÈSE Variations rA + g RD35; other consort settings: BEVIN à 3 MB ix 15/ MB9s; ۞FA i 5/ ۞Hp8/ ۞Hf 11; RAVENSCROFT ‘Browning Madam’ round à 3 Rd9; ۞R15; COBBOLD Quodlibet ‘New Fashions’ intersperses the tune MB xxii 71; ۞R21/ ۞Tv2 vii; INGLOTT The leaves be green kF251; ۞ChF10/ ۞Wt 15 | ||||
| e) ۞Ph23 Packington | (303b) | |||
| 897-912 | [5]. WINTER {sings} When icicles hang by the wall…Then nightly sings the staring owl: Tu-whit, tu-whoo! – a merry note… (possibly same music as ‘Spring’) GPc iv 41 sung by Jaquenetta | 155 | ||
| a) uDM4: Drive the cold winter away + rSATB | (129) | |||
| b) uL76-7 BARTLET ‘Of all the birds’ K88 | (154b) | |||
| c) uOS242-3 ‘Leaves be green,’ | (154d) | |||
| d) uCM121-5: 16th c. Whittingham Fair +rSATB | (154a) | |||
| 913 | [The words of Mercury are harsh after the songs of Apollo.] (GPs ii 426, 448) fitting to end with a *dance |