Four Songs from the Book of Common Prayer
Four songs from the Book of Common Prayer set for voice, lute and viol by Roy Marks.
This edition contains four settings of texts from the Anglican Book of Common Prayer, whose beautiful language has been an inspiration to so many musicians since the 17th century, composed by Roy Marks for voice, lute and viol. He uses the word 'Whimsy' instead of 'Opus' for his compositions; these are Whimsies 209, 210, 213 and 214-215. Whimsy 209 is a setting of Psalm 3, Whimsy 210 is Psalm 6, Whimsy 213 is the Nunc Dimittis or Song of Simeon, and Whimsy 214-215 is a setting of the Third Collect, For aid against all perils. The two psalm settings, incidentally, have the added attraction that the viol part is optional––indeed, Roy remarks that some have said that they sound better without a viol––and the significance of Whimsy 215 being joined to 214 is that, by bringing the piece to a close at bar 21 (where the viol comes in and the text begins again) one can also play this without needing a viol player. For Whimsy 213, Nunc Dimittis, however, the viol is essential.
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