Vocal classical music

Renaissance

• The aged lover renounceth love (lyrics). Words by T. Vaux. This is the most famous setting of the poem, but there is also an earlier alternate setting. Yet another setting, based on the traditional tune Children in the wood, was preserved in the theatrical tradition as the setting for the gravedigger’s song in W. Shakespeare’s Hamlet.
• Byrd, W. – My mind to me a kingdom is (lyrics). Words probably by E. de Vere, but sometimes attributed to E. Dyer. Another, anonymous setting of the same poem later appeared in Pills to purge melancholy.
• Cenci, G. – La mantovana (lyrics). This one greatly influenced European folk music, with folk songs derived from it including the Dutch Ik zag Cecilia komen, the Romanian Carul cu boi and Cucuruz cu frunza-n sus, the Scottish My mistress is pretty and the Swedish Värmlandsvisan. A related Czech folk melody was quoted by B. Smetana in his symphonic poem Vltava; the tune also appears in the second strain of the Polish military song Szara piechota.
• Cornysh, W. – Ah, robin (lyrics). Words by T. Wyatt.
• Edwardes, R. – In commendation of music (lyrics).
• The faithful lover (lyrics). Words by H. Howard.
• Have I caught my heavenly jewel? (lyrics). Words by P. Sidney, from his sonnet sequence Astrophil and Stella.
• Nicholson, R. –  Joan, quoth John (lyrics). The lyrics belong to the I cannot come every day to woo family.
• A thousand kisses (lyrics). Words by W. Shakespeare, from his narrative poem Venus and Adonis.
• What if a day (lyrics). Words attributed to T. Campion. A Dutch song Merck toch hoe sterck was later set to this melody, in one of the many examples of links between Dutch and English Renaissance music.
• The willow song (lyrics). This is the best and most well-known setting, possibly originating from a mid-16th c. theatrical play. However, the lyrics themselves are likely to be much older.

Baroque

• Arne, T. – Thou soft-flowing Avon (lyrics). Words by D. Garrick.
• Begging another (lyrics). Words by B. Jonson.
• Farmelo, F. – The downfall of Charing Cross (lyrics).
• Ford, T. – Oh, how my soul (lyrics).
• Humfrey, P. – A young man sat sighing (lyrics). Yet another willow song.
• Johnson, R. – As I walked forth (lyrics).
• Lawes, H.:
  • Disdain returned (lyrics). Words by T. Carew.
  • Self-blinding error (lyrics). Words adapted from W. Shakespeare’s Sonnet 116.
• The longing maid (lyrics). The best-known anonymous setting, although there is also a later one by S. Akeroyde.
• Pepys, S. – Beauty, retire (lyrics). Words by W. Davenant. Yes, composed by that Pepys.
• When Daphne from fair Phoebus did fly (lyrics).
• Wilson, J.:
  • From the fair Lavinian shore (lyrics).
  • Sweet Cytherea (lyrics). Words by W. Shakespeare.

Classical

• Beethoven, L. van – Bundeslied (another version, lyrics). Words by J. W. von Goethe. The music was later adapted as the anthem of Lower Austria.
• Smith, J. S. – The anacreontic song (lyrics). Words by R. Tomlinson. The official song of the Anacreontic Society in London. The music was later adapted as the national anthem of the United States of America.

Romantic

• Chaykovskiy, P. I. – Finale of the Cantata for the opening of the Polytechnic Exhibition (lyrics). File rescued from the sadly defunct Russian Anthem Museum.
• Góralu, czy ci nie żal? (lyrics). Words by M. Bałucki.
• Lee, A. L. – The dying Californian (lyrics). Words by K. Harris.
• Moniuszko, S.:
  • Krakowiaczek (lyrics). Words by E. Wasilewski. A Cracovienne best known for its bars 11–14, which were used as a jingle for TV Cracow.
  • Prząśniczka (lyrics). Words by J. Czeczot. A song most closely associated with the city of Łódź.
• Saint-Saëns, C. – Danse macabre (lyrics). Yes, it was originally a song. Words from the poem Égalité, fraternité by H. Cazalis.
• Schumann, R. – Die beiden Grenadiere 🎤 (lyrics). Words by H. Heine. The final strains are a musical paraphrase of the French La Marseillaise, and were themselves adapted as a melody for the Russian Workers’ Marseillaise.

Modern

• Eisler, H. – Kinderhymne (lyrics). Words by B. Brecht. It was written as a kind of counterpoint to the first verse of the German national anthem.

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