All of green willow
This is probably the tune to which Desdemona’s song (lyrics) was sung in W. Shakespeare’s Othello. Compared to the other plausible alternative, it fits better with the four-line verses interspersed with four lines of refrain in the play’s song, and its one-line chorus (in the latter tune, the verses are twice as short and the chorus five times as long, not counting repetitions).
There existed another version of the tune (lyrics) arranged as a part song, but only two parts survive; this is the most complete version I can provide. The text may be the ballad An old lover’s complaint
, registered in 1579 and otherwise unknown.
There were many willow songs (or poems) written in the early modern period – most of which do not really fit any of the ‘willow’ tunes on this website – apart from those already featured elsewhere, including:
A ballad of the green willowby J. Heywood.
The complaint of a lover forsaken of his love(or
A lover’s complaint being forsaken of his love) from the broadsides.
A lover, approving his lady unkind, is forced unwilling to utter his mindfrom A Gorgeous Gallery of Gallant Inventions.
I cannot come every day to woo
The following songs on this website contain the above line in their lyrics and are thematically similar:
I have a mare, they call her Brock
Joan, quoth John
Quoth John to Joan
A wooing song of a yeoman of Kent’s son
It was a lover and his lass
The original lute accompaniment to this song is unidiomatic and difficult to play. Perhaps this is because it is a reduction of an original part song or, more likely, a consort song.
La mantovanaFolk songs derived from La mantovana
include the Dutch Ik zag Cecilia komen
, the Polish Pod Krakowem
(although I cannot find any related song under this title), the Romanian Carul cu boi
and Cucuruz cu frunza-n sus
, the Scottish My mistress is pretty
, the Slovenian Čuk se je oženil
, the Swedish Värmlandsvisan
and the Ukrainian Kucheri͡ava Kateryna
. A related Czech folk melody was quoted by B. Smetana in his symphonic poem Vltava
.
The national anthem of Israel is also based on this melody, by way of the Romanian Carul
. The tune also appears in the second strain of the Polish military song Szara piechota
.
The second of the Lords(2)
The variant of the tune presented here is based on the version in Elizabeth Rogers’ virginal book. Other versions, differing mainly in the second strain, can be found in the MS of masque music in the British Library and in the Margaret Board lute book.
Where the bee sucks
Miles Smith, secretary to the Archbishop of Canterbury, wrote additional verses to this song between 1660 and 1671 (given here along with the original).