My Sweetest Lesbia

waltz

Key signature: Gmajor

Submitted on August 19th 2008 by Kittybriton.

This tune has been added to 6 tunebooks.

Also known as My Sweetest Lesbian.

Details ABC Sheetmusic Comments

Details ABC Sheetmusic Comments

My sweetest Lesbia - Thomas Campian and Philip Rosseter

From Campian's (also spelled Campion) 1601 publication: "A book of Ayres for Voyce and Lute" in collaboration with Philip Rosseter (Fleete Streete, a little way from the Greyhound)

This arrangement of the song makes extensive use of abcPlus features (which should make re-arranging for i.e. lute or guitar simpler):
X:29
T:My Sweetest Lesbia % title
C:Thomas Campion %(or Campian)
O:A Booke of Ayres for Voyce and Lute % origin.
M:3/4 % meter
L:1/8 % length of shortest note
Q:90 % tempo
V:V clef=treble name="Voice" sname="Vc."
V:P1 clef=treble name="Piano" sname="Pno."
V:P2
V:P3 clef=bass
V:P4 clef=bass
%%staves V {(P1 P2) (P3 P4)}
K:G
[V:V] z6 | z6 | G G A B2 A |\
w:My sweet-est Les-bia,
w:If all would live their
w:When time-ly death my
[V:P1] GGA B2 c | d>c B2 A/G/G/^F/ | GBA G>GF |\
[V:P2] B,2 F D2 G | D2 DG/=F/ EA, | B,2 D B,2 A, |\
[V:P3] g2 d g2 e | f2 g2 cd | g2 f g2 d |\
[V:P4] z6 | z6 | z6 |\
%
[V:V] c c c B A2 | d d c B2 A |\
w:let us live and love. And, though the sa-ger
w:lives in love like me, Then blood-y swords and
w:life and for-tune ends, Let not my hearse be
[V:P1] [EC]2 [AC][GB,] [^FA,]2 | B/c/de/f/ g>gf |\
[V:P2] Z | z2 c B2 A |\
[V:P3] c2 =fg d2 | gba g2 d' |\
[V:P4] z6 | z6 |\
%
[V:V] c2 c B>c d | A2 z A A G | F2 D |\
w:sort our deeds re--prove, Let us not weigh them.
w:ar-mour should not be. No drum nor trum-pet
w:vexed with mourn-ing* friends. But let all lov-ers,
[V:P1] e2 c B>AB | A2 z c/B/ AG | F2 z |\
[V:P2] z E/=F/G/A/ D3 | z ^F2 z z B,/^C/ | D2 z |\
[V:P3] c'c/d/e/=f/ g2 G | d2 d'a/g/ fe | d2 z |\
[V:P4] z6 | z6 | z3 |\
%
[V:V] d2 c B2 A | G2 B2 A G | F2 G |\
w:Heaven's great lamps do dive in-to their west, and
w:peace-ful sleeps should move, un-less a-larm came
w:rich in tri-umph, come and with sweet pas-times
[V:P1] A>G E/F/ [GB,]2 [FA,] | [EG,]2 DG ^FG | F z/ D/B/c/ |\
[V:P2] F/E/DC z2 z | z2 B,2 DB,/C/ | A, z3 |\
[V:P3] d'/=c'/ba g2 d | e>=f g2 de | d2 e |\
[V:P4] z6 | z6 | z3 |\
%
[V:V] A2 d2 c A | B2 z | B B c d2 B |\
w:straight a-gain re-vive. But soon as once set
w:from the camp of Love. But fools do live, and
w:grace my hap-py tomb. And, Les-bia, close thou
[V:P1] d>c B2 A/G/G/^F/ | [GB,]2 z | G2 A B>A G |\
[V:P2] D2 DG/=F/ EA, | z3 | B,DE D2 B, |\
[V:P3] f2 g2 cd | g2 G | g2 c g2 G |\
[V:P4] z6 | z3 | z6 |\
%
[V:V] c2 e2 c d | B2 z | G B c d2 B |\
w:is our lit-tle light, then must we sleep one
w:waste their lit-tle light, and seek with pain their
w:up my lit-tle light, and crown with love my
[V:P1] GA/B/ c3 d | B z/ D/d/c/ | B>A G d2 B |\
[V:P2] E2 EGAF | G z2 | D2 E F2 G |\
[V:P3] c2 c'2 ad' | g2 z | g2 e d2 g |\
[V:P4] z6 | z3 | z6 |\
%
[V:V] d2 A2 c B | A2 c4 B2 A2 A2 | G8 |]
w:ev-er-dur-ing night, ev-er-dur-ing night.
w:ev-er-dur-ing night, ev-er-dur-ing night.
w:ev-er-dur-ing night, ev-er-dur-ing night.
[V:P1] A2 d2 AG | F2 c4 B2 A2 A2 | G8 |]
[V:P2] F3 DED | A,2 [GE]2 F2 G2 GF/E/ F2 | D8 |]
[V:P3] d4 cG | d2 c2 d4 d4 | [dG]8 |]
[V:P4] z6 | z4 d'abc' d'3 c' | b8 |]

# Posted on August 19th 2008 by Kittybriton

R:waltz

p.s. I put this up as a waltz because I didn't see an option for an air, and this piece is in 3/4 time (more or less).

# Posted on August 19th 2008 by Kittybriton

eh?

# Posted on August 19th 2008 by domnull

eh is right! this isn't even remotely trad.

# Posted on August 19th 2008 by tnoumarap

Mind, it's been argued Dowland's origins were Irish.

# Posted on August 19th 2008 by nicholas

Dowland may or may not have had Irish origins but was an "English" court musician and lived some of his life in the Dublin suburb of Dalkey. There used to be a plaque there in one of the parks.

# Posted on August 20th 2008 by Donough

Not sure that this was actually by Dowland??
Anyway not a bad idea to read the welcome page here:
"This website is one way of passing on jigs, reels and other dance tunes."
No mention of airs here and the crucial word here is dance.

# Posted on August 20th 2008 by Donough

My Apology

I was mistaken. I thought this site was for sharing music. I won't trouble you again.

# Posted on August 20th 2008 by Kittybriton

Wrong side of the bed this morning eh?

What's going on with all this bad feeling on the comments page here? Of course the session website is for sharing music Kittybriton, and as for comments like "this isn't traditional" there are lots of people on here who put up self-penned tunes and tunes written by modern musicians. There's lots of stuff on here thats not strictly Irish and lots of stuff that isn't dance tunes either. Airs are as much a part of music as a reel or a jig!

Oh and btw Kittybriton, the many people who have put airs up here do tend to get around the restrictive categorisation issues by saying that the tune is a waltz or a reel or whatever best fits for the approximated time signature to put it in.

Thanks for the tune, and everyone stop being nasty!

# Posted on August 20th 2008 by RoisinB

From Jeremy's introduction page to "the Session" website :

"The exchange of tunes is what keeps traditional Irish music alive".

The crucial word to me has always been "Irish". [ it's certainly traditional enough ! ].
RoisinB - do you seriously think you'd ever hear this piece of music played in a traditional session in Ireland ?
Please don't take offence, Kitty, but you may have misunderstood the purpose of this website.

# Posted on August 20th 2008 by Kenny

No Kenny I wasn't saying that this tune is suitable for an Irish session but just making the point that there are lots of tunes on here that are for example morris dance tunes or scottish or whatever and I think it's a bit harsh to shout someone down for putting up a tune that they're interested in and think others might like to play. I always thought the most important thing about this website is the sharing aspect. Also, you'll probably notice that this was kittybriton's first submission to the website so it would be nice if people were a bit more accepting....

# Posted on August 21st 2008 by RoisinB

The EXCHANGE of tunes is what ...etc etc

Kenny should perhaps shift the stress to "the EXCHANGE of tunes is what keeps Irish Music alive" ....traditional musicians in Ireland or anywhere else have always listened to other music and have often absorbed this music into their tradition..Many "traditional Irish Tunes" have their origin in English, Scottish and Welsh tunes and vice- versa.

# Posted on August 21st 2008 by alexboydell

I like this better...

mostly in 6/8 instead of 3/4. To me, the resulting syncopations flow a little better when I play it that way. I would also cut the second to last measure into two and would change the last measure so it fits into the 6/8 or 3/4 ish scheme.

# Posted on August 21st 2008 by muspc

My sweetest Lesbia - Thomas Campian and Philip Rosseter

The words are a translation of a well-known love poem by the 1st century BC Roman poet Catullus.

# Posted on August 21st 2008 by lazyhound

My sweetest Lesbia - Thomas Campian and Philip Rosseter

If number of years be the measure of "traditional" then I'm probably in line for a gold medal (let's be topical!) through my posting of this tune: http://www.thesession.org/tunes/display/5696 It's believed to be the earliest known complete notated tune from Ancient Greece, and is more or less contemporaneous with Catullus.

# Posted on August 21st 2008 by lazyhound

My sweetest Lesbia - the Latin original

It's truer to say that Campion's version of the words is a poetic interpretation based on the original, rather than a translation. The poem by Catullus was number 5 in his canon, and was one of several addressed to a mysterious high-born lady called "Lydia". The theme basically is "carpe diem".

The original Latin text is as follows:

Vivamus, mea Lesbia, atque amemus,
rumoresque senum severiorum
omnes unius aestimemus assis!
soles occidere et redire possunt;
nobis cum semel occidit brevis lux,
nox est perpetua una dormienda.
da mi basia mille, deinde centum,
dein mille altera, dein secunda centum,
deinde usque altera mille, deinde centum;
dein, cum milia multa fecerimus,
conturbabimus, illa ne sciamus,
aut ne quis malus invidere possit
cum tantum sciat esse basiorum.

# Posted on August 21st 2008 by lazyhound

Exchange?

I don't think it's a good idea to allow new members to post this kind of tunes on this site. We don't need any more irrelevant tunes.

# Posted on August 22nd 2008 by slainte

Lesbia - 3/4

I listened to the midi on this site:

http://www.luminarium.org/renlit/lesbia.htm

I think the tune's in 3/4 right enough. Just not the 3/4 that's given in the transcription here. I think you need to double all the notes (crotchet for quaver etc) and write it out in 3/4. It definitely has a one pulse per bar feel to me, not 2 as would be implied by the 6/8 suggested above.

If you do write it out in 3/4, suddenly the tune makes sense, and there's no need for any of those odd changes in bar length. There are just a few ties across the bar line, which was common in music of that period.

# Posted on August 23rd 2008 by benhall.1