For allergicone!

[gurdymonkey]

Yahoo appears to have eaten my previous post to the SCA-RETARDS SCA-BARDS list, so let's try again, shall we? The subject was songs on the theme of death. Period ones - a concept that an awful lot of list members cannot seem to get through their thick skulls even though that was what was specifically asked for.

"Ad mortem festinamus" from the Llibre Vermell might do you:
Lyrics and midi file can be found here:
http://brassy.club.fr/PartMed/LiVerm/LiVerm.html

Scroll down for full lyrics and translation. http://www.sarband.de/Programs/Fran%8Dais/FR-Llibreall.html
Samuel Piper did some notation for it here: http://www.pbm.com/~lindahl/articles/filk.and.the.sca.html

And there's "Man Mai Longe", lyrics can be found here:
http://www.pbm.com/~lindahl/articles/filk.and.the.sca.html
And of course, I can't FIND the book that I think has notation for it.

If you want something late period in more recognizable English, there's always Orlando Gibbons' "The Silver Swan," which is about as short and sweet as it gets. Or the depressing "Never Weatherbeaten Sail."
Campion, just barely after 1600.

Comments

[gurdymonkey.livejournal.com]

There's an arrangement of "Swan" on the Kings' Singers "Madrigal History Tour" for solo countertenor - which I've cribbed shamelessly in the past. As far as I can tell, it's simply the top line of the madrigal, but it's one of those rare instances where it doesn't fall completely to pieces without the rest of the arrangement.