Renaissance songs at Concordia

continued

Thus Crown Wolverton has built her recital from four sets of songs. "The first set, 'Come Again, Sweet Love,' is light and deals with the temptation of love, being in love, love unknown, and so on. The second set, three songs from 'A Pilgrim's Solace,' is pretty heavy musically, with dramatic texts and sonorities. The third set, 'Flow, My Teares,' deals with tears, pain, and death." After two weighty entrees, Crown Wolverton has chosen as "something sweet and delicious" four songs from Dowland's collection of Continental tunes A Musical Banquet.

After that? "'Rest, Sweet Nymphs' is kind of like our digestif, a stunningly sweet and poignant lullaby by Francis Pilkington we thought would be a lovely way to send people back into the world and off for the evening." Crown Wolverton and Benham will perform all three verses of Pilkington's tune, thereby sending people off with these tender sentiments: "Lulla lullaby, lullaby hath pleased you and eased you and slumber sweet seized you, and now to bed I hie."

[Review published December 2007]