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Jon 1A

Jon 2A

Jon 3A

Twenty-one Lute Songs or Duets Vol I: Nos 1-7

Twenty-one Lute Songs or Duets Vol II: Nos 8-14

Twenty-one Lute Songs or Duets Vol III: Nos 15-21

for soprano, bass, lute and viol

with an arrangement for keyboard accompaniment

sample pages Vol 1 - PDF
sample pages Vol 2 - PDF
sample pages Vol 3 - pdf

Robert Jones published altogether five books of songs over the period 1600 – 1610, and a collection of madrigals. His Second Booke of Songs and Ayres, published in 1601, is described on the title page as ‘Set out to the Lute, the base Violl, the playne way, or the Base by tableture, after the leero fashion ‘. Each song is set out for a Cantus and lute accompaniment, a separate part for the Bassus with the text underlaid, and a part for the tablature bass.

The songs were thus clearly intended, when the opportunity presented itself, to be sung as duets for soprano and bass voices, with either the lute alone, or with lute and lyra viol. The intention of the present edition is to offer all twenty-one songs in a form in which it is easy and practical to perform them either as solo songs, or as duets, accompanied by the lute, with or without a bass viol.

For those occasions when a lute is not available, a keyboard arrangement of the lute and bass parts is provided. It is not advocated to use this for performance, but it may prove a help for the singers in preparing the songs for performance.

For the soprano and the lutenist, two copies of the cantus part with the lute tablature are provided. For a lutenist who wishes also to sing the bassus, we give the tablature again with the bassus part. A separate bassus part for a viol is included.

Wherever possible, all the text is set under the voice parts; in practice this is feasible with up to four stanzas. Thus in song number 5, My thought this other night, the text for four of the verses is set out on the facing page. The sources of the texts are for the most part unknown, but it has been suggested that at least the first stanza of number 2, My love bound me with a kisse, is by Thomas Campion. The words of number 11, Over these brookes, are taken from Sidney’s Arcadia.