Category Archives: music

Hey downe a downe: a canon at the fifth

Posted on February 15, 2025 by jhkob

Most common rounds or canons are “canons at the unison” meaning that each part is the same and starts on the same note just at different times. For instance, “Row, row, row your boat “ is a canon at the … Continue reading →

Posted in drinking song, Elizabethan, music, Pammelia, Ravenscroft, rounds, sheet music, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Conductus ad tabulam: Orientis Partibus – Song of the Ass

Posted on February 23, 2023 by jhkob

Orientis partibus is a playful hymn addressed to an ass. It comes from a liturgy for the Feast of the Circumcision, which was later known as the Feast of Fools, from the Church of Sens in France in the 1200s.(MS. 46 of the Bibliothèque … Continue reading →

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Book recommendation: Sing We Now Merrily

Posted on January 7, 2019 by jhkob

Sing We Now Merrily: A Collection of Elizabethan Rounds from Ravenscroft selected and edited by Edward Bolkovac is an excellent collection of over 75 Thomas Ravenscroft rounds in modern notation. This is a great resource for reenactors, for those interested … Continue reading →

Posted in Deuteromelia, Elizabethan, music, Pammelia, Ravenscroft, Renaissance, resource review, rounds, sheet music | Leave a comment

Deuteromelia 1: “As it fell on a holy day” or the ballad of John Dory

Posted on December 31, 2018 by jhkob

Song: As it fell on a holy day (the ballad of John Dory) From : Deuteromelia, or, the Second Part of Musicks melodie, or melodius Musicke, of Pleasant Roundelaies; K. H. mirth, or Freemens Songs, and such delightfull Catches Composer … Continue reading →

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Another Spring Carol: In Vernali Tempore

Posted on July 9, 2018 by jhkob

There is one more spring song in the Piae Cantiones (1582). in the section “De Tempore Vernali Cantiones”. Here is my transcription: In Vernali Tempore – 2 page version In Vernali Tempore – 1 page version Here is the tune. This … Continue reading →

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Pammelia 2: O My Fearful Dreams

Posted on April 20, 2014 by jhkob

Fortunately for music historians and re-creationists, Thomas Ravenscroft collected and published the street, folk, and drinking music of his day – mostly the late 1500s. Many of the rounds Ravenscroft collected are still popular today in some form. Since today … Continue reading →

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A Spring Carol: Tempus Adest Floridum

Posted on April 19, 2014 by jhkob

It’s finally spring, so here is a transcription of a spring carol: Tempus Adest Floridum from the Piae Cantiones (1582). Most of you are familiar with the tune – it is used in the Christmas carol Good King Wenceslas which … Continue reading →

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