Price codeF
GeneralCatalogue no. 3063
Spring, the sweet spring SSAA
Music: Douglas Cook, Words: Thomas Nashe
Voicing: SSAA, soprano solo
Performance time approx: 2m30s
Ranges Soprano solo: e' flat - a'' / S1: e' flat - a'' / S2: c' - d'' / A1: b flat - e'' flat / A2: g - c''
Price code: F
Complexity:
An exuberant welcome to spring, set to a text by the Elizabethan poet and prose writer Thomas Nashe. Sections of verse – and refrains of bird song – start softly and build in energy, evoking the bursts of growth and activity that characterise this season. The different voice parts appear in different combinations, often led off by the soprano soloist (who at other times simply doubles the soprano line).
An SATB edition of the piece is also available.
Spring, the sweet spring, is the year’s pleasant king,
Then blooms each thing, then maids dance in a ring,
Cold doth not sting, the pretty birds do sing:
Cuckoo, jug-jug, pu-we, to-witta-woo!
The palm and may make country houses gay,
Lambs frisk and play, the shepherds pipe all day,
And we hear aye birds tune this merry lay:
Cuckoo, jug-jug, pu-wee, to-witta-woo!
The fields breathe sweet, the daisies kiss our feet,
Young lovers meet, old wives a-sunning sit,
In every street these tunes our ears do greet:
Cuckoo, jug-jug, pu-we, to-witta-woo!
Spring, the sweet spring!
Thomas Nashe (1567 – c. 1601)
In the musical setting, some spelling has been adapted and some phrases omitted or abbreviated.