The story of the Frog Galliard goes back to Queen Elizabeth's last suitor, Francis, Duke of Anjou. Supposedly the Queen (then age 46) privately called him (age 24) her "frog", both in reference to his being French, and to his face which was scarred from smallpox as a child. Although supposedly fond of him, the match was controversial, and eventually, the Queen dismissed him in 1581. Dowland's song "Now our needs must part" was written (some say) about this parting, with the "Frog Galliard" being the instrumental version of that piece. The piece itself has one chorus with triplets (you can hear it here 3:54). Triplets were not a feature of English music at that time, but were common in contemporary French music and this verse may have been an allusion to the Queen's French suitor. Likewise, the melody of the next chorus (4:08) seems to quote "Greensleeves" a popular English folk song of Dowland's time. This song was popularly (though probably erroneously) attributed to Henry VIII, Queen Elizabeth's father, and in this context may have been a reference to the Queen.
Is just wonderful to put this quality of performance where every note is perfect, even the silent in between two notes and the quality of human being is McAlister Humble, human and incredible generous Thank you for sharing beauty
Love it! Love it! One of my all-time favorites! Over 20 years ago listening to public radio station KUOP out of Stockton, California I heard Dowland for the first time. The song was Now O Now I Needs Must Part. I sat completely transfixed. It was like catching sight of a woman so beautiful it hurts. WHAT is this? WHO wrote it? WHERE can I hear more? Dowland's music is art in the highest sense of the word.
Wonderful performance. Even though he is capo'd up to G it still sound totally guitaristic, he's not trying to make the guitar sound like a lute. I have to say, after one glass of wine i'm ok, but after two I couldn't play twinkle twinkle little star...
I'm with you there with the wine ! I love playing the guitar and I love wine - never the twain shall meet! - I don't know how people like Clapton, when he was on the booze, could do it!
carlcurtis . He's using the F# 3rd string lute tuning here. Although it's definitely possible to play this in standard tuning, the closing hemiola phrase in the second-to-last chorus becomes extremely technically difficult to execute if you want to sustain the harmony as written, especially without a capo. It requires a held down full barre, a five fret stretch, and some pretty tricky right and left hand string shifting. I've spent a lot of time looking, and the only transcription I've seen for this in standard tuning takes out the harmony part there to make the fingering "sane". In practice, almost every transcription of this specifies the lute tuning, including Scott Tennant's, and almost everyone who performs this uses it. The piece is hard enough as it is!
@@josephgrossman3613 Hi, would you mind elaborating on that tuning? Is it just the G string tuned down to F#? Are any other strings tuned differently? Also, do you know what arrangement this is?
Vlad, sure, no problem. The standard lute tuning is identical to standard EADGbe guitar tuning except the third string is tuned down half a step from G to F#.
The lute tuning is a little more "symmetrical" because you get 4th intervals between the top three and bottom three strings, with the "odd" major 3rd interval between 3 and 4, instead of 2 and 3.
Dowland formally converted to Catholicism as an adult. No one knows for sure where his birthplace was, but there is some speculation that he may have been Irish. Although Dowland attributed rejection of his application to be court lutenist to his religion, Queen Elizabeth's court did employ Catholic musicians, so that story may not be true. Also, some historians have speculated that Dowland effectively acted as a spy, and his conversion to Catholicism may have been part of his "cover".
The story of the Frog Galliard goes back to Queen Elizabeth's last suitor, Francis, Duke of Anjou. Supposedly the Queen (then age 46) privately called him (age 24) her "frog", both in reference to his being French, and to his face which was scarred from smallpox as a child. Although supposedly fond of him, the match was controversial, and eventually, the Queen dismissed him in 1581. Dowland's song "Now our needs must part" was written (some say) about this parting, with the "Frog Galliard" being the instrumental version of that piece.
The piece itself has one chorus with triplets (you can hear it here 3:54). Triplets were not a feature of English music at that time, but were common in contemporary French music and this verse may have been an allusion to the Queen's French suitor. Likewise, the melody of the next chorus (4:08) seems to quote "Greensleeves" a popular English folk song of Dowland's time. This song was popularly (though probably erroneously) attributed to Henry VIII, Queen Elizabeth's father, and in this context may have been a reference to the Queen.
jgrossma thanks for the information! It's very useful as I am learning the piece right now. I knew I heard Greensleeves there😅
Thanks for that Jgrossma. I love a bit of background. I used to sing "Now our needs must part", so this filled a gap for me.
Excelente video👍✔
Gracias
Is just wonderful to put this quality of performance where every note is perfect, even the silent in between two notes and the quality of human being is McAlister
Humble, human and incredible generous
Thank you for sharing beauty
Grande abraço maestro belíssima interpretação técnica impecável refinada muita musicalidade, bravíssimo.
One of my favourites also
Galliard begins at 3:06.
Great!!!! What a performance.
Just ...magic!!! Thank you!!!
This is amazingly lovely. Thank you.
Beautiful 😍
Love it! Love it! One of my all-time favorites!
Over 20 years ago listening to public radio station KUOP out of Stockton, California I heard Dowland for the first time. The song was Now O Now I Needs Must Part.
I sat completely transfixed. It was like catching sight of a woman so beautiful it hurts. WHAT is this? WHO wrote it? WHERE can I hear more?
Dowland's music is art in the highest sense of the word.
What a great understanding of the pieces!!!
Ana, your version is pretty good too!
lovely! it sounds so remarkably contemporary!
Amazing!
Thanks Paul!
I feel like I need to wear a Rolex to suit this mood!
Wonderful performance.
Even though he is capo'd up to G it still sound totally guitaristic, he's not trying to make the guitar sound like a lute.
I have to say, after one glass of wine i'm ok, but after two I couldn't play twinkle twinkle little star...
I'm with you there with the wine ! I love playing the guitar and I love wine - never the twain shall meet! - I don't know how people like Clapton, when he was on the booze, could do it!
Matthew: Did you tune the G down a half step to match g-lute tuning?
carlcurtis . He's using the F# 3rd string lute tuning here. Although it's definitely possible to play this in standard tuning, the closing hemiola phrase in the second-to-last chorus becomes extremely technically difficult to execute if you want to sustain the harmony as written, especially without a capo. It requires a held down full barre, a five fret stretch, and some pretty tricky right and left hand string shifting. I've spent a lot of time looking, and the only transcription I've seen for this in standard tuning takes out the harmony part there to make the fingering "sane". In practice, almost every transcription of this specifies the lute tuning, including Scott Tennant's, and almost everyone who performs this uses it. The piece is hard enough as it is!
@@josephgrossman3613 Hi, would you mind elaborating on that tuning? Is it just the G string tuned down to F#? Are any other strings tuned differently? Also, do you know what arrangement this is?
Vlad, sure, no problem. The standard lute tuning is identical to standard EADGbe guitar tuning except the third string is tuned down half a step from G to F#.
The lute tuning is a little more "symmetrical" because you get 4th intervals between the top three and bottom three strings, with the "odd" major 3rd interval between 3 and 4, instead of 2 and 3.
Also, I kind of lied, because lutes usually have shorter scales and are tuned to higher pitches than standard modern guitar tuning.
2:37 so much for separation, Queen Elizabeth is still head of the Church, isn't she? So that's that!
So Dowland was Catholic? Is it true he was Irish?
Dowland formally converted to Catholicism as an adult. No one knows for sure where his birthplace was, but there is some speculation that he may have been Irish. Although Dowland attributed rejection of his application to be court lutenist to his religion, Queen Elizabeth's court did employ Catholic musicians, so that story may not be true. Also, some historians have speculated that Dowland effectively acted as a spy, and his conversion to Catholicism may have been part of his "cover".
Looks like an older Jesse Pinkman.
Beautifully played .....Breaking Bad....lol