Love's Constancy - by Nicholas Lanier

[Lanierlaw37379]

Is there sheet music available for the songs of Nicholas Lanier, Jerome Bassano, etc.? I am also related to them. I play classical piano and compose for a hobby. I would like to write modern variations on their themes.

Christian Lanier

[lutesongs]

@Lanierlaw37379

In response, yes, there is sheet music available for the music of Nicholas Lanier and the Bassanos. You can try searching the Musica Britannica series, found in most any academic library. There is also an edition of the Complete Works of Nicholas Lanier by Gordon J. Callon (I believe his comments are found on this thread) available from Severinus Press. You can find a pdf of our edition of the music for this song available on our website (voice and unfigured bass).

[IkuzeTV]

believe it ore not, but nicolas lanier is my great great great...... grandfather.

im from the lanier family and i see where it has gotten it great music skills from.

grandfather. your my hero !

[TrickTOlly]

Very beatiful. Was it that there were 3 Nicholas Lanier s? or some quack says he is a relation of Shakespears' Dark Lady?

[AcadiaMusicEditor]

@TrickTOlly Nicholas Lanier (1588-1666; the one who wrote this song) was the nephew of Emilia Bassano who was married to Alphonso Lanier (his uncle). There is evidence that Emilia Bassano/Lanier was Shakespeare's "Dark Lady". The evidence is explained in David Lasocki, The Bassanos (Aldershot, Hants: Scolar Press, 1995), Chapter 3 (written by Roger Prior), pp. 114-139.

[AcadiaMusicEditor]

@TrickTOlly There were two English court musicians of this family named Nicholas Lanier. The one who wrote this song (and other music) lived 1588-1666. He was a court musician (lute & voice) from 1616, and the first Master of the King's Music from 1625. He was an important composer of music for Masques. The elder Nicholas Lanier (c. 1523-1612) was grandfather of the younger. He first was a French court musician under Henri II. He was an English court musician (flute) from 1561.

[JoelvanLennep]

Beautiful. Ron, is your axe strung in gut? It has the warmth of gut.

[lutesongs]

Thank you for your kind words, Joel. I think the lute was strung with a mixture of different strings at that time, some gut and some Nylgut and with copper-wound basses. I will be trying out a set of silk strings soon.

[OrlannWands]

What a wonderfully sensitive and charming performance! The chaconne is treated quite elegantly, and it's not in the least bit aggressive as grounds can sometimes be. I'm especially fond of Ms. Stewart's interpretation; her voice is rich without being in the least bit inauthentic to the style of the English continuo song. The ornamentation also evidences some sean-nos Celtic influence.

I love the lower key; would you happen to know what edition you used?

[lutesongs]

Thank you for your kind and insightful comments about our performance. We used our own performing edition, which is available to download on our website, mignarda (dot) com.

Ron & Donna

[leolinklima]

man, very beatiful. It sonds like song from medieval movies. I mean like a Lord of the Rings song.good work

[DuoContinuo]

Very nice performance!!! 5,5 stars, favorited and best regards from Berlin - Siegfried (DuoContinuo)

[rrucky]

Wonderful!! It shines over other renditions.  It must be great to hear it live at a house concert!

[digoriepiper]

Such a beautiful song - and wonderfully performed.

What sort of lute are you using, Ron? It looks like a baroque lute - is it in Dmin tuning?

Peter, UK

[lutesongs]

Thank you for your kind words, Peter. Yes, the lute is an 11-course meant for d-minor tuning, but is strung in old tuning pitched at E for this particular set of songs.