Dear Peter, I think I disagree with my suggestion too. Your message to Jon has prompted me to have another look at Campion's "My sweetest Lesbia". I have re-read what you wrote on 8th June (copied below), and I accept your solution.
One thing is clear: if there are mensuration signs like C slash and "3", the value of the crotchet and minim does not stay the same; it is the pulse or beat which stays the same. This means that the pulse (represented at the start of the song by a dotted minim) stays constant, but after the C slash that pulse is notated in minims (not semibreves, as I had suggested on 8th June). You are right to consider the meaning of the words: "ever-during night" suggests a longer time than normal, so it would be appropriate for the music to appear to slow down at this point. If you followed my original suggestion of dotted minim = semibreve, the music would seem to speed up, producing a frantic end to the verse, instead of the suitably serene end produced by dotted minim = minim. I think Jon is wrong to suggest (as he does on 8th June) that there is no answer to your question. You have answered it correctly yourself. Best wishes, Stewart. ----- Original Message ----- From: "Peter Nightingale" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "Jon Murphy" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Cc: "Stewart McCoy" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Thursday, June 24, 2004 8:00 PM Subject: Re: My Sweetest Lesbia > Jon, > > I never responded to your message. I've listened to the several versions > of the song and looked at the the lyrics and the voice part. It seems > "obvious" that there are no 3-2 or 3-1 changes going on here, but 1-2 > changes -- in contrast to Fire, Fire. Let's say the song starts in 3/4, > then occasionally it goes to 3/2 and even 4/2, but at all times the time > it takes to play two crotchets equals that for a minim. I would go > further than you and say that anything more complicated than hemiolas (if > that is what technically they are) seems far fetched. It may be a matter > of taste, but unless I misunderstood, I think that I disagree with > Stewarts' suggestion. > > Regards, > Peter. > > > On Tue, 8 Jun 2004, Jon Murphy wrote: > > > Peter, > > > > I don't think there is an answer to your question. I have seen it in the > > theoreticals both ways - maintain the beat of the note, or the time of the > > measure. In the absence of a CD by Campion, which might be hard to find, I'd > > say that your feeling for the sound should be as good as anyone else's. > > Tempo is a bitch when looking at old tabs, and even modern score. Is 6/8 > > really 2/2 played with triplets? > > > > Best, Jon > > > > > > Message on 8th June: Dear Stewart, I understand what you are saying and it makes sense. As a matter of fact, this is precisely how I count Campions' Fire, Fire (Third Book of Ayres, XX). However, there is a difference: Fire, Fire goes from C to 3 and, whereas My sweetest Lesbia goes from 3 to C-slash. The implication is that there is no difference between C and C-slash. Or do you have a different solution of Fire? One of the possibilities I mentioned, which would have made C and C-slash different, was to play the C-slash section twice as fast as you suggest. However, in terms of the music and the lyrics this makes no sense at all: according to my taste, "night" might be longer than "sleep", "paine" and "loue", or the same, but not shorter. Thanks and regards, Peter. PS If anyone is interested, I have tab versions of both songs.
