Paul Willenbrock, bass
Marco Horvat, baroque guitar
sound, Hamish Hossain
montage, Rebecca Young
© Paul Willenbrock, 2018
In order to illustrate the kind of ”original” pronunciation I teach to singers, I have recorded this fascinating setting of the most famous soliloquy in English literature, ”To be or not to be” from Shakespeare’s ”Hamlet”. It was written between 1675 and 1680 by the Flemish-born Italian composer Cesare Morelli for the enthusiastic amateur musician and (bass) singer Samuel Pepys – the writer of arguably the most famous diary ever written by an Englishman. Even if Morelli’s setting is not exactly a masterpiece, it is impressive how well he captured the rhythm and cadences of the English language in this essentially declamatory piece. It is tempting to think that Pepys himself might have given Morelli some advice; Pepys wrote with great admiration of Thomas Betterton’s performances as Hamlet – the great Betterton who had been taught by Davenant how the role had been played by Davis of Blackfriars… who had been taught by Shakespeare himself! I am grateful to Marco Horvat, an ardent defender of ”OP”, for his sensitive rendering of Morelli’s slightly quirky tablature on the baroque guitar. I look forward to hearing him sing it himself, as he is one of that rare breed of self-accompanying singers. I am also very grateful to Hamish Hosain who ably and calmly recorded us in the very short time we had available. Contact: Paul Willenbrock, coach: paulwillenbrock@yahoo.com
montage, Rebecca Young
© Paul Willenbrock, 2019
This is clearly not meant as a performance, but to demonstrate the sort of sounds I teach for 17th-century English. As a first step in this coaching I send the pupil(s) this sort of recording of the text, spoken fairly slowly, but naturally, and expressively. In a second recording I declaim the text with the rhythm of the musical setting.
Contact: Paul Willenbrock paulwillenbrock@yahoo.com
montage, Rebecca Young
© Paul Willenbrock, 2019
This is clearly not meant as a performance, but to demonstrate the sort of sounds I teach for 17th-century English. As a first step in this coaching I send the pupil(s) this sort of recording of the text, spoken fairly slowly, but naturally, and expressively. In a second recording I declaim the text with the rhythm of the musical setting.
Contact: Paul Willenbrock paulwillenbrock@yahoo.com
Tobacco, tobacco, sing sweetly for tobacco,
Tobacco is like love, O love it, for you see I wil prove it.
Love maketh leane the fatte mens tumor, so doth tobacco.
Love still dries uppe the wanton humor, so doth tobacco.
Love makes men sayle from shore to shore, so doth tobacco.
‘Tis fond love often makes men poor, so doth tobacco.
Love makes men scorne all Coward feares, so doth tobacco.
Love often sets men by the eares, so doth tobacco.
Tobaccoe, Tobaccoe,
sing sweetely for Tobaccoe.
Tobacco is like Love,
O love it,
For you see I have prowde it.
Francisco Mañalich: tenor – viola da gamba
Recording and montage: Aude Marie Piloz
Video: Claude Nicol
Viola da gamba: Marcelo Ardizzone (luthier)
Original Pronunciation English: Paul Willenbrock
I sing the praise of honor’d wars,
the glory of wel gotten skars,
the bravery of glittring shields,
of lusty harts and famous fields:
For that is Musicke worth the eare of Jove,
a sight for kings and still the Soldiers love:
Look, ô me thinks I see the grace of chivalry,
the colours are displaid, the captaines bright araid:
See now the battels rang’d bullets now thick are chang’d:
Harke, harke, shootes and wounds abound.
The drums allarum sound:
The Captaines crye : za za za, za, za
The Trumpets sound tar ra ra ra ra ratar ra ra ra tar ra ra ra,
O this is musicke worth the eare of Jove,
a sight for Kinges, and stil the Soldiers love.
Francisco Mañalich: tenor – viola da gamba
Recording and montage: Aude Marie Piloz
Video: Claude Nicol
Viola da gamba: Marcelo Ardizzone (luthier)
Original Pronunciation English: Paul Willenbrock