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Description
Another old English song, sung by me in the "authentic" idiom and magically transmuted by Daniel.
In the days before newspapers were easy to come by, people used to share lurid stories in the form of songs, which were printed as cheap broadside ballads - and gradually absorbed into the oral tradition. This murder-suicide ballad may well have originated with a real-life incident, but if so the details are lost in the mists of time.
I think of this as a "local" song, because Oxford is only 40 miles up the road from where I live. It's one of the most beautiful cities in the world - lucky me.
From Daniel:
.... so I tried to remember my trips to Oxford... and around the surrounding countryside... reading Matthew Arnold's poetry on the hillside to the distant sound of bells...
.... so piano serves as our distant chime... doubled with a celesta and hurdy gurdy... Strings seep in.... when she dances with another, a pan-pipe comes in to harmonize... the poison is coloured with a subtle harp playing a short modal scale... the lover's walk home is accompanied with a descending clarinet, soon to be joined by a piccolo that drinks of the same cup.... the final mourn ebbs out with the harp and strings, the poison finding its mark with the final cadence...
In the days before newspapers were easy to come by, people used to share lurid stories in the form of songs, which were printed as cheap broadside ballads - and gradually absorbed into the oral tradition. This murder-suicide ballad may well have originated with a real-life incident, but if so the details are lost in the mists of time.
I think of this as a "local" song, because Oxford is only 40 miles up the road from where I live. It's one of the most beautiful cities in the world - lucky me.
From Daniel:
.... so I tried to remember my trips to Oxford... and around the surrounding countryside... reading Matthew Arnold's poetry on the hillside to the distant sound of bells...
.... so piano serves as our distant chime... doubled with a celesta and hurdy gurdy... Strings seep in.... when she dances with another, a pan-pipe comes in to harmonize... the poison is coloured with a subtle harp playing a short modal scale... the lover's walk home is accompanied with a descending clarinet, soon to be joined by a piccolo that drinks of the same cup.... the final mourn ebbs out with the harp and strings, the poison finding its mark with the final cadence...
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Lyrics
Oxford City
words and tune traditional
orchestrated by Daniel Staniforth
It's of a fair maid in Oxford city
The truth to you now I'll tell
She by a servant man was courted
He often said he loved her well
She said 'my dear I'm too young to marry
We'll take our pleasures when we can'
He said 'my dear you seem to slight me
I'm sure you love some other man'
He saw her dancing with another
Cruel jealousy then took his mind
And to destroy his own true lover
This wicked young man was inclined
Some poison then he soon procured
And mixed it with a glass of wine
He gave the liquor to his lover
She drank it with a cheerful mind
And when she drank it, quickly after
'Take me home my dear' said she
'That glass of wine you lately gave me
Has made me very ill indeed'
As they were walking home together
These words to her he then did say
'I gave you poison in your liquor
To take your tender life away'
'And I have drunk the same, my jewel
I soon shall die as well as thee
And in each other's arms we'll die
To warn young men of jealousy'
words and tune traditional
orchestrated by Daniel Staniforth
It's of a fair maid in Oxford city
The truth to you now I'll tell
She by a servant man was courted
He often said he loved her well
She said 'my dear I'm too young to marry
We'll take our pleasures when we can'
He said 'my dear you seem to slight me
I'm sure you love some other man'
He saw her dancing with another
Cruel jealousy then took his mind
And to destroy his own true lover
This wicked young man was inclined
Some poison then he soon procured
And mixed it with a glass of wine
He gave the liquor to his lover
She drank it with a cheerful mind
And when she drank it, quickly after
'Take me home my dear' said she
'That glass of wine you lately gave me
Has made me very ill indeed'
As they were walking home together
These words to her he then did say
'I gave you poison in your liquor
To take your tender life away'
'And I have drunk the same, my jewel
I soon shall die as well as thee
And in each other's arms we'll die
To warn young men of jealousy'
magnatone
sigh......this is just gorgeous. Rebsie's voice was made for these old english songs, and Daniel's orchestration here is sublimely exquisite. You two are a collab team made in heaven!