Drop Drop Slow Tears SATB Divisi A Cappella (Octavo) Book

This work was commissioned by Ralph Allwood for the Radio 3 broadcast from the Eton Choral Course in 1987. The choice of Phineas Fletcher’s matchless poem was a daring one given the timeless beauty of Gibbons’ hymn and the popularity of Walton’s early setting. But this setting is quite different. It is harmonically complex and not especially easy to sing, but when the idiom is mastered it seems to convey the essential passion of Fletcher’s words. The poem is arch-shaped with the central verse being truly impassioned at ‘to cry for vengeance sin doth never cease’. The final verse is consolatory and I found myself quoting the opening of Gibbons’ setting which came out of nowhere almost as a blessing.