Get all 5 Albion Choir releases available on Bandcamp and save 35%.
Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality downloads of Albion's Anti-Covid Fundraiser, In Cloudless Sunshine, Sheffield's Choral Celebration - live, These Islands, and Salutation.
1. |
The Skye Boat Song
04:11
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THE SKYE BOAT SONG
Text & melody: traditional Scottish
Speed, bonnie boat, like a bird on the wing,
Onward! the sailors cry;
Carry the lad that's born to be King
Over the sea to Skye.
Loud the winds howl, loud the waves roar,
Thunderclouds rend the air;
Baffled, our foes stand by the shore,
Follow they will not dare.
Though the waves leap, soft shall ye sleep,
Ocean's a royal bed.
Rocked in the deep, Flora will keep
Watch by your weary head.
Many's the lad fought on that day,
Well the Claymore could wield,
When the night came, silently lay
Dead in Culloden's field.
Burned are their homes, exile and death
Scatter the loyal men;
Yet ere the sword cool in the sheath
Charlie will come again.
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2. |
Early one morning
03:31
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3. |
Wishes
03:43
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WISHES
Text: William Butler Yeats (1865-1939)
Had I the heavens' embroidered cloths,
Enwrought with golden and silver light,
The blue and the dim and the dark cloths
Of night and light and the half-light,
I would spread the cloths under your feet:
But I, being poor, have only my dreams;
I have spread my dreams under your feet;
Tread softly because you tread on my dreams.
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4. |
Scarborough Fair
02:58
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SCARBOROUGH FAIR
Text & melody: Traditional Yorkshire
Are you going to Scarborough Fair?
Parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme,
Remember me to one who lives there,
She once was a true love of mine.
Ask her to make me a cambric shirt,
Parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme,
Without any seam nor needle work,
Then she'll be a true love of mine.
Tell him to find me an acre of land,
Parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme,
Between the salt water and the sea sand,
Then he'll be a true love of mine.
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5. |
God be in my head
01:55
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GOD BE IN MY HEAD
Words: Sarum Primer (1558)
God be in my head, and in my understanding;
God be in mine eyes, and in my looking;
God be in my mouth, and in my speaking;
God be in my heart, and in my thinking;
God be at mine end, and at my departing.
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6. |
Gaudete
02:28
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7. |
The Month of Maying
02:49
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THE MONTH OF MAYING
Text: ?Orazio Vecchi (1590)
Now is the month of maying, fa la la la,
When merry lads are playing, fa la la la,
Each with his bonny lass, fa la la la,
Upon the greeny grass. Fa la la la.
The Spring, clad all in gladness,
Doth laugh at Winter's sadness,
And to the bagpipe's sound
The nymphs tread out their ground.
Fie then! why sit we musing,
Youth's sweet delight refusing?
Say, dainty nymphs, and speak,
Shall we play at barley-break?
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8. |
Greensleeves
03:03
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GREENSLEEVES
Text & melody: traditional English, probably Elizabethan
Alas, my love, you do me wrong,
To cast me off discourteously.
For I have loved you for so long,
Delighting in your company.
Greensleeves was all my joy
Greensleeves was my delight,
Greensleeves was my heart of gold,
And who but my lady Greensleeves.
I have been ready at your hand,
To grant whatever you wouldst crave;
I have both wagered life and land,
Your love and good-will for to have.
Greensleeves, now farewell, adieu,
God I pray to prosper thee,
For I am still thy lover true,
Come once again and love me.
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9. |
One star, made infinite
03:19
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10. |
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MY LOVE IS LIKE A RED ROSE
Text: Robert Burns (1759-1796)
My love is like a red red rose
that's newly sprung in June:
my love is like the melodie
that's sweetly play'd in tune.
So fair art thou, my bonnie lass,
so deep in love am I:
and I will love thee still, my dear,
till a' the seas gang dry.
Till a' the seas gang dry, my dear,
and the rocks melt wi' the sun:
and I will love thee still, my dear,
while the sands o' life shall run.
And fare thee weel, my only love,
And fare thee weel awhile!
And I will come again, my love,
tho' it were ten thousand mile.
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11. |
Loch Lomond
02:58
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LOCH LOMOND
Traditional Scottish song
By yon bonnie banks an' by yon bonnie braes
Whaur the sun shines bright on Loch Lomond
Whaur me an' my true love will ne-er meet again
On the bonnie, bonnie banks o' Loch Lomon'.
O ye'll tak' the high road, and Ah'll tak' the low (road)
And Ah'll be in Scotlan' afore ye
Fir me an' my true love will ne-er meet again
On the bonnie, bonnie banks o' Loch Lomon'.
'Twas there that we perted in yon shady glen
On the steep, steep sides o' Ben Lomon'
Whaur in soft purple hue, the hielan hills we view
An' the moon comin' oot in the gloamin’.
The wee birdies sing an' the wild flouers spring
An' in sunshine the waters are sleeping
But the broken heart, it kens nae second spring again
Tho' the waeful may cease frae their greetin'.
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12. |
Jamie
03:02
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Solo Martha Hayward
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13. |
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SLÁN AGUS BEANNACHT LEAT (A GAELIC BLESSING)
Text: Traditional Scots Gaelic prayer, trans. Alexander Carmichael (1832-1912), Carmina Gadelica
Bless to me O God the earth beneath my foot,
Bless to me O God the path whereon I go,
Bless to me O God the thing of my desire;
Thou evermore of evermore.
Slán agus beannacht leat.
[Goodbye, and blessings be with you.]
The eye of the great God,
The eye of the God of glory,
The eye of the King of hosts,
The eye of the King of the living,
Pouring upon us at each season,
Glory to thee thou glorious Sun,
Face of the God of life.
Bless to me the thing whereon is set my mind,
Bless to me the thing whereon in set my love,
Bless to me the thing whereon is set my hope;
O thou King of Kings.
She of my love is the new moon,
The King of all creatures blessing her:
Be mine a good purpose
Towards each creature of creation.
Holy be each thing which she illumines,
Kindly be each deed which she reveals:
Be her guidance on land with all beset ones,
Be her guidance on sea with all distressed ones.
May the moon of moons be coming through thick clouds
On me and every mortal who is coming through affliction.
May the virgin of my love be coming through thick clouds
To me and to all in tribulation.
May the King of grace help my hand,
Now and for evermore;
Until my resurrection day.
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14. |
Jerusalem
02:50
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JERUSALEM
Text: William Blake (1757-1827)
Melody: Hubert Parry (1848-1918)
And did those feet in ancient time
Walk upon England’s mountains green?
And was the holy Lamb of God
On England’s pleasant pastures seen?
And did the Countenance Divine
Shine forth upon our clouded hills?
And was Jerusalem builded here,
Among these dark Satanic Mills?
Bring me my Bow of burning gold;
Bring me my Arrows of desire:
Bring me my Spear: O clouds unfold!
Bring me my Chariot of fire!
I will not cease from Mental Fight,
Nor shall my Sword sleep in my hand:
Till we have built Jerusalem
In England’s green & pleasant Land.
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15. |
Danny Boy
03:16
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DANNY BOY
Text: Frederic Weatherley (1848-1929)
Melody: Londonderry Air, traditional Irish
Oh Danny boy, the pipes, the pipes are calling
From glen to glen, and down the mountain side,
The summer's gone, and all the roses dying,
'Tis you, 'tis you must go and I must bide.
But come ye back when summer's in the meadow,
Or when the valley's hushed and white with snow;
'Tis I'll be here in sunshine or in shadow,
Oh Danny boy, oh Danny boy, I love you so.
And if you come and all the flowers are dying,
If I am dead, as dead I well may be,
You’ll come and find the place where I am lying
And kneel and say an "Ave" there for me.
And I shall hear, though soft you tread above me,
And all my grave shall warm and sweeter be,
And you will bend and tell me that you love me
And I shall sleep in peace until you come to me.
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Albion Choir
The music of "these islands" - folksongs, madrigals, chant, and anthems from the British Isles (and beyond) - reimagined through new arrangements and compositions in the unique choral sound of Albion.
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