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
04:09
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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. |
The water is wide
03:30
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THE WATER IS WIDE
Somerset; ?16th century
The water is wide, I cannot get o'er
And neither have I wings to fly.
O go and get me a little boat,
To carry o'er my true love and I.
Where love is planted, there it grows,
It buds and blossoms like a rose;
It has a sweet and pleasant smell,
No flow'r on earth can it excel.
There is a ship sailing on the sea,
She's loaded deep as deep can be,
But not so deep as in love am I;
I care not if I live or die.
O love is handsome and love is fine,
And love is charming when it is true;
As it grows old it groweth cold
And fades away like the morning dew.
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3. |
The month of maying
02:54
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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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4. |
Wishes
03:50
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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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5. |
Greensleeves
03:09
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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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6. |
Jerusalem
02:58
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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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7. |
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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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8. |
Come live with me
01:56
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COME LIVE WITH ME
Text: Christopher Marlowe (1564-1593), The Passionate Shepherd to His Love
Come live with me and be my love,
And we will all the pleasures prove
That hill and valley, dale and field,
And all the craggy mountains yield.
There we will sit upon the rocks,
And see the shepherds feed their flocks,
By shallow rivers to whose falls
Melodious birds sing madrigals.
A gown made of the finest wool
Which from our pretty lambs we pull;
Fair lined slippers for the cold,
With buckles of the purest gold;
Thy silver dishes for thy meat,
As precious as the gods do eat,
Shall on an ivory table be
Prepared each day for thee and me.
The shepherds' swains shall dance and sing
For thy delight each May morning:
If these delights thy mind may move,
Then live with me and be my love.
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9. |
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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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10. |
Danny Boy
03:03
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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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