Dear Christopher, There is an excellent web site devoted to Thomas Ravenscroft. I can't remember the http address, but if you use the Google search engine and type in "Ravenscroft + Melisimata", you'll end up there. There are facsimiles, modern editions, MIDI files, and Goodness knows what. I'm pretty sure The Three Ravens is included.
I hope that anyone subscribing to this list back in 2001 won't mind me repeating a message I sent then, because it included an intabulation of The Three Ravens. You'll see it below. Best wishes, Stewart McCoy. ----- Original Message ----- From: "Chapman, Christopher" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Monday, October 06, 2003 6:41 PM Subject: Lute version of "Three Ravens"? > Hi Folks, > > Does anyone know of lute tablature (or indeed, any harmonized version) > of the song "Three Ravens"? > > > Thanks, > Christopher E-mail to the Lute Net on 8th May 2001: "The Three Ravens" appears in Thomas Ravenscroft's _Melismata_ (London, 1611), No. 20. There is a facsimile edition of all three books (i.e. _Pammelia_ (1609), _Deuteromelia_ (1609), and _Melismata_ (1611)) ed. Tristram P. Coffin, Publications of the American Folklore Society, vol. 12 (Philadelphia: The American Folklore Society, 1961). The song presents various editorial problems: 1) Accidentals. There are a few e's without flats in the upper parts. (Only the Bassus has flats marked.) Are they meant to be flat, or does Ravenscroft intend a modal e natural? There is also an f natural in the Treble part towards the end, which many would think should be sharp. Again, it is possible that Ravenscroft wanted a flattened leading note. As far as I know there are no other contemporary sources of the song to offer guidance. My preference is to put in the accidentals. 2) Words. There are only some words for the lowest three voices, to wit "Downe hey downe", etc. The implication for me is that, although the accompanying voices could be vocalised (e.g. hummed or solfa-ed), I think they should be played on viols. It is not only the lack of words which makes me think this, but also the odd melodic intervals, and the fact that the Medius crosses the Treble in bar 3. 3) What to do with the lute. Should one slavishly try to duplicate the lowest parts as Ravenscroft has them, or should one adapt them to make them more playable on the lute. My instinct is to go for the latter, because otherwise some odd effects arise, e.g. parallel fourths, which are not as convincing on the lute as they would be on viols. Anyway, this is what I've come up with. As usual, the tablature is to be read in a mono-spaced font like Courier. Rhythm signs are notated numerically: 1=quaver, 2=crotchet; 6=dotted minim, etc. 2 3 1 2 4 3 1 __________a__d___c__a________d__c_a_d_c_a___ _a_|_a____a____|_b__a__e___|_a____________|_ ___|_b__d_b____|____b__a___|__________d___|_ ___|___________|___________|_c__a_________|_ ___|___________|_a_____c___|______d_______|_ _a_|_a____a____|____a_____________________|_ 3 1 2 4 2 6 2 ____a__________________________a_______c_______ _e____e____|_a_____a__c_|_d__________|_a___d_|_ _a____a__a_|_b__d_____b_|_a____d_____|_____a_|_ ___________|_c________c_|_a_______c__|_b_____|_ _c____c____|____________|______d_____|_c_____|_ ___________|____________|____________|_______|_ 2 4 2 3 1 2 _______________________________________________ _d__a_______|_d________|_a______a_|_a______a_|_ _b_____d__b_|_a__b__d__|_b___a____|______a___|_ ____________|_a________|_c______c_|_b__c_____|_ ____________|__________|__________|_c______c_|_ _d__________|__________|__________|__________|_ 3 1 2 4 _d___c_a______________________ _a_____b_a_____|____a__a___||_ ___________d_b_|_a__a__c___||_ _______________|_______c___||_ _______a_______|_c__c______||_ _d_____________|_______a___||_ I hope this is of use. Please let me know if it works. I assume from your posting that you already have the words. Please let me know if you haven't. Best wishes, Stewart McCoy.
