The Foundation
Two Elizabethan Airs
Two arrangements for piano by ‘jbw’, which is to say ‘John Burgess Wilson’, Anthony Burgess’s original name, of ‘Fain Would I Change That Note’ by Tobias Hume and ‘The Leaves Be Green’ by William Byrd. Burgess’s use of his original name, as well as the type of paper and pen used to write the manuscript, date his arrangements to pre-1960.
Fain would I change that note
To which fond Love hath charm’d me
Long, long to sing by rote,
Fancying that that harm’d me:
Yet when this thought doth come
‘Love is the perfect sum
Of all delight!’
I have no other choice
Either for pen or voice
To sing or write.
– Tobias Hume (1569-1645)
Click the image for the score (opens in a new tab).
