Drop, drop slow tears

Résumé

This work for unaccompanied mixed-voice choir with frequent divisi was commissioned by Ralph Allwood for the Radio 3 broadcast from the Eton Choral Course in 1987. Phineas Fletchers matchless poem is well known from the timeless beauty of Gibbons hymn and the popularity of Waltons early setting. But this setting is quite different it is harmonically complex and will offer some challenge to intermediate choirs, but when the idiom is mastered it conveys the essential passion of Fletchers words and is rewarding for both singers and audience alike. The poem is arch-shaped with the central verse being truly impassioned at to cry for