THOU SOFT FLOWING AVON

A collection of 15 songs
By Thomas Arne
Edited by Thomas Goleeke

Contents:

1. Go, lovely rose
2. Thou soft flowing Avon
3. Arise, sweet messenger (from Alfred)
4. O spread thy green mantle (from May Day)
5. The rover reclaimed
6. To fair Fidele’s grassy tomb
7. O peace, thou fairest (from Alfred)
8. Sigh no more (from Much Ado About Nothing)
9. The complaint
10. The generous distressed
11. Nymphs and shepherds (from Alfred)
12. The owl (from Love’s Labor’s Lost)
13. The soldier, tir’d of war’s alarms (from Artaxerxes)
14. Behold me (from The Blind Beggar of Bethnal Green)
15. The serenade

"Thomas Arne (1710-1778) is considered by some to be the most important English composer of the 18th century. Like his more famous contemporary Handel, Arne was destined by his father for a career in law, but also like Handel was able to convince his father that he was better suited to a life in music...
This anthology comes from my conviction that Arne’s songs deserve a wider audience and that they are excellent teaching songs for all levels. Most of these songs were chosen from the out-of-print 18th-century publications Lyric Harmony 1 and 2, Vocal Melody 1 and 2, and The Songs and duetto in The Blind Beggar of Bethnal Green...[and] Favorite Songs in The Merchant of Venice. I arranged the accompaniments for keyboard from instrumental parts and a figured bass...."
Thomas Goleeke
(From Preface to THOU SOFT FLOWING AVON)