Accompanied by Jacob Heringman on lute, Les Canards Chantants, a vocal ensemble founded in England and now based in Philadelphia, performs Now, O Now I Needs Must Part by John Dowland. The piece is one of the most refined examples of the English Renaissance lute song, also known as an ayre. It appears in Dowland’s landmark 1597 publication, The First Booke of Songes or Ayres, a collection that helped define the genre in England.
Les Canards Chantants are
- Sarah Holland – Soprano
- Robin Bier – Alto
- Edd Ingham – Tenor
- Graham Bier – Bass
Filmed on location at the North Yorkshire Moors Railway.
- George Reece – Director
- George O’Regan – Director Of Photography
- Jon Hughes – Sound Engineer
Lyrics
Now, oh now I needs must part,
Parting though I absent mourn.
Absence can no joy impart;
Joy once fled cannot return.
While I live I needs must love,
Love lives not when Hope is gone.
Now at last Despair doth prove,
Love divided loveth none.
Sad despair doth drive me hence;
This despair unkindness sends.
If that parting be offence,
It is she which then offends.
Dear when I from thee am gone,
Gone are all my joys at once,
I lov’d thee and thee alone,
In whose love I joyed once.
And although your sight I leave,
Sight wherein my joys do lie.
Till that death doth sense bereave,
Never shall affection die.
Sad despair doth drive me hence;
This despair unkindness sends.
If that parting be offence,
It is she which then offends.
Dear, if I do not return,
Love and I shall die together.
For my absence never mourn
Whom you might have joyed ever;
Part we must though now I die,
Die I do to part with you.
Him despair doth cause to lie
Who both liv’d and dieth true.
Sources
- Les Canards Chantants’ official website
- “Now o now I needs must part” on Wikipedia
