This edition was prepared by James Gibb — free to download, print, rehearse and perform.
Amidst the myrtles
Staff Notation • Secular, Glees
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Amidst the myrtles by Jonathan Battishill — Lyrics
Amidst the myrtles as I walk,
Love and myself thus enter talk,
Tell me, said I, in deep distress,
Where I may find my shepherdess.
I've searched the groves and fragrant bowers,
Where oft I've culled her sweetest flowers,
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About Amidst the myrtles
A classic example of the glee, a popular secular genre of the late 18th and early 19th centuries, Jonathan Battishill's "Amidst the myrtles" sets a pastoral lyric of unrequited love and longing. The text follows a shepherd's desperate search for his beloved "Silvia", expressing his distress as he wanders through groves and meadows. Written for SATTB voices, this piece would suit a concert programme seeking to explore the English glee tradition. The vocal writing, though demanding, is characteristic of the period, calling for agile singers to capture the emotional arc of the text from anxious inquiry to heartfelt plea for return.
