This edition was prepared by David Anderson — free to download, print, rehearse and perform.
Country Squires
Staff Notation • Secular, Partsongs
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Country Squires by Matthew Doodson — Lyrics
Oh, vainly they prate who raise the chaunt
Of a life in a dirty town,
With redtiled roofs and a cobbled street,
And skies of a smoky brown.
But give to me the green grass sward,
And gallant squires to follow hard,
And a loud ‘tally ho’ for the cunning Reynard,
With the dew all fresh at dawning.
Oh, loudly they sing who drain red wine
From a glass or a silver cup;
Who pass the nights in unsating mirth,
And sleep when the sun is up.
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About Country Squires
Matthew Doodson’s Country Squires sets an English text in a vivid secular part-song for SATB choir. The music opens with bright, energetic vocal interplay, quickly establishing a joyful and robust mood. The composer captures the poem's preference for country pursuits over city life and decadent indulgence. The text celebrates the thrill of the hunt, the simple pleasure of a draught of mead, and the open air of the countryside, contrasting these with the supposed emptiness of urban existence and excessive revelry. The SATB voicing allows Doodson to build rich textures and dynamic contrasts, mirroring the poem's enthusiastic and opinionated voice with robust choral writing. It is a piece that revels in its chosen subject matter with gusto.
