This edition was prepared by Pauline Emily — free to download, print, rehearse and perform.
Full fathom five
Staff Notation • Secular, Madrigals
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5 editions of this piece
Different typesettings and voicings of the same work. This page shows the main edition; the others are below.
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Full fathom five by Robert Johnson II — Lyrics
Full fathom five thy father lies;
Of his bones are coral made;
Those are pearls that were his eyes;
Nothing of him that does fade,
But doth suffer a seachange
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About Full fathom five
Robert Johnson II's setting of Full fathom five conjures a vivid scene of transformation beneath the waves. The text, from Shakespeare's The Tempest, describes a father drowned at sea, whose body has undergone a wondrous change. His bones have become coral, his eyes pearls, and nothing about him fades but instead suffers a sea-change into something rich and strange. The two-part treble voices (SST) bring this magical metamorphosis to life, with the words 'Ding-dong, bell' creating a striking, almost eerie, sonic image of the sea-nymphs' funeral knell. This secular madrigal is a masterclass in setting evocative poetry with musical imagination.
