Ye tuneful numbers
A Song with Symphonies
for alto/countertenor (a-c''), 2 violins and continuo
Ref. no Cro 4 (in 'cantatas') Price £ 7.80 sample page cover page To order: ☞
This work is among songs and anthems with instruments by several composers collected together in the manuscript Add. MS. 31461 in the British Library, to whom thanks are due for making this available for study. Ye tuneful numbers was prepared by Maurice Bevan for performance during the celebrations marking the tercentenary of Croft’s birth in 1978. It is Croft’s only work having a lengthy introductory symphony with a slow-fast–slow structure. It is an intriguing work, with the ‘affect’ expressed by the use of long vocal melismas and discord, reminiscent of Purcell.
