Drop, drop slow tears

This work for unaccompanied mixed-voice choir (with frequent divisi) was commissioned by Ralph Allwood for the Radio 3 broadcast from the Eton Choral Course in 1987. Phineas Fletcher’s matchless poem is well known from the timeless beauty of Gibbons’ hymn and the popularity of Walton’s early setting. But this setting is quite different – it is harmonically complex and will offer some challenge to intermediate choirs, but when the idiom is mastered it conveys the essential passion of Fletcher’s words and is rewarding for both singers and audience alike. The poem is arch-shaped with the central verse being truly impassioned at ‘to cry for vengeance sin doth never cease’. The final verse is consolatory and Spicer found himself quoting the opening of Gibbons’ setting which came out of nowhere almost as a blessing.