This edition was prepared by David Fraser — free to download, print, rehearse and perform.
Farewell too faire
Staff Notation • Secular, Partsongs
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2 editions of this piece
Different typesettings and voicings of the same work. This page shows the main edition; the others are below.
Solo medium · Brian Russell
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Farewell too faire by John Dowland — Lyrics
Farewell too faire, too chast but too too cruell,
discretion never quenched fire with swords:
Why hast thou made my heart thine angers fuell,
and now would kill my passions with thy words.
This is prowd beauties true anatamy,
if that secure severe in secrecie, farewell.
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About Farewell too faire
John Dowland's Farewell too faire is a poignant English art song for solo voice. The music reflects the sorrowful text, which laments a love that is both too beautiful and too cruel. The singer must convey the pain of rejection and the struggle against a lover's cold words, which extinguish passion rather than quenching it. The piece captures the Renaissance sensibility of expressing intense personal emotion through refined musical language. It is a masterclass in setting a text, with the melody and accompaniment working together to underscore the singer's plea and eventual resignation.
