Free Vocal Sheet Music
Free vocal sheet music from the English Renaissance: "Breake now, my heart, and die..." by Thomas Campion. This brisk minor song can be sung by male or female vocalists, by substituting "he" for "she," and "his" for "her," etc.
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I first heard this energetic English Renaissance song in college. Here is a young man singing it at a recital:
This piano accompaniment was adapted from lute tablature by Frederick Keel:
Download free vocal sheet music "Breake now, my heart, and die" in Key of Am
Download Elizabethan music "Breake now, my heart, and die" in Key of Em
Download music from the English Renaissance in the Key of Gm
The range of "Breake now, my heart, and die" is an octave plus a third (a 10th). Though the melody is made up primarily of scale steps, there are some tricky thirds for the singer because the chord changes are frequent. (That also makes the piano accompaniment a bit of a handful. You are going to want a pianist who is good with chords for this one -- don't let it drag!)
The time signature changes in measures 18 through 20 require careful counting... they may not feel natural at first.
There is room for a bit of acting in this song (which the young man in the video did not choose to take advantage of). At every phrase, the singer first despairs at the futility of his love, and then reconsiders why he should persevere. He chides himself that the loss (of her love) is surely an easy burden if all it takes is a smile to fix it! Indeed, someone else would be just as good, if she were as pretty.
In the second verse, the singer alludes to classical mythology, which is much less familiar to our modern students than it would have been to singers of Elizabethan music of the English Renaissance. "The Grecian" who was "enchanted in all parts but the heel", the mighty hero Achilles, was finally brought down by an arrow -- to his heel. So might the heart of the singer's beloved eventually be touched, in spite of "ribs of steele".
The old style of spelling might be confusing to non-English speakers, or even for those who speak and read English well, but for whom English is not the first language. This song was written before spelling was standardized; the poet John Donne, a contemporary of Thomas Campion, enjoyed trying out different spellings of his own name.
I hope you and your students enjoy this beautifully-crafted song from Elizabethan England!
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What a lovely, generous site! Many thanks from a fellow singer and music teacher in New York State. Loved the inclusion of the video for "The Ash Grove," a song I just recommended to an adult voice student today. I was pleased to be able to send her the link to not only the sheet music, but a charming performance of the song as well.
Marybeth:
I love your site! It has been an incredible resource for me as a Music teacher. I love your ideas and the music you share...
Useful Sites for Vocalists
ArtSongCentral, source of much free vocal literatureCantorian.org, home to free classical sheetmusic
ChoralWiki, Home of the Choral Public Domain Library
International Music Score Library Project (IMSLP) Petrucci Music Library
Musicnotes.com - transpose vocal sheets up or down!
Note-Perfect.com, Resources for Choral Singers and Soloists
Sheetmusicplus.com
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Matt:
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Wynn:
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Marta:
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