Ruth Willemse: Roger Quilter, Five Shakespeare Songs, op. 23 

Beautiful!

Gorgeous performance of gorgeous songs. Thankyou.

excellent performance, and immaculate piano playing & pianist!

Incredibly! Such a pure voice, a gentle tone! And you are beautiful as well, congratulations!

I am singing Fear no more for solo and ensemble and listening to this has helped me learn the song immensely! :) This is the best version of the song that I've seen on youtube! :D Amazing! :)

Ruth Willemse you are the Best! Just too Good! Loved your rendition!

I really enjoy your rendering of these songs. Wonderful!

Just love all these songs........beautiful singing ! :D

Great!!! Lovely voice!! Really pleasant to hear!!! Keep it all up!! Lovely expression!! 🎶🎶🎶🎶🎶

A lovely rendering of these songs!

The best recording on RU-vid! Lovely.:)

Beautiful singing! Thank you!

William Shakespeare 1. Fear no more the heat o' the sun, Nor the furious winter’s rages; Thou thy worldly task hast done, Home art gone, and ta’en thy wages: Golden lads and girls all must, As chimney-sweepers, come to dust. Fear no more the frown o' the great; Thou art past the tyrant’s stroke; Care no more to clothe and eat; To thee the reed is as the oak: The scepter, learning, physic, must All follow this, and come to dust. Fear no more the lightning flash, Nor the all-dreaded thunder stone; Fear not slander, censure rash; Thou hast finished joy and moan: All lovers young, all lovers must Consign to thee, and come to dust. No exorciser harm thee! Nor no witchcraft charm thee! Ghost unlaid forbear thee! Nothing ill come near thee! Quiet consummation have; And renownèd be thy grave! ~~~~~~~~~~ 2. Under the greenwood tree, Who loves to lie with me. And turn his merry note, Unto the sweet bird's throat: Come hither, come hither, come hither. Here shall he see No enemy But winter and rough weather. Who doth ambition shun, And loves to live i' the sun, Seeking the food he eats, And pleased with what he gets, Come hither, come hither, come hither. Here shall he see No enemy |: But winter :| winter and rough weather. ~~~~~~~~~~ 3. It was a lover and his lass, With a hey, and a ho, and a hey nonino That o'er the green corn-field did pass. In the spring time, the only pretty ring time, When birds do sing, hey |: ding a ding ding; :| ding a ding ding Sweet lovers love the spring. Between the acres of the rye, With a hey, and a ho, and a hey nonino, These pretty country folks would lie, In the spring time, the only pretty ring time, When birds do sing, hey |: ding a ding ding; :| ding a ding ding Sweet lovers love the spring. This carol they began that hour, With a hey, and a ho, and a hey nonino, How that life was but a flower |: In spring time, :| the only pretty ring time, When birds do sing, hey |: ding a ding ding; :| ding a ding ding |: Sweet lovers:| love the spring. And therefore take the present time With a hey, and a ho, and a hey nonino, For love is crownéd with the prime In the spring time, the only pretty ring time, When birds do sing, hey |: ding a ding ding; :| ding a ding ding Sweet lovers love the spring. ~~~~~~~~~~ 4. Take, O take those lips away, That so sweetly were forsworn; And those eyes, the break of day, Lights that do mislead the morn: But my kisses bring again, Seals of love, but sealed, But sealed in vain! ~~~~~~~~~~ 5. When that I was and a little tiny boy, With hey, ho, the wind and the rain, A foolish thing was but a toy, For the rain it raineth every day. But when I came to man's estate, With hey, ho, the wind and the rain, 'Gainst knaves and thieves men shut their gate, For the rain it raineth every day. But when I came, alas! to wive, With hey, ho, the wind and the rain, By swaggering could I never thrive, For the rain it raineth every day. A great while ago the world begun, With hey, ho, the wind and the rain, But that's all one, our play is done, And |: we'll strive :| to please you every day.

Beautiful musically and very fine interpretation. Cannot imagine a lovelier rendition.

Lovely tone and lovely diction

Just amazing !Congratulations !

I'm writing a paper on "it was a lover and his lass" right now, and I've found that it was originally for duet in G major. Willemse's version is the original solo rendition (mezzo/bari In the Low Voice Literature books) in E major. There is also a high voice in A-flat major.

love it!

This is beautiful. ^^

That voice and endearing image.

@HowdWyde Hi !! Thanks for that......really helpful. I'd love to do the whole set of songs one day.

Excellent, musical performance, and very good English!

Lovely!

Yup....I've got the whole set now. Many thanks for your reply though!

Very nice!

Your singing is very beautiful and expressive. Thanks. (I like Quilter's lyrical melody with "Fear No More..." much better than Finzi's somewhat angry approach.)

@beatyouinsmash 1. Cymbeline 2. As You Like It 3. As You Like It 4. Measure for Measure 5. Twelfth Night Hope that helps!

Brava!!!!

Can someone tell me whether this is low voice copy, medium of high voice?

I agree, low voice, because I have the high voice copy in front of me and it goes up to an high F at "golden lads and girls" which she does not do here.

Although you appear to be singing more opera - please don't give up your lieder singing! The world needs to hear songs sung with a fuller voice!

very nice singing here....maybe you will consider singing some Irish songs at a later date..