If All the World were Paper
Another in the "Kidson" series--melodies from Frank Kidson's Old English Country Dances (1890). This is an old melody -- it appeared in John Playford's first edition of the Dancing Master in 1651, and its rhythms and modal shapes suggest that it was very likely at least a half-century or more old by then. With the clarity and simplicity of dance-song, every phrase rises, the first and third subverting the ascent in the last detail but the second and fourth realizing it. In improvised duets, the final phrase is a clichéd invitation to the clausula vera, ^7-^8/^2-^1, exactly what a musician would expect.
