Instrumentation: Soprano and English horn (or alto flute, or clarinet, or viola)
Also available for Mezzo with choice of the instruments above
Duration: 3:25
Premiere: 11/7/87
Grey Hills Ensemble
University of Alabama,
Birmingham, AL
Soprano & English Horn | Soprano & Viola | Mezzo & English Horn | Purchase Music
Program Note:
Come Live with Me (formerly called Wedding Song) is a setting of verses from Christopher Marlowe’s A Passionate Shepherd To His Love, drawn from the earliest printed version in the anthology titled The Passionate Pilgrim, published in 1599; the only variant is the addition of the word ‘come’ at the start, characteristic of later iterations. The text inspired a lyrical melody with a yearning quality, and a countermelody that gently circles and sometimes joins with the other.
Originally scored for soprano and English horn, it is also available for mezzo. In addition, you can choose from versions with the instrumental part scored for alto flute, clarinet, viola, or cello, as well as the English horn.
This song has been performed in both concert settings and at weddings.
Verses from A Passionate Shepherd to His Love
By Christopher Marlowe
Come live with me and be my Love,
And we will all the pleasures prove
That hills and valleys, dales and fields,
And all the craggy mountains yield.
There will we sit upon the rocks,
And see the Shepherds feed their flock,
By shallow Rivers, by whose falls
Melodious birds sing Madrigals.
There will I make thee a bed of Roses,
With a thousand fragrant poses,
A cap of flowers, and a Kirtle
Embroidered all with leaves of Myrtle.
A belt of straw and ivy buds,
With Coral Clasps and amber studs,
And if there pleasures may thee move,
Then live with me, and be my Love.