Uploaded December 2024 | Updated September 2026, 8 hours ago
The pieces in this video are taken from Jacob van Eyck's “Der Fluyten Lust-Hof,” printed in 1648. Although they were originally intended for the soprano recorder, I play them here three octaves down on the bass viola da gamba, an instrument with which I have now been struggling for almost two years. The following information, which I thought too much to put in the video itself, gives the title and, where available, my English translation of the lyrics (space did not allow quoting the original Dutch text). Since it was no easy task to find paintings to illustrate these pieces, I also make a short comment on the rationale for the work of art chosen.
00:00 Preludium of Vorspeel (Renaissance Latin and Dutch for “Prelude”). The opening piece to the entire collection.
The painting by Gabriel Metsu shows, for those unfamiliar with it, the type of instrument I am playing here.
01:07 Courant, of Ach treurt myn bedroefde (Courante, or Oh! Grieve Now, My Sorrowful Sheep).
Oh! Grieve now, my sorrowful sheep; Have pity on your shepherd's pain. I see the joyful lads go driving (their sheep) Who are there welcomed by their faithful loves, I who with love pursue Silvia. Oh! Strict Goddess, why do you always flee however bitterly I complain?
Silvia does not seem to be a known figure. I have chosen to illustrate the theme of pursuit by “Apollo Pursuing Daphne” by Domenichino.
03:33 Courante Mars (Mars Courante or March)
Had I a thousand tongues, free of impurities, which all together flowed and sang in praise of Diana, who, by her countenance, far surpasses the Moon in splendor and glory, Beautiful Woman, Oh! I would in no way depict your worth with my sound.
Since the lyrics mention Diana, I have chosen a painting of her by Johannes Mijtens. The reference in the title originally stems from a French song that mentions Mars, the Greek god of war. In Dutch, it was taken to mean a march.
05:07 Geswinde Bode van de Min (Swift Messenger of Love)
Swift Messenger of Love, hold still a while. You know where my Shepherdess drives her young flock: her cottage of reeds stands by a spring in the field. There she rules alone and has her own pleasure being at rest there. However I beg or flatter, I may not enter her pasture.
To illustrate the woman in this song, I have chosen “A Shepherdess Seated with a Basket of Flowers Near a Ruin in a Wooded Landscape” by Jean-Honoré Fragonard.
06:58 Ghy Ridders in het prachtigh Romen (Ye Knights in Splendid Rome)
No lyrics seem to survive for this song. In accord with the title, I have chosen Antonio Tempesta's “Battle Scene with a Castle,” though the setting is not necessarily Rome.
09:22 Lanterlu (Lanterloo)
Lanterloo is a 17th-century card game that involves taking tricks, hence the painting by Norbert van Bloemen of “Peasants Playing Cards.”
13:41 Stil, stil een reys (Be Still A While, Still)
Be still a while, still, you who praise the fair skin and beauties of your Goddesses; you who consume all your time writing poetry to prove your love to your belovèd ones. It makes no sense, whatever you may brew up for your belovèd ones: for the Queen who holds my heart in her power iIs the pinnacle of all Women.
I am hoping that “The Stolen Kiss” by Jean-Honoré Fragonard will convey something of the attitude of the speaker in this song.
15:55 Tweede Daphne (Daphne 02). This is the second song about Daphne in this collection.
As Daphne, the very beautiful maiden, took flight from Apollo into the woods and was quickly pursued by him, she ran, and he cried, “Stay, O beautiful Goddess! Wait, wait a bit. Do not be angry. Why are you running away? Have you thought this through? Neither lions nor bears nor tigers pursue you; rather, it is Apollo who loves you so. Will you show some mercy? Do you not heed my prayer? Are you letting my kindness fall to grief?
Have mercy, O Daphne, have mercy on me.
The painting “Apollo and Daphne” by Theodoor van Thulden illustrates this scene.
18:25 Tweede Rosemond (Rosemond 02). This is the second song in this collection with this title, though it is spelled with a final “t” in the title but a “dt” in the lyrics of the first.
Rosemond, however you flee, you will still not escape me that way. The leaves that you move as you speed through the woods say: my Rosemond is hereabouts. The dust that you raise is what betrays you.
Rosemond does not seem to be a known person. Since the theme is similar to the previous piece about Apollo and Daphne, I have used a painting portraying a similar chase: “Alpheus and Arethusa” by Paolo de Matteis.
20:19 Vande Lombart (About the Lombard)
No lyrics seem to survive for this song. “Lombart” originally referred to an inhabitant of Lombardy, Italy, many inhabitants of which emigrated to the Netherlands, where they often worked as pawnbrokers and moneylenders. “The Moneylender and His Wife” by Quentin Matsijs depicts such a couple.
The pieces in this video are taken from Jacob van Eyck's “Der Fluyten Lust-Hof,” printed in 1648. Although they were originally intended for the soprano recorder, I play them here three octaves down on the bass viola da gamba, an instrument with which I have now been struggling for almost two years. The following information, which I thought too much to put in the video itself, gives the title and, where available, my English translation of the lyrics (space did not allow quoting the original Dutch text). Since it was no easy task to find paintings to illustrate these pieces, I also make a short comment on the rationale for the work of art chosen.
00:00 Preludium of Vorspeel (Renaissance Latin and Dutch for “Prelude”). The opening piece to the entire collection.
The painting by Gabriel Metsu shows, for those unfamiliar with it, the type of instrument I am playing here.
01:07 Courant, of Ach treurt myn bedroefde (Courante, or Oh! Grieve Now, My Sorrowful Sheep).
Oh! Grieve now, my sorrowful sheep; Have pity on your shepherd's pain. I see the joyful lads go driving (their sheep) Who are there welcomed by their faithful loves, I who with love pursue Silvia. Oh! Strict Goddess, why do you always flee however bitterly I complain?
Silvia does not seem to be a known figure. I have chosen to illustrate the theme of pursuit by “Apollo Pursuing Daphne” by Domenichino.
03:33 Courante Mars (Mars Courante or March)
Had I a thousand tongues, free of impurities, which all together flowed and sang in praise of Diana, who, by her countenance, far surpasses the Moon in splendor and glory, Beautiful Woman, Oh! I would in no way depict your worth with my sound.
Since the lyrics mention Diana, I have chosen a painting of her by Johannes Mijtens. The reference in the title originally stems from a French song that mentions Mars, the Greek god of war. In Dutch, it was taken to mean a march.
05:07 Geswinde Bode van de Min (Swift Messenger of Love)
Swift Messenger of Love, hold still a while. You know where my Shepherdess drives her young flock: her cottage of reeds stands by a spring in the field. There she rules alone and has her own pleasure being at rest there. However I beg or flatter, I may not enter her pasture.
To illustrate the woman in this song, I have chosen “A Shepherdess Seated with a Basket of Flowers Near a Ruin in a Wooded Landscape” by Jean-Honoré Fragonard.
06:58 Ghy Ridders in het prachtigh Romen (Ye Knights in Splendid Rome)
No lyrics seem to survive for this song. In accord with the title, I have chosen Antonio Tempesta's “Battle Scene with a Castle,” though the setting is not necessarily Rome.
09:22 Lanterlu (Lanterloo)
Lanterloo is a 17th-century card game that involves taking tricks, hence the painting by Norbert van Bloemen of “Peasants Playing Cards.”
13:41 Stil, stil een reys (Be Still A While, Still)
Be still a while, still, you who praise the fair skin and beauties of your Goddesses; you who consume all your time writing poetry to prove your love to your belovèd ones. It makes no sense, whatever you may brew up for your belovèd ones: for the Queen who holds my heart in her power iIs the pinnacle of all Women.
I am hoping that “The Stolen Kiss” by Jean-Honoré Fragonard will convey something of the attitude of the speaker in this song.
15:55 Tweede Daphne (Daphne 02). This is the second song about Daphne in this collection.
As Daphne, the very beautiful maiden, took flight from Apollo into the woods and was quickly pursued by him, she ran, and he cried, “Stay, O beautiful Goddess! Wait, wait a bit. Do not be angry. Why are you running away? Have you thought this through? Neither lions nor bears nor tigers pursue you; rather, it is Apollo who loves you so. Will you show some mercy? Do you not heed my prayer? Are you letting my kindness fall to grief?
Have mercy, O Daphne, have mercy on me.
The painting “Apollo and Daphne” by Theodoor van Thulden illustrates this scene.
18:25 Tweede Rosemond (Rosemond 02). This is the second song in this collection with this title, though it is spelled with a final “t” in the title but a “dt” in the lyrics of the first.
Rosemond, however you flee, you will still not escape me that way. The leaves that you move as you speed through the woods say: my Rosemond is hereabouts. The dust that you raise is what betrays you.
Rosemond does not seem to be a known person. Since the theme is similar to the previous piece about Apollo and Daphne, I have used a painting portraying a similar chase: “Alpheus and Arethusa” by Paolo de Matteis.
20:19 Vande Lombart (About the Lombard)
No lyrics seem to survive for this song. “Lombart” originally referred to an inhabitant of Lombardy, Italy, many inhabitants of which emigrated to the Netherlands, where they often worked as pawnbrokers and moneylenders. “The Moneylender and His Wife” by Quentin Matsijs depicts such a couple.
