Sweetest bard that ever sung (William Boyce)
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- Editor: Christopher Shaw (submitted 2022-07-11). Score information: A4, 5 pages, 537 kB Copyright: CC BY SA
- Edition notes: Please click on the link for preview/playback/PDF download.
General Information
Title: Sweetest bard that ever sung
Composer: William Boyce
Lyricist: David Garrick
Number of voices: 1v Voicing: Solo high
Genre: Secular, Aria
Language: English
Instruments: Basso continuo violin obbligato
First published: 1759
Description: "Sung by Miss Young, as one of the Muses, to the statue of Shakespear", in Harlequin's Invasion, at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane. Boyce's most enduring piece written for that pantomime was the patriotic song "Hearts of oak". Garrick's bardolatry was to come to full flower in his Shakespeare Jubilee in Stratford on Avon, 1769.
External websites:
Original text and translations
English text
Sweetest bard that ever sung,
Nature's glory, Fancy's child;
Ever may thy magic tongue
Warble thy sweet woodnotes wild.
Bring the laurel, bring the flow'rs,
Lead the dance's mystic maze.
He united all our pow'rs;
All united sing his praise.
Round his statue's hollow'd base,
Elves and fairies sport and play;
Ev'ry Muse and ev'ry Grace
Ever here keep holiday.
Bring the laurel, bring the flow'rs,
Lead the dance's mystic maze.
He united all our pow'rs;
All united sing his praise.