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Work


Bring Us In Good Ale

for TBB, congas and piano

Year:  2009

Year:  2009

David Hamilton
Composer

Composer:   David Hamilton

Films, Audio & Samples

Sample Score

Sample: Page 1 and 2

See details ➔

Borrow/Hire:

To borrow items or hire parts please email SOUNZ directly at info@sounz.org.nz.

About

Although on a surface merely a drinking song, this is really an early Christmas piece from the ‘wassail’ tradition. A wassail was a toast or a drink associated with Christmas festivities, and the term could also be applied to the drink itself: 'a punch made of sweetened ale or wine heated with spices and roasted apples'. The text is probably from the time of Henry VI (1421-1471).

When the text was printed in a carol collection in the 1851, the editor cautioned: 'Good ale, however, like most other things when taken in excess, is attended by certain inconveniences, as the following song....will serve to explain.'


Commissioned note

Written for Mainly Men of Rangitoto College, Auckland, and conductor David Squire


Text note

Anonymous text


Performance history

16 Jun 2009: Performed by Mainly Men in Auckland Town Hall, in Auckland