What comes to mind if I mention the words ‘the leaves be green’ to you? Do you think of nature? Or maybe a melody pops into your head?
Perhaps the most famous piece of music with this name is by William Byrd - a work which can bring joy or strike terror into the heart of musicians. Byrd’s set of 20 variations on this simple 4 phrase melody is chock full of creative ideas, along with a myriad of syncopated cross rhythms. But did you know that many other composers have written their own interpretation of this concept? Today’s blog explores a selection of these - not a comprehensive catalogue, but more a romp through some of my favourites!
What is ‘The Leaves Be Green’?
During the Renaissance the tune, Browning, was a popular melody. Based on a poem with the following words, it celebrates the coming of autumn and has inspired many composers to write their own take on it.
The leaves be green,
The nuts be brown,
They hang so high
They will not come down.
This is the popular melody associated with these lyrics:
Some composers chose to name their pieces Browning, while others plumped for The Leaves Be Green in recognition of the poem’s words.
Why so many versions?
It wasn’t unusual during the Renaissance for composers to write pieces based on popular tunes of the day. For instance, Jacob Van Eyck wrote a collection of 150 solo recorder pieces, Der Fluyten Lusthof, most of which are sets of variations on folk songs, dance tunes, psalms and popular songs.
Of course, this concept wasn’t confined to the Renaissance - think of it like pop bands today recording cover versions of familiar songs - it’s their way to benefit from a song’s popularity while making their own mark. During my research I’ve found countless more reinterpretations of The Leaves Be Green from beyond the Renaissance and you’ll meet some of them here. No doubt some will already be familiar to you, but I hope others will open up new musical vistas.
William Byrd - The Leaves Be Green
SAATB recorders, available in many different editions.
To my mind this is the granddaddy of the genre and offers endless challenges to anyone who tackles it. The Browning theme appears no fewer than twenty times, working through a variety of keys along the way. Modern editions generally have a 6/4 time signature but don’t let that fool you into expecting a predictable, regular rhythm! Byrd plays endlessly with the meter, bringing in rhythms which feel more like 3/2 and even 12/8, plus a stretch with bubbling strings of triplets for good measure. Through the endless cross rhythms the Browning theme acts as musical glue, holding the voices together while they talk across each other and you’ll notice a new interaction or detail each time you play or listen to this.
To complement the theme of this week’s blog post I’ve recorded my own playalong consort video of Byrd’s The Leaves Be Green. I can’t claim to achieve the same levels of perfection as the Flanders Recorder Quartet, but it gives you the opportunity to have a go yourself. Of course it also means you can restart or rewind as many times as you wish as you get to grips with the complex rhythms! I’ve also created my own edition of the piece, which irons out one or two of the notational wrinkles which can make some other editions tricky to read.
Heather Wastie - Browning for Four
SATB recorders, published by Hawthorns Music RA125. To order a copy contact Hawthorns Music here.
Alongside the various Renaissance versions of The Leaves be Green I’ve discovered a number of contemporary reinterpretations, including this one by Heather’s Wastie. Heather’s website describes her as a singer, songwriter, poet, actor, humourist, entertainer and much more besides. She composed this particular piece during one of her courses at Pendrell Hall in Wolverhampton, although it remained unfinished for some time after that. The impetus to complete the work ultimately came from the 40th wedding anniversary of Ken and Kath Smith, two of her course members. Although it’s a 20th century interpretation of the theme, there are still some echoes of the Medieval and Renaissance period, and you can clearly hear Kath and Ken dancing with their guests later in the piece.
If you’ve not played any contemporary Brownings before and fancy dipping you toe in the water this is a really good place to start. it lies easily beneath the fingers and has some beautiful melodic lines.
Henry Stoning - Browning My Dear
SAATB recorders - music and playalong video available via the button:
Henry Stoning is one of those composers who has today been all but forgotten. However, John Hawkins, the 18th century writer on music, described him as well known in his day and he was active during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I and King James I. We don’t even know his dates of birth or death - the resources I’ve found simply describe him as having flourished around 1600!
Like the Wastie version of Browning, this is a great place to start exploring. Stoning’s version is concise and pretty straightforward to play, while allowing everyone a slice of the action too. I shared my playalong consort version of this as a subscriber video in 2021 but I’ve discovered a couple of delightful commercial recordings too.
John Baldwin - A Browninge of Three Voices
AAB recorders - score and parts available to download from Serpent Publications.
Baldwin’s working life was spent as a singer, first as a tenor lay clerk at St George's Chapel, Windsor (from 1575) and later as a Gentleman of the Chapel Royal, where he became a paid member of staff from 1598. Today he is perhaps best known as the copyist of My Ladye Nevells Booke, a collection of 42 keyboard pieces by William Byrd. As a composer he wrote both vocal and instrumental music, including this Browning for three voices.
Baldwin’s version of Browning is a gem - full of rhythmic interest, with some pretty exotic key changes for music of this period. The only edition I’ve discovered of the music is unbarred and the treble parts need to be played an octave higher than written. Neither of these are insurmountable problems, but I am mulling over the idea of creating a modern edition at playing pitch and with barlines - watch this space! in the meantime, you can enjoy these two recordings!
Klaus Miehling - Browning Suite Op.148
AATB recorders, published by Edition Walhall, FEM132.
This is another contemporary take on the Browning theme discovered while I was researching this blog post. A German harpsichordist, composer and musicologist born in 1963, Miehling was a fresh name to me. He’s certainly a prolific composer (with over 1200 works to his name) and his output includes music for a vast array of instrumental and choral groups. This Browning Suite is one of a number of works which include the recorder and definitely harks back to an earlier time.
Described as a motet for recorder quartet, it is reminiscent of a Baroque orchestral suite, with a French overture followed by five dance movements and a finale. Bach would have recognised this format well, with the dances including a Courante, Sarabande and Bourrée. The musical style will be be familiar to anyone who enjoy Baroque music, albeit with the occasional modern harmonic twist!
A short extract from Klaus Miehling’s Browning Suite
Elway Bevin - Browning
ATB recorders - music and playalong video can be found via the button:
Elway Bevin’s version of Browning is one of my all time favourites. He makes amazing use of minimal resources, creating wonderful melodic and rhythmic interactions between the parts. The excitement gradually builds, climaxing in a flurry of quavers towards the end of the piece. Perhaps the most cunning section though begins at bar 57 where the Browning theme appears in the tenor part in a clear 3/2 rhythm. Either side, the treble and bass lines bounce along in 6/4 rhythms, but instead of working in tandem, Bevin places the treble and bass rhythm patterns a beat adrift from each other!
I recorded this version as one of my playalong consort videos last summer and it was such fun to try and capture the feeling of competition between the musical lines.
Steve Marshall - The Leaves be Blue
SATTBB recorders, published by May Hill Edition, MHE 20706
Most composers stick to the original lilting meter for their take on Browning, but there’s no rule to say this has to be the way. Steve Marshall’s musical background is in jazz, so it’s no surprise he should follow this route when he used the Browning theme. I’ve long been a fan of The Leaves be Blue, although recorder players aren’t always completely at ease with its Latin rhythms. I asked Steve what inspired him to write this piece and this is what he told me:
“In, I believe, 2005 the much-missed Andrew Melville took a well-known Pavan by John Dowland and transformed it - believe it or not - into a Tango. I played in the first performance of that Lachrimae Tango and, the very next day, I played in a performance of The Leaves be Green by Elway Bevin. The urge to transform that marvellous piece in some unlikely way was irresistible, and so I changed it into a rumba-inspired piece in 4/4. This was not a lucrative commission, but one of many rather quirky pieces I have written over the years, in order to exercise my compositional chops or (more likely) as a bit of fun!”
To my surprise, there don’t seem to be any recordings of The Leaves be Blue, so I figured I’d make my own!
William Inglott - The Leaves Bee Greene
Five voices, score available to download here. A recorder arrangement by Paul Clark is also available, Clark Collection CC128.
The first Elizabethan age was a golden era for music and there are so many composers from that period who are almost unknown today. William Inglott is one such name, although history suggests he wasn’t so obscure in his lifetime. He worked at both Hereford and Norwich Cathedrals as organist, replacing Thomas Morley at the latter. One of the pillars at Norwich Cathedral is decorated with the following memorial for Inglott, restored at the expense of William Croft (Master of the King’s Music) in the 18th century.
Here Willyam Inglott Organist doth rest,
Whose arte in musique this cathedrall blest,
For descant most, for voluntary all
He past: on organ, songe and virginall:
He left this life at age of sixtie seaven;
And now 'mongst angells all sings saint in heaven;
His fame flies farr, his name shal never die;
See art and age here crowne his memory
Today only a handful of Inglott’s pieces remain, including this and one other from the Fitzwilliam Virginal Book. This was a collection of nearly 300 keyboard pieces, including works by William Byrd, Giles Farnaby and Thomas Morley - you may be interested to see the original keyboard version of the Leaves Bee Greene here.
Once again, I’ve found a couple of different recordings for you to enjoy - one played on the organ (with added percussion!) and the second on harpsichord.
Clement Woodcock - Browning My Dear
Five voices, SATTB - Score and parts available to download. Also published by London Pro Musica, EML112
To complete my selection of Brownings from the Renaissance, we have another relatively unknown composer - Clement Woodcock. Like Inglott, Woodcock spent much of his life as a church musician, working as a lay clerk at Both King’s College, Cambridge and Canterbury Cathedral. He also spent a good deal of time in my home town, Chichester, working as Cathedral organist and master of the Choristers. I taught the recorder at Chichester’s Cathedral school for nearly two decades, so it’s rather pleasing too think that we both spent countless hours working and making music in the same Cathedral, albeit four centuries apart!
Woodcock’s version of Browning is short and sweet and fits beautifully on recorders, although you’ll need to read the second part up an octave to play it on the treble recorder.
Sue Handscombe - The Leaves be Turning, the Nuts be Brown
SATB recorders, published by Peacock Press, P544
To bring us full circle, my final version of Browning came as a result of an experience of playing Byrd’s The Leaves Be Green. Sue told me the impetus to write this came from an experience preparing the Byrd for a golden wedding celebration. Things didn’t go to plan in rehearsals, with Byrd’s complex rhythms often tripping the musicians up. Instead Sue decided to write her own jazzy interpretation of the Browning theme and this is the result. As for the golden wedding celebrations - all was well in the end and the group made it through the performance without getting tangled up!
Sue’s the Leaves be Turning, The Nuts be Brown, has its own rhythmic intricacies, altogether different from Byrd’s, but I can guarantee you’ll have great fun playing it!
Which Browning is your favourite?
There we have ten different interpretations of this iconic melody, and there are more I could have included besides. Which is your favourite? Or maybe you have a penchant for one composed by someone else? Do share your thoughts in the comments below - it’ll be fascinating to see if you come up with versions I haven’t yet come across!