Love's Labyrinth

 

 

Scene 1: First Love
After a sonata by the Moravian bass viol virtuoso Gottfried Finger, who worked in London in the 1690s, the first part explores the delights of love. The two dialogues by Jeremiah Clarke come from a masque in the operatic play The Island Princess, which equates the various ages of love with the four seasons. In between there is a remarkable ground bass song by the London organist Francis Forcer that is effectively a dialogue, though the two characters just sing a verse each instead of responding to each other in the normal way.

 

Must I a girl forever be!
Will n'er my mother marry me?

 

 

 

 

 

SHE
Aside Oh what shall I say!
When a gentleman suiters,
'tis hard to say nay,
I'm e'en out of breath;
Oh dear! What d'ye do?
Good Lord is it thus that you gentle folks woo!