On a Bank of Flowers

Pastoral lyricism for four recorders.

Robert Burns’s lyrics are set to a melody found in O’Neill’s Music of Ireland and other sources. The gently unfolding lines and flowered summer imagery make this an intimate, lyrical arrangement for recorder quartet. The arrangement includes a complete score and individual parts.

View score & parts →

First stanza

On a bank of flowers in a summer day For summer lightly drest, The youthful, blooming Nelly lay, With love and sleep opprest; When Willie, wand'ring thro the wood, Who for her favour oft had su'd— He gaz'd, he wish'd, he fear'd, he blush'd, And trembled where he stood.

Thumbnail: May (1897), Kate Greenaway · public domain.

Watch the score unfold.

This video pairs the audio with a scrolling score.