Sometimes, hearing the music of an era can transport us. Pop music from the Regency luckily has survived in some circles, so that I am able to post some links to videos where you can hear renditions of Regency favorites:
Where the Bees Suck, There Suck I:
From Shakespeare’s The Tempest, this whimsical song was popularly performed at Covent Garden’s Theatre Royal: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s5UNP7-Sy-k
The Sailor’s Epitaph was written and composed by Charles Dibdin for his Captain brother. Said to be a fave of Henry David Thoreau, find more about this song here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zxv1omrFr5U
Now Is the Month of Maying made for five voices,it was originally published in 1595 for Queen Elizabeth and was popular as a tribute to “Ancient Music” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EwJLKdU50KE
There is a whole series of songs written by Isaac Nathan with lyrics by Byron, including a bunch to Lady Caroline Lamb. Its like the original confessional song..http://www.sjsu.edu/faculty/douglass/music/album-carosongs.html
Gioacchino Rossini was churning out the operatic hits in the Regency era, including the very famous Barber of Seville in 1816: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OloXRhesab0
TOMASO GIORDANI Caro mio ben from 1806 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tyPyRXywg8c
Feel free to add your favorite in the comments below 🙂
