Ex. 2-20: Roister Doister

No. 1 from Warlock's "Peterisms, Set II", written in 1922–23 and published in 1924. The text is from Nicholas Udall's play "Ralph Roister Doister" (c. 1552), often regarded as the first comedy in the English language. "Roister-doister" means a loud, foolish show-off.

The score is marked "Rumbustiously" — loudly and energetically — and the song opens with "I mun be married a Sunday." Warlock, whose real name was Philip Heseltine, was devoted to old English poetry and music and combined their spirit with his own modern harmonic language.

Track 24 from the album Warlock: The Curlew, Lillygay by Adrian Thompson, Christopher Maltman, John Constable and The Duke Quartet (2003)
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