There’s never been anything quite like this collection of old English music, originally released in 1971 on a Unicorn LP (both the original and the reissue were instigated by the Peter Warlock Society in England). The genre is a kind of tavern Schubertiade or, as the album’s subtitle has it, “Songs, catches, and poems, sociable, amorous, and bibulous.” The 34 tracks last less than 50 minutes, combining singing with piano interludes and a handful of recitations, all delivered in a style somewhere between cheerful and roistering.

The reason that Warlock—the pen name of Philip Arnold Heseltine (1894–1930)—stands alone in the title but is only one of five composers is scholarly. In his short life Warlock was one of music’s most prodigious workers. He wrote books; edited forgotten manu­scripts, especially of Elizabethan composers relegated to antiquarians; compiled anthologies of verse; and served as a transcriber of early music in addition to the output for which he is best known, his corpus of well over 100 songs. He was dubbed a latter-day Elizabethan, and according to the extensive program notes supplied with the Unicorn LP and reproduced here, Warlock’s tireless scholarship brought to light forgotten Elizabethans as prominent as John Dowland.

A Peter Warlock Merry-Go-Down gives us a cross-section of all those activities. Of primary interest at the time was probably the transcribed material from Dowland and three other Elizabethans much more obscure than him: Thomas Ravenscroft, Alfonso Ferrabosco (an Italian who worked primarily in England), and Thomas Whythorne. The last-named was particularly helped by Warlock. Whythorne was customarily referred to by historians as “the worst composer of his time,” but Warlock dug into dusty archives and discovered that his music was actually delightful.

Most of the recited texts come from an anthology assembled by Warlock in 1929 under the title Merry-Go-Down adopted here. It was promoted as “a gallery of gorgeous drunkards through the ages.” This rather glibly (or wrongly) applies to writings ranging from the Book of Genesis and Plato to Pepys, Boswell, Dickens, and Joyce, among many others. The caliber of the texts, ably recited by Peter Gray, can be judged by a sample: “One must not get drunk between good company, that is to say, good friends, people of wit, honor, and good humor, and where there is good wine.” The mood of the jolly toper complemented Warlock’s personal nature as “one who intended life to be enjoyed,” as the notes say.
Space forbids listing the contents of 34 momentary tracks, but the gist can be approximated by some song titles: “Jinkin the Jester,” “Wine v. Women,” “The Old Codger,” “When Laura Smiles,” “My Lady Hunsdon’s Puffe.” What sounds quaint and nostalgic in these tunes probably was the same in an Elizabethan tavern, too. The selections go by quickly, but it would be mistaken to consider them ephemera. The rounds, or “catches,” exhibit the singers’ skill in a madrigal-like form. Warlock appears as both transcriber and composer in his own right, but the two roles are indistinguishable, since his ditties are in the same style as the old music.

The result is meant to be entertaining and can be readily enjoyed, particularly in the company of the noted English tenor Ian Partridge and his sister Jennifer as pianist and, if occasion warrants, soprano. (Other singers join in by name but aren’t listed by vocal type.) Popular appeal disguises the serious scholarship that went into Warlock’s lighthearted music here; none of his art songs are included, although some songs are original. Unicorn’s master tapes have been lost, but the recorded sound is quite good.

The spirit of convivial drunkenness has been on a downhill slide with the recognition of the human damage done by alcoholism, but if you can revert imaginatively to a much older attitude, this release is full of charming music-making.