John Travers
(c.1703 - 1758)

Advice to Delius
(A.T.B. + reduction)
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Travers was a chorister at the Chapel Royal under John Goldwin, was taught by Pepusch, and was apprenticed to Maurice Greene. He held the post of Organist at the Chapel Royal from 1737 until his death. This piece is one of six three-part canzonets published in Travers' "Eighteen Canzonets", London, 1746. This collection was an early and popular contribution to works in the canzonet style, and helped set the template for writers of more ambitious glees in the second half of the eighteenth century. The original edition contained a particularly meticulous figured bass. That has been abandoned in the present edition in favour of a reduction. These canzonets were incorporated into the glee tradition, and are most appropriately performed in accordance with that tradition; unaccompanied.
Lyrics: Anon

He is not numbered with the blest,
To whom the gods large store have giv'n;
But he who of enough posses'd,
Can wisely use the gifts of heav'n,
Who fortune's frowns unmov'd can bear,
And worse than death doth baseness fear.
To those that chuse the golden mean,
The waves are smooth, the skies serene.

They envy not the houses of the great,
Nor court the baseness of the poor's retreat.
An even mind in ev'ry state,
Amidst the frowns and smiles of fate,
Dear mortal Delius always show;
Let not too much of cloudy fear,
Nor too intemp'rate joys appear
Or to contract, or to extend, thy brow.